1984 Cincinnati Bengals season

The 1984 Cincinnati Bengals season was the team's 17th year in professional football and its 15th with the National Football League (NFL). The team lost their first five games, before winning eight of their final eleven games to finish the season with a .500 record.

1984 Cincinnati Bengals season
Head coachSam Wyche
General managerPaul Brown
Home fieldRiverfront Stadium
Results
Record8–8
Division place2nd AFC Central
Playoff finishDid not qualify

The season was the first for head coach Sam Wyche, who had replaced former coach Forrest Gregg after Gregg had resigned following the previous season. Wyche had been the head coach at Indiana University in 1983.

The club stumbled out of the gate, and went winless in September en route to a 1–6 start. However, the team began a turnaround, and by December, was one of the hottest teams in the league. The team won seven out of their last nine games, including a crucial win against division rival Pittsburgh in week 11.

In the final week of the season, Cincinnati needed to win, and hope for the Steelers to lose at the Raiders, to secure an improbable AFC Central division title. The Bengals did their part, routing the Bills 52–21, and finished the season 8–8. Later in the day, the Bengals were forced to "scoreboard watch." The Steelers, however, managed to beat the Raiders, clinching the division, and effectively eliminating the Bengals from the playoffs.

In a 2018 article from FiveThirtyEight, the 1984 Cincinnati Bengals team is rated as the most average team in the history of American sports.[1] They both scored and allowed 339 points in addition to their 8–8 record.[2]

Offseason

NFL Draft
1984 Cincinnati Bengals draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 7 Ricky Hunley  LB Arizona
1 16 Pete Koch  DE Maryland
1 28 Brian Blados  OT North Carolina
2 38 Boomer Esiason *  QB Maryland
3 65 Stanford Jennings  RB Furman
4 92 John Farley  RB Sacramento State
5 119 Barney Bussey  DB South Carolina State
6 150 Don Kern  TE Arizona State
7 177 Leo Barker  LB New Mexico State
8 204 Bruce Reimers  Guard Iowa State
9 231 Bruce Kozerski  Center Holy Cross
10 262 Aaron Jackson  LB North Carolina
10 265 Brent Ziegler  RB Syracuse
11 289 Steve McKeaver  RB Central State (OK)
12 316 Steve Raquet  LB Holy Cross
      Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Roster
1984 Cincinnati Bengals roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

 Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

 Reserve lists

{{{reserve_lists}}}


Practice squad



Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule
Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap
1 September 2 at Denver Broncos L 17–20 0–1 Mile High Stadium 74,178 Recap
2 September 9 Kansas City Chiefs L 22–27 0–2 Riverfront Stadium 47,111 Recap
3 September 16 at New York Jets L 23–43 0–3 Giants Stadium 64,193 Recap
4 September 23 Los Angeles Rams L 14–24 0–4 Riverfront Stadium 45,406 Recap
5 October 1 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 17–38 0–5 Three Rivers Stadium 57,098 Recap
6 October 7 Houston Oilers W 13–3 1–5 Riverfront Stadium 43,637 Recap
7 October 14 at New England Patriots L 14–20 1–6 Sullivan Stadium 48,154 Recap
8 October 21 Cleveland Browns W 12–9 2–6 Riverfront Stadium 50,667 Recap
9 October 28 at Houston Oilers W 31–13 3–6 Houston Astrodome 34,010 Recap
10 November 4 at San Francisco 49ers L 17–23 3–7 Candlestick Park 58,324 Recap
11 November 11 Pittsburgh Steelers W 22–20 4–7 Riverfront Stadium 52,497 Recap
12 November 18 Seattle Seahawks L 6–26 4–8 Riverfront Stadium 50,280 Recap
13 November 25 Atlanta Falcons W 35–14 5–8 Riverfront Stadium 44,678 Recap
14 December 2 at Cleveland Browns W 20–17 6–8 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 51,774 Recap
15 December 9 at New Orleans Saints W 24–21 7–8 Louisiana Superdome 40,855 Recap
16 December 16 Buffalo Bills W 52–21 8–8 Riverfront Stadium 55,771 Recap

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Week 6
1 234Total
Oilers 0 030 3
• Bengals 0 373 13

[3]

Week 8
1 234Total
Browns 3 303 9
• Bengals 3 306 12

[4]

Week 11
1 234Total
Steelers 0 1307 20
• Bengals 3 0127 22

[5]

Standings
AFC Central
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Pittsburgh Steelers(3) 9 7 0 .563 3–3 6–6 387 310 W2
Cincinnati Bengals 8 8 0 .500 5–1 6–6 339 339 W4
Cleveland Browns 5 11 0 .313 3–3 4–8 250 297 W1
Houston Oilers 3 13 0 .188 1–5 3–9 240 437 L2

References
  1. https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/we-checked-50-years-of-sports-history-to-find-the-team-that-stands-out-the-least/
  2. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/cin/1984_roster.htm
  3. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Oct-09
  4. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Nov-07.
  5. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2013-Dec-25.
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