1985 Cincinnati Bengals season

The 1985 season was the Cincinnati Bengals' 16th season in the National Football League (NFL), their 18th overall, and their second under head coach Sam Wyche. Wide receiver Isaac Curtis, a premier Bengal for 12 years, retired shortly before training camp opened. Second-year quarterback Boomer Esiason replaced Ken Anderson. The Bengals set a club scoring record with 441 points.

1985 Cincinnati Bengals season
OwnerPaul Brown
General managerPaul Brown
Head coachSam Wyche
Home fieldRiverfront Stadium
Results
Record7–9
Division place2nd AFC Central
Playoff finishDid not qualify
The Bengals hosting the Cowboys in December 1985.

Offseason

edit

NFL Draft

edit
1985 Cincinnati Bengals draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 13 Eddie Brown *  Wide receiver Miami (FL)
1 25 Emanuel King  Linebacker Alabama
2 43 Carl Zander  Linebacker Tennessee
3 70 Sean Thomas  Defensive back TCU
4 97 Anthony Tuggle  Defensive back Nicholls State
5 127 Tony Degrate  Defensive tackle Texas
5 129 Lee Davis  Defensive back Mississippi
6 148 Eric Stokes  Offensive tackle Northeastern
6 154 Keith Lester  Tight end Murray State
7 172 Kim Locklin  Running back New Mexico State
7 181 Joe Walter  Offensive tackle Texas Tech
8 211 Dave Strobel  Linebacker Iowa
9 238 Keith Cruise  Defensive end Northwestern
10 265 Bernard King  Linebacker Syracuse
11 296 Harold Stanfield  Tight end Mississippi College
12 322 Louis Garza  Offensive tackle New Mexico State
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[1]

Personnel

edit

Staff / Coaches

edit
1985 Cincinnati Bengals staff

Front office

  • Owner/president – John Sawyer
  • Owner/general manager – Paul Brown

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches


Strength and conditioning

  • Strength and Conditioning – Kim Wood

Roster

edit
1985 Cincinnati Bengals roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Practice squad


Reserve lists



Rookies in italics

Regular season

edit

Schedule

edit
Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 September 8 Seattle Seahawks L 24–28 0–1 Riverfront Stadium 51,625
2 September 15 at St. Louis Cardinals L 27–41 0–2 Busch Memorial Stadium 46,321
3 September 22 San Diego Chargers L 41–44 0–3 Riverfront Stadium 52,270
4 September 30 at Pittsburgh Steelers W 37–24 1–3 Three Rivers Stadium 59,541
5 October 6 New York Jets L 20–29 1–4 Riverfront Stadium 51,785
6 October 13 New York Giants W 35–30 2–4 Riverfront Stadium 53,112
7 October 20 at Houston Oilers L 27–44 2–5 Houston Astrodome 35,590
8 October 27 Pittsburgh Steelers W 26–21 3–5 Riverfront Stadium 55,421
9 November 3 at Buffalo Bills W 23–17 4–5 Rich Stadium 25,640
10 November 10 Cleveland Browns W 27–10 5–5 Riverfront Stadium 57,293
11 November 17 at Los Angeles Raiders L 6–13 5–6 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 52,501
12 November 24 at Cleveland Browns L 6–24 5–7 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 74,439
13 December 1 Houston Oilers W 45–27 6–7 Riverfront Stadium 46,140
14 December 8 Dallas Cowboys W 50–24 7–7 Riverfront Stadium 56,936
15 December 15 at Washington Redskins L 24–27 7–8 RFK Stadium 50,544
16 December 22 at New England Patriots L 23–34 7–9 Sullivan Stadium 57,953

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

edit

Week 1

edit
Week 1: Seattle Seahawks at Cincinnati Bengals – Game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Seahawks 7 14 0728
Bengals 0 10 14024

at Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati

  • Date: September 8, 1985
  • Game time: 1:00 pm EST
  • Game weather: 79 °F (26 °C), wind 8 miles per hour (13 km/h; 7.0 kn)
  • Game attendance: 51,625
  • Referee: Fred Silva
  • TV announcers (NBC): Don Criqui (play by play), Bob Trumpy (color commentator)
  • [2]

Week 2

edit
Week 2: Cincinnati Bengals at St. Louis Cardinals – Game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Bengals 7 7 31027
Cardinals 7 10 101441

at Busch Stadium, St. Louis

  • Date: September 15, 1985
  • Game time: 1:00pm CST
  • Game weather: 66 °F (19 °C), wind 8 miles per hour (13 km/h; 7.0 kn)
  • Game attendance: 46,321
  • [3]

Week 3

edit
Week 3: San Diego Chargers at Cincinnati Bengals – Game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Chargers 3 17 141044
Bengals 7 6 21741

at Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati

  • Date: September 22, 1985
  • Game time: 1:00pm EST
  • Game weather: 71 °F (22 °C), wind 9 miles per hour (14 km/h; 7.8 kn)
  • Game attendance: 52,270
  • Referee: Gene Barth
  • TV announcers (NBC): Bob Stone and Bob Kuechenberg
  • [4]


Week 4

edit
1 234Total
• Bengals 0 14716 37
Steelers 0 10140 24

Week 6

edit
1 234Total
Giants 0 31710 30
• Bengals 14 777 35
  • Date: October 13
  • Location: Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati
  • Game start: 1:00 p.m.
  • Game weather: 72 °F (22 °C), wind 11 mph (18 km/h)
  • Referee: Jim Tunney
  • TV announcers (CBS): Pat Summerall and John Madden

[5]

Week 8

edit
Pittsburgh Steelers at Cincinnati Bengals
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Steelers 0 7 01421
Bengals 3 14 9026

at Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati

  • Date: October 27, 1985
  • Game time: 4:00 pm EST
  • Game weather: 59 °F (15 °C), wind 4 miles per hour (6.4 km/h; 3.5 kn)
  • Game attendance: 55,241
  • Referee: Bob McElwee
  • TV announcers (NBC): Don Criqui (play by play), Bob Trumpy (color commentator)
  • [6]

Standings

edit
AFC Central
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Cleveland Browns(3) 8 8 0 .500 4–2 7–5 287 294 L1
Cincinnati Bengals 7 9 0 .438 4–2 5–7 441 437 L2
Pittsburgh Steelers 7 9 0 .438 3–3 6–6 379 355 L1
Houston Oilers 5 11 0 .313 1–5 4–8 284 412 L4

Team leaders

edit

Passing

edit
Player Att Comp Yds TD INT Rating
Boomer Esiason 431 251 3443 27 12 92.3

Rushing

edit
Player Att Yds YPC Long TD
James Brooks 192 929 4.8 39 7
Larry Kinnebrew 170 714 4.2 29 9

Receiving

edit
Player Rec Yds Avg Long TD
Cris Collinsworth 65 1125 17.3 71 5
James Brooks 55 576 10.3 57 5
Eddie Brown 53 942 17.8 68 8

Defensive

edit
Player Tackles Sacks INTs FF FR
Tim Krumrie 96 3.5 0 1 2
Ross Browner 63 9 0 0 2
James Griffin 55 1 7 2 1

Kicking and punting

edit
Player FGA FGM FG% XPA XPM XP% Points
Jim Breech 33 24 72.7% 50 48 96.0 120
Player Punts Yards Long Blkd Avg.
Pat McInally 57 2410 64 1 42.3

Special teams

edit
Player KR KRYards KRAvg KRLong KRTD PR PRYards PRAvg PRLong PRTD
Mike Martin 48 1104 23.0 45 0 32 268 8.4 26 0

Awards and honors

edit
  • Anthony Muñoz, AFC Pro Bowl selection

References

edit
  1. ^ "1985 Cincinnati Bengals draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 6, 2014.
  2. ^ "Seattle Seahawks at Cincinnati Bengals - September 8th, 1985". pro-football-reference.com. Pro Football Reference. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
  3. ^ "Cincinnati Bengals at St. Louis Cardinals - September 15th, 1985". pro-football-reference.com. Pro Football Reference. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
  4. ^ "San Diego Chargers at Cincinnati Bengals - September 22nd, 1985". pro-football-reference.com. Pro Football Reference. Retrieved January 21, 2024.
  5. ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com
  6. ^ Pro Football Reference; Pittsburgh Steelers at Cincinnati Bengals – October 27th, 1985
edit