1991 Cincinnati Bengals season

The 1991 Cincinnati Bengals season was the team's 24th year in professional football and its 22nd with the National Football League (NFL). Prior to the start of the season, the Bengals lost their patriarch when founder, former head coach and general manager Paul Brown died at the age of 82. His son Mike would assume control of the franchise. The Bengals would stumble out the gate losing their first eight games before defeating the Cleveland Browns 23–21 at Riverfront Stadium. The Bengals would only win two more games the rest of the season finishing with a 3–13 record.

1991 Cincinnati Bengals season
OwnerMike Brown
Head coachSam Wyche
Home fieldRiverfront Stadium
Results
Record3–13
Division place4th AFC Central
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersT Anthony Muñoz

The Bengals' pass defense would surrender 7.586 yards per pass attempt in 1991, one of the ten worst totals in NFL history.[1]

Following the season head coach Sam Wyche was fired and replaced by assistant Dave Shula. Shula, the son of former Miami Dolphins and Baltimore Colts head coach Don Shula, served as the team’s wide receivers coach after a stint with the Miami Dolphins under his father, and the Dallas Cowboys as its offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach under head coach Jimmy Johnson. Upon his hiring as the Bengals’ head coach, he became the youngest head coach to ever be hired by an NFL team at age 32.

Offseason

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NFL Draft

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1991 Cincinnati Bengals draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 18 Alfred Williams *  Linebacker Colorado
2 52 Lamar Rogers  Defensive end Auburn
3 72 Bob Dahl  Guard Notre Dame
4 99 Donald Hollas  Quarterback Rice
4 109 Rob Carpenter  Wide receiver Syracuse
5 130 Mike Arthur  Center Texas A&M
6 157 Richard Fain  Cornerback Florida
7 184 Fernandus Vinson  Safety North Carolina State
8 211 Mike Dingle  Running back South Carolina
9 241 Shane Garrett  Wide receiver Texas A&M
10 268 Jim Lavin  Guard Georgia Tech
11 295 Chris Smith  Tight end Brigham Young
12 322 Antoine Bennett  Cornerback Florida A&M
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[2]

Personnel

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Staff

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1991 Cincinnati Bengals staff

Front office

  • Chairman of the Board – Austin Eldon Knowlton
  • President – John Sawyer
  • Vice President/General Manager – Paul Brown
  • Assistant General Manager/Legal Counsel – Mike Brown
  • Director of Player Personnel – Pete Brown
  • Assistant Director of Player Personnel – Frank Smouse

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning

  • Strength – Kim Wood

Roster

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1991 Cincinnati Bengals roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Practice squad

none

47 active, 10 inactive

Reserve lists


Rookies in italics

[3]

Preseason

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Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 August 2 at Detroit Lions L 20–24 0–1 Pontiac Silverdome 47,899
2 August 10 Philadelphia Eagles L 24–29 0–2 Riverfront Stadium 56,390
3 August 17 Minnesota Vikings W 27–24 (OT) 1–2 Riverfront Stadium 56,358
4 August 24 at Green Bay Packers W 19–16 (OT) 2–2 Lambeau Field 52,390

[4]

Regular season

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Schedule

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Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 September 1 at Denver Broncos L 14–45 0–1 Mile High Stadium 72,855
2 September 8 Houston Oilers L 7–30 0–2 Riverfront Stadium 56,463
3 September 15 at Cleveland Browns L 13–14 0–3 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 78,269
4 September 22 Washington Redskins L 27–34 0–4 Riverfront Stadium 52,038
5 Bye
6 October 6 Seattle Seahawks L 7–13 0–5 Riverfront Stadium 60,010
7 October 13 at Dallas Cowboys L 23–35 0–6 Texas Stadium 63,275
8 October 21 at Buffalo Bills L 16–35 0–7 Rich Stadium 80,131
9 October 27 at Houston Oilers L 3–35 0–8 Houston Astrodome 58,634
10 November 3 Cleveland Browns W 23–21 1–8 Riverfront Stadium 55,077
11 November 10 Pittsburgh Steelers L 27–33 1–9 Riverfront Stadium 55,503
12 November 17 at Philadelphia Eagles L 10–17 1–10 Veterans Stadium 63,189
13 November 24 Los Angeles Raiders L 14–38 1–11 Riverfront Stadium 52,044
14 December 1 New York Giants W 27–24 2–11 Riverfront Stadium 45,063
15 December 9 at Miami Dolphins L 13–37 2–12 Joe Robbie Stadium 60,616
16 December 15 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 10–17 2–13 Three Rivers Stadium 35,420
17 December 22 New England Patriots W 29–7 3–13 Riverfront Stadium 46,394
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

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AFC Central
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
(3) Houston Oilers 11 5 0 .688 5–1 10–2 386 251 L1
Pittsburgh Steelers 7 9 0 .438 4–2 7–5 292 344 W2
Cleveland Browns 6 10 0 .375 2–4 6–6 293 298 L3
Cincinnati Bengals 3 13 0 .188 1–5 2–10 263 435 W1

Season summary

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Week 16 at Steelers

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Week Sixteen: Cincinnati Bengals (2–12) at Pittsburgh Steelers (5–9)
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Bengals 0 7 3010
Steelers 10 0 0717

at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Game information

Team leaders

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Passing

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Player Att Comp Yds TD INT Rating
Boomer Esiason 413 233 2883 13 16 72.5

Rushing

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Player Att Yds YPC Long TD
Harold Green 158 731 4.6 75 2
Ickey Woods 36 97 2.7 12 4

Receiving

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Player Rec Yds Avg Long TD
Eddie Brown 59 837 14.0 53 2
Tim McGee 51 802 15.7 52 4

Defensive

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Player Tackles Sacks INTs FF FR
David Fulcher 95 0.0 4 4 3
Tim Krumrie 68 4.0 0 1 1

Kicking/Punting

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Player FGA FGM FG% XPA XPM XP% Points
Jim Breech 29 23 79.3% 27 27 100.0% 96
Player Punts Yards Long Blkd Avg.
Lee Johnson 64 2795 62 0 43.7

Special teams

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Player KR KRYards KRAvg KRLong KRTD PR PRYards PRAvg PRLong PRTD
Shane Garrett 13 214 16.5 24 0 1 7 7.0 7 0
Eric Ball 13 262 20.2 24 0 0 0 0 0 0
Mitchell Price 5 91 18.2 22 0 14 203 14.5 78 1

References

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  1. ^ Cold Hard Football Facts: Ryan Kalil ad: Carolina D not up to the task
  2. ^ "1991 Cincinnati Bengals draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
  3. ^ "1991 Cincinnati Bengals starters and roster". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 1, 2014.
  4. ^ "1991 Cincinnati Bengals (NFL)". Pro Football Archives. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
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