2004 Cincinnati Bengals season

The 2004 Cincinnati Bengals season was the team's 37th year in professional football and its 35th with the National Football League. The Bengals began to focus on the future, trading All-Pro running back Corey Dillon to the New England Patriots. That cleared the way for Rudi Johnson to start at running back. Carson Palmer was given the starting quarterback job. Palmer and the young Bengals would struggle early, losing five of their first seven games. As the season wore on, the Bengals began to hit their stride, as they climbed back to .500, at 6–6, before a sprained knee sent Palmer to the sidelines during a 35–28 road loss to the eventual Super Bowl Champion Patriots.

2004 Cincinnati Bengals season
Head coach	Marvin Lewis
General manager	Mike Brown
Owner	Mike Brown
Home field	Paul Brown Stadium
Results
Record	8–8
Division place	3rd AFC North
Playoff finish	Did not qualify

Cincinnati visits Washington in week 10 of 2004

With wins in their final two games, the Bengals would finish 8–8 for the second year in a row. Rudi Johnson finished sixth in the NFL in rushing with 1,454 yards, giving Bengals fans hope for the future.

This season would see the Bengals make their first appearance on Monday Night Football since 1992, a win at home against the Denver Broncos on October 25.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Main article: 2004 NFL Draft

2004 Cincinnati Bengals draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	26	Chris Perry	RB	Michigan
2	49	Keiwan Ratliff	CB	Florida
2	56	Madieu Williams	S	Maryland
3	80	Caleb Miller	LB	Arkansas
3	96	Landon Johnson	LB	Purdue
4	114	Matthias Askew	DT	Michigan State
4	117	Robert Geathers	DE	Georgia
4	123	Stacy Andrews	OT	Ole Miss
5	149	Maurice Mann	WR	Nevada
6	183	Greg Brooks	DB	North Texas
7	218	Casey Bramlet	QB	Wyoming
Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Personnel

2004 Cincinnati Bengals staff
	Front office President – Mike Brown Head coaches Head Coach – Marvin Lewis Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Line – Paul Alexander Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator – Bob Bratkowski Quarterbacks – Ken Zampese Running Backs – Jim Anderson Wide Receivers – Hue Jackson Tight Ends – Jonathan Hayes Assistant Offensive Line – Bob Surace			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator – Leslie Frazier Defensive Line – Jay Hayes Linebackers – Ricky Hunley Defensive Backs – Kevin Coyle Assistant Defensive Backs – Louie Cioffi Assistant – Chuck Bresnahan Special teams coaches Special Teams – Darrin Simmons Strength and conditioning Strength and Conditioning – Chip Morton Assistant Strength and Conditioning – Ray Oliver

Roster

2004 Cincinnati Bengals final roster
	Quarterbacks  4 Casey Bramlet  3 Jon Kitna  9 Carson Palmer Running backs 32 Rudi Johnson 31 Jeremi Johnson FB 33 Kenny Watson 35 Quincy Wilson Wide receivers 18 Matt Cherry 84 T. J. Houshmandzadeh 85 Chad Johnson 88 Cliff Russell KR 83 Kevin Walter 87 Kelley Washington Tight ends 82 Reggie Kelly 89 Matt Schobel 86 Tony Stewart		Offensive linemen 71 Willie Anderson T 79 Stacy Andrews T 67 Jerry Fontenot C 76 Levi Jones T 75 Scott Kooistra G 61 Pete Lougheed T 50 Larry Moore G/C 65 Eric Steinbach G 62 Alex Sulfsted T 63 Bobbie Williams G Defensive linemen 92 Duane Clemons DE 91 Robert Geathers DE 98 Terrance Martin DT 72 Carl Powell DE 93 Greg Scott DT 90 Justin Smith DE 99 Shaun Smith DT 97 John Thornton DT		Linebackers 51 Kevin Hardy OLB 59 Landon Johnson MLB 58 Caleb Miller MLB 56 Brian Simmons OLB 95 Larry Stevens OLB 55 Marcus Wilkins OLB Defensive backs 45 Rogers Beckett SS 22 Kim Herring SS 20 Tory James CB 34 Kevin Kaesviharn FS 42 Anthony Mitchell SS 37 Reggie Myles CB 24 Deltha O'Neal CB 25 Keiwan Ratliff CB/PR 30 Terrell Roberts CB 40 Madieu Williams FS Special teams 17 Shayne Graham K 19 Kyle Larson P 48 Brad St. Louis LS/TE		Reserve lists 53 Khalid Abdullah LB (IR) 96 Matthias Askew DT (IR) 21 Rashad Bauman CB (IR) 74 Rich Braham C (IR) 27 Greg Brooks CB (IR) 55 Frank Chamberlin LB (IR) 95 LaDairis Jackson LB (IR) 73 Belton Johnson OT (IR) 42 Ricot Joseph S (IR) 60 Langston Moore DT (IR) 26 Chris Perry RB (IR) 10 Kyle Richardson P (IR) 80 Peter Warrick WR (IR) 23 Dennis Weathersby CB (NF-Inj.) 52 Nate Webster LB (IR) 94 Tony Williams DT (IR) Practice squad 57 Allen Augustin LB 11 Jeremiah Cockheran WR 70 Derrick Crawford DE 38 Doug Easlick FB 49 Ronnie Ghent TE 81 Freddie Milons WR 29 Brandon Williams CB Rookies in italics 53 Active, 16 Inactive, 7 Practice squad

Regular season

The 2004 season constituted the first time since 1991 that the Bengals played the Washington Redskins, and the match produced their first ever away win over that franchise. The reason for this is that before the admission of the Texans in 2002, NFL scheduling formulas for games outside a team’s division were much more influenced by table position during the previous season.

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Game site	NFL.com recap
1	September 12	at New York Jets	L 24–31	0–1	Giants Stadium	Recap
2	September 19	Miami Dolphins	W 16–13	1–1	Paul Brown Stadium	Recap
3	September 26	Baltimore Ravens	L 9–23	1–2	Paul Brown Stadium	Recap
4	October 3	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 17–28	1–3	Heinz Field	Recap
5	Bye
6	October 17	at Cleveland Browns	L 17–34	1–4	Cleveland Browns Stadium	Recap
7	October 25	Denver Broncos	W 23–10	2–4	Paul Brown Stadium	Recap
8	October 31	at Tennessee Titans	L 20–27	2–5	The Coliseum	Recap
9	November 7	Dallas Cowboys	W 26–3	3–5	Paul Brown Stadium	Recap
10	November 14	at Washington Redskins	W 17–10	4–5	FedEx Field	Recap
11	November 21	Pittsburgh Steelers	L 14–19	4–6	Paul Brown Stadium	Recap
12	November 28	Cleveland Browns	W 58–48	5–6	Paul Brown Stadium	Recap
13	December 5	at Baltimore Ravens	W 27–26	6–6	M&T Bank Stadium	Recap
14	December 12	at New England Patriots	L 28–35	6–7	Gillette Stadium	Recap
15	December 19	Buffalo Bills	L 17–33	6–8	Paul Brown Stadium	Recap
16	December 26	New York Giants	W 23–22	7–8	Paul Brown Stadium	Recap
17	January 2	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 38–10	8–8	Lincoln Financial Field	Recap

Season summary

Week 2

1 2 3 4 Total Dolphins 0 3 0 10 13 • Bengals 0 0 13 3 16 Date: September 19 Location: Paul Brown Stadium Game start: 8:30 p.m. EST Game attendance: 65,705 Referee: Walt Anderson TV announcers (ESPN): Pat Summerall, Paul Maguire, Joe Theismann, and Suzy Kolber

Scoring summary Q2 12:39 MIA Mare 43 yard field goal MIA 3–0 Q3 12:01 CIN Simmons 50 yard interception return (Graham kick) CIN 7–3 Q3 5:11 CIN Graham 48 yard field goal CIN 10–3 Q3 0:13 CIN Graham 36 yard field goal CIN 13–3 Q4 3:39 MIA Chambers 4 yard pass from Feeley (Mare kick) CIN 13–10 Q4 1:53 MIA Mare 47 yard field goal Tie 13–13 Q4 0:02 CIN Graham 39 yard field goal CIN 16–13

Standings

AFC North
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
(1) Pittsburgh Steelers	15	1	0	.938	5–1	11–1	372	251	W14
Baltimore Ravens	9	7	0	.563	3–3	6–6	317	268	W1
Cincinnati Bengals	8	8	0	.500	4-2	4–8	374	372	W2
Cleveland Browns	4	12	0	.250	1–5	3–9	276	390	W1

Team leaders

Passing

Player	Att	Comp	Yds	TD	INT	Rating
Carson Palmer	432	263	2897	18	18	77.3

Rushing

Player	Att	Yds	YPC	Long	TD
Rudi Johnson	361	1454	4.0	52	12

Receiving

Player	Rec	Yds	Avg	Long	TD
Chad Johnson	95	1274	13.4	53	9

Defensive

Player	Tackles	Sacks	INTs	FF	FR
Landon Johnson	133	2.0	0	1	1
Justin Smith	97	8.0	0	2	2
Tory James	74	0.0	8	2	1

Kicking and punting

Player	FGA	FGM	FG%	XPA	XPM	XP%	Points
Shayne Graham	31	27	87.1%	41	41	100.0%	122

Player	Punts	Yards	Long	Blkd	Avg.
Kyle Larson	83	3499	66	1	42.2

Special teams

Player	KR	KRYards	KRAvg	KRLong	KRTD	PR	PRYards	PRAvg	PRLong	PRTD
Cliff Russell	39	872	22.4	40	0	0	0	0.0	0	0
Keiwan Ratliff	0	0	0.0	0	0	17	207	12.2	49	0

Awards and records

Pro Bowl Selections

• Rudi Johnson RB, AFC Pro-Bowl Selection
• Chad Johnson WR, AFC Pro-Bowl Selection
• Willie Anderson RT, AFC Pro-Bowl Selection
• Tory James CB, AFC Pro-Bowl Selection

All-Pro Award

• Willie Anderson RT, 1st Team All-Pro

Milestones

• Rudi Johnson, 1st 1000 yard rushing season (1,454 yards)
• Chad Johnson, 3rd 1000 yard receiving season (1,274 yards)

NFL Records

• 2nd Highest scoring regular season game in NFL history (58-48 win over the Cleveland Browns on November 28, 2004)

External links

• Official website
• 2004 Cincinnati Bengals at Pro-Football-Reference.com