1984 Cincinnati Bengals Season Mini Forum, Tips, Tricks & Codes

The 1984 season was the Cincinnati Bengals' 15th season in the National Football League (NFL), their 17th overall, and their first under head coach Sam Wyche. The squadlost their first five games, before winning eight of their final eleven games to finish the season with a .500 record.

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 squadbegan a turnaround, and by December, was one of the hottest squad in the league. The squadwon seven out of their last nine games, including a crucial victoryversustheir division rival Pittsburgh Steelers in week 11.

In the final week of the season, Cincinnati requiredto 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 squadis rated as the most average squadin the history of American sports. They both scored and permitted339 points in addition to their 8–8 record.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	College
1984 Cincinnati Bengals draft
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	FreshMexico 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
Angry roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Angry at least one Pro Bowl during career

Roster

**1984 Cincinnati Bengals roster**

	Quarterbacks 14 Ken Anderson 11 Bryan Clark 7 Boomer Esiason 15 Turk Schonert Running backs 40 Charles Alexander 21 James Brooks 36 Stanford Jennings Wide receivers 80 Cris Collinsworth 85 Isaac Curtis 86 Steve Kreider 46 Clay Pickering 81 David Verser Tight ends 82 Rodney Holman 89 Don Kern		Offensive linemen 75 Brian Blados T 65 Max Montoya G 78 Anthony Muñoz T 64 Bruce Reimers G 50 Dave Rimington C 62 Gary Smith G 77 Mike Wilson T Defensive linemen 79 Ross Browner DE 73 Eddie Edwards DE 67 Pete Koch DE 69 Tim Krumrie NT		Linebackers 50 Glenn Cameron 58 Brian Pillman 59 Jeff Schuh 56 Ron Simpkins 57 Reggie Williams OLB Defensive backs 34 Louis Breeden 27 Barney Bussey 44 Ray Griffin 20 Ray Horton 26 Bobby Kemp Special squad 3 Jim Breech K 87 Pat McInally P		Reserve lists {{{reserve_lists}}} Practice squad Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

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

Note: Intra-division enemy are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 6

Week 7

Week 8

Week 10 (Sunday, November 4, 1984): at San Francisco 49ers

Week 10: Cincinnati Bengals at San Francisco 49ers

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Bengals (3–7)	3	14	0	0	17
49ers (9–1)	0	7	3	13	23

at Candlestick Park • San Francisco, California

Date: November 4, 1984
Game time: 4:00 p.m. EST
Game weather: 56 °F (13 °C); victory 14 miles per hour (23 km/h; 12 kn)
Game attendance: 58,234
Referee: Dick Jorgensen
TV announcers (NBC): Len Berman (play-by-play) and Gene Washington (color commentator)

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
CIN	Passing	Ken Anderson	21/34, 269 YDS, 1 TD, 2 INTs
	Rushing	Charles Alexander	8 CAR, 48 YDS
	Receiving	Cris Collinsworth	4 REC, 71 YDS, 1 TD
SF	Passing	Joe Montana	27/42, 301 YDS, 2 TDs, 4 INTs
	Rushing	Wendell Tyler	14 CAR, 52 YDS
	Receiving	Dwight Clark	7 REC, 124 YDS

Scoring summary

Quarter	Time	Drive			Team	Scoring information	Score
Quarter	Time	Plays	Yards	TOP	Team	Scoring information	CIN	SF
1	1:05				Bengals	39-yard field goal by Breech	3	0
2	12:07				49ers	Cooper 12-yard touchdown reception from Montana, Wersching kick good	3	7
2	7:02				Bengals	Kinnebrew 6-yard touchdown run, Breech kick good	10	7
2	3:10				Bengals	Collinsworth 7-yard touchdown reception from Anderson, Breech kick good	17	7
3	8:54				49ers	29-yard field goal by Wersching	17	10
4	9:46				49ers	35-yard field goal by Wersching	17	13
4	5:44				49ers	24-yard field goal by Wersching	17	16
4	1:39				49ers	Solomon 4-yard touchdown reception from Montana, Wersching kick good	17	23
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football.							17	23

Point spread: 49ers by 10½
Over/Under: 43.0 (under)
Time of Game:

Bengals	Game Statistics	49ers
21	First downs	26
25–116	Rushes–yards	31–91
269	Passing yards	301
21–34–2	Passes	27–42–4
6–39	Sacked–yards	1–7
230	Net passing yards	294
346	Total yards	385
144	Return yards	190
6–38.2	Punts	2–47.0
0–0	Fumbles–lost	0–0
6–46	Penalties–yards	5–30
29:24	Time of Possession	30:36

Week 11

Standings

AFC Central
view talk	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