# 1983 Cincinnati Bengals season

The 1983 season was the Cincinnati Bengals' 14th season in the National Football League, their 16th overall, and their fourth and final under head coach Forrest Gregg.
Cincinnati lost six of their first seven games, then won six of nine to finish at 7–9. Despite the record, the Bengals claimed the top overall defense in the NFL, and were 4–2 in divisional games.
After the season in December, Gregg was allowed out of his contract's remaining year to succeed Bart Starr as head coach of the Green Bay Packers. Several days later, Indiana Hoosiers head coach Sam Wyche, a former Bengals quarterback, was named as his replacement.

## Offseason
### NFL Draft

1983 Cincinnati Bengals draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 25 | Dave Rimington | Center | Nebraska |
| 2 | 53 | Ray Horton | Cornerback | Washington |
| 3 | 81 | Jimmy Turner | Defensive back | UCLA |
| 4 | 109 | Steve Maidlow | Linebacker | Michigan State |
| 5 | 137 | Jeff Christensen | Quarterback | Eastern Illinois |
| 6 | 152 | Kiki DeAyala | Linebacker | Texas |
| 6 | 165 | Larry Kinnebrew | Running back | Tennessee State |
| 7 | 193 | James Griffin | Defensive back | Middle Tennessee |
| 8 | 221 | Mike Martin | Wide receiver | Illinois |
| 9 | 248 | Stanley Wilson | Running back | Oklahoma |
| 10 | 276 | Tim Krumrie * | Defensive tackle | Wisconsin |
| 11 | 304 | Gary Williams | Wide receiver | Ohio State |
| 12 | 332 | Andre Young | Linebacker | Bowling Green |
| Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 4 | Los Angeles Raiders | L 10–20 | 0–1 | Riverfront Stadium | 50,956 |
| 2 | September 11 | Buffalo Bills | L 6–10 | 0–2 | Riverfront Stadium | 46,839 |
| 3 | September 15 | at Cleveland Browns | L 7–17 | 0–3 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 79,700 |
| 4 | September 25 | at Tampa Bay Buccaneers | W 23–17 | 1–3 | Tampa Stadium | 56,023 |
| 5 | October 2 | Baltimore Colts | L 31–34 | 1–4 | Riverfront Stadium | 48,104 |
| 6 | October 10 | Pittsburgh Steelers | L 14–24 | 1–5 | Riverfront Stadium | 56,086 |
| 7 | October 16 | at Denver Broncos | L 17–24 | 1–6 | Mile High Stadium | 74,305 |
| 8 | October 23 | Cleveland Browns | W 28–21 | 2–6 | Riverfront Stadium | 50,047 |
| 9 | October 30 | Green Bay Packers | W 34–14 | 3–6 | Riverfront Stadium | 53,349 |
| 10 | November 6 | at Houston Oilers | W 55–14 | 4–6 | Houston Astrodome | 39,706 |
| 11 | November 13 | at Kansas City Chiefs | L 15–20 | 4–7 | Arrowhead Stadium | 44,711 |
| 12 | November 20 | Houston Oilers | W 38–10 | 5–7 | Riverfront Stadium | 46,375 |
| 13 | November 28 | at Miami Dolphins | L 14–38 | 5–8 | Miami Orange Bowl | 74,506 |
| 14 | December 4 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | W 23–10 | 6–8 | Three Rivers Stadium | 55,832 |
| 15 | December 11 | Detroit Lions | W 17–9 | 7–8 | Riverfront Stadium | 45,728 |
| 16 | December 17 | at Minnesota Vikings | L 14–20 | 7–9 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | 51,565 |
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

### Standings

AFC Central :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Pittsburgh Steelers$^{(3)}$ | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 4–2 | 8–4 | 355 | 303 | L1 |
| Cleveland Browns | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 3–3 | 7–5 | 356 | 342 | W1 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 4–2 | 4–8 | 346 | 302 | L1 |
| Houston Oilers | 2 | 14 | 0 | .125 | 1–5 | 1–11 | 288 | 460 | L1 |

### Game summaries
#### Week 1: vs. Los Angeles Raiders

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Raiders | 7 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 20 |
| Bengals | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 10 |
at Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati
* Date: September 4
* Game time: 1:00 p.m.
* Game weather: 75 °F (24 °C), wind 9 mph (14 km/h)
* Game attendance: 50,956
* Referee: Ben Dreith
* TV announcers (NBC): Marv Albert and John Brodie
* Pro-Football-Reference.com
Game information :
First quarter
LA (7:32) – Marcus Allen 1 yard run (Chris Bahr kick) – Raiders 7–0
Second quarter
LA (9:05) – Marcus Allen 1 yard run (Chris Bahr kick) – Raiders 14–0
LA (4:59) – Chris Bahr 38 yard field goal – Raiders 17–0
Third quarter
CIN (9:23) – Jim Breech 36 yard field goal – Raiders 17–3
Fourth quarter
LA (12:25) – Chris Bahr 39 yard field goal – Raiders 20–3
CIN (1:00) – M.L. Harris 9 yard pass from Ken Anderson (Jim Breech kick) – Raiders 20–10
Raiders
Jim Plunkett 14/29, 158 Yds, INT
Marcus Allen 17 Rush, 47 Yds, 2 TD
Malcolm Barnwell 5 Rec, 66 Yds
Bengals
Ken Anderson 26/35, 226 Yds, TD, INT
Stanley Wilson 4 Rush, 20 Yds
Dan Ross 5 Rec, 50 Yds :

## Awards and records

* Passing: Ken Anderson (297 Att, 198 Comp, 2333 Yds, 66.7 Pct, 12 TD, 13 Int, 85.6 Rating)
* Rushing: Pete Johnson (210 Att, 763 Yds, 3.6 Avg, 16 Long, 14 TD)
* Receiving: Cris Collinsworth (66 Rec, 1130 Yds, 17.1 Avg, 63 Long, 5 TD)
* Scoring: Jim Breech, 87 points (16 FG; 39 PAT)