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

1991 Cincinnati Bengals draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 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 ||||||

## Preseason

| 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 |

## Regular season
### Schedule

| 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 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | 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(OT) | 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

AFC Central :
| viewtalkedit | 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
#### Week 16 at Steelers

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bengals | 0 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 10 |
| Steelers | 10 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 17 |
at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
* Date: December 15
* Game time: 1:00 p.m. EDT
* Game weather: Mostly sunny, 31 °F (−1 °C)
* Game attendance: 35,420
* Referee: Gordon McCarter
* TV announcers (NBC): Don Criqui and Bob Trumpy
* Box Score
Game information :
First quarter
PIT – Adrian Cooper 47-yard pass from Bubby Brister (Gary Anderson kick), 12:59. Steelers 7–0.
PIT – Gary Anderson 47-yard field goal, 3:48. Steelers 10–0.
Second quarter
CIN – David Fulcher 27-yard interception return (Jim Breech kick), 14:00. Steelers 10–7.
Third quarter
CIN – Jim Breech 39-yard field goal, 5:10. Tie 10–10.
Fourth quarter
PIT – Keith Cash 19-yard pass from Bubby Brister (Gary Anderson kick), 14:55. Steelers 17–10.
Top passers
CIN – Boomer Esiason – 14/26, 125 yards, 2 INT
PIT – Bubby Brister – 15/28, 184 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT
Top rushers
CIN – Harold Green – 18 rushes, 62 yards
PIT – Merril Hoge – 16 rushes, 79 yards
Top receivers
CIN – Eddie Brown – 5 receptions, 50 yards
PIT – Keith Cash – 4 receptions, 55 yards, TD :

## Team leaders
### Passing

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

### Rushing

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

### Receiving

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

### Defensive

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

### Kicking/Punting

| 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

| 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 |