# 1990 Cincinnati Bengals season

The 1990 Cincinnati Bengals season was the franchise's 23rd year in professional football and its 21st with the National Football League (NFL). The Bengals won the AFC Central division for the second time in three seasons.
The Bengals would finish the season 9–7 and make the playoffs. In the postseason, Cincinnati won over the Houston Oilers in the wild-card round 41–14, but lost to the Los Angeles Raiders 20–10 in the divisional round. The Bengals would not make the playoffs again until the 2005 season and would not win a playoff game again until their Super Bowl-appearing 2021 season beginning what eventually became an 8-game playoff losing streak, tied with the Detroit Lions for longest in NFL history.

## Offseason
### NFL draft

1990 Cincinnati Bengals draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 12 | James Francis | Linebacker | Baylor |
| 2 | 38 | Harold Green * | Running back | South Carolina |
| 3 | 65 | Bernard Clark | Linebacker | Miami (FL) |
| 4 | 91 | Mike Brennan | Offensive tackle | Notre Dame |
| 5 | 122 | Lynn James | Wide receiver | Arizona State |
| 6 | 150 | Don Odegard | Defensive back | UNLV |
| 7 | 177 | Craig Ogletree | Linebacker | Auburn |
| 8 | 204 | Doug Wellsandt | Tight end | Washington State |
| 9 | 234 | Mitchell Price | Defensive back | Tulane |
| 10 | 261 | Eric Crigler | Offensive tackle | Murray State |
| 11 | 288 | Tim O'Connor | Offensive tackle | Virginia |
| 12 | 314 | Andre Riley | Wide receiver | Washington |
| Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Recap |
| 1 | September 9 | New York Jets | W 25–20 | 1–0 | Riverfront Stadium | Recap |
| 2 | September 16 | at San Diego Chargers | W 21–16 | 2–0 | Jack Murphy Stadium | Recap |
| 3 | September 23 | New England Patriots | W 41–7 | 3–0 | Riverfront Stadium | Recap |
| 4 | October 1 | at Seattle Seahawks | L 16–31 | 3–1 | Kingdome | Recap |
| 5 | October 7 | at Los Angeles Rams | W 34–31 (OT) | 4–1 | Anaheim Stadium | Recap |
| 6 | October 14 | at Houston Oilers | L 17–48 | 4–2 | Astrodome | Recap |
| 7 | October 22 | at Cleveland Browns | W 34–13 | 5–2 | Cleveland Stadium | Recap |
| 8 | October 28 | at Atlanta Falcons | L 17–38 | 5–3 | Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium | Recap |
| 9 | November 4 | New Orleans Saints | L 7–21 | 5–4 | Riverfront Stadium | Recap |
| 10 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 11 | November 18 | Pittsburgh Steelers | W 27–3 | 6–4 | Riverfront Stadium | Recap |
| 12 | November 25 | Indianapolis Colts | L 20–34 | 6–5 | Riverfront Stadium | Recap |
| 13 | December 2 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | W 16–12 | 7–5 | Three Rivers Stadium | Recap |
| 14 | December 9 | San Francisco 49ers | L 17–20 (OT) | 7–6 | Riverfront Stadium | Recap |
| 15 | December 16 | at Los Angeles Raiders | L 7–24 | 7–7 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | Recap |
| 16 | December 23 | Houston Oilers | W 40–20 | 8–7 | Riverfront Stadium | Recap |
| 17 | December 30 | Cleveland Browns | W 21–14 | 9–7 | Riverfront Stadium | Recap |

### Game summaries
#### Week 1 vs Jets

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Jets | 0 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 20 |
| Bengals | 0 | 3 | 7 | 15 | 25 |
at Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio
* Date: September 9
* Game time: 4:00 p.m.
* Game weather: 72 °F (22.2 °C)
* Game attendance: 56,467
* Referee: Dale Hamer
* TV: NBC
* Box Score, Box Score
Game information :
First quarter
No scoring
Second quarter
CIN – Jim Breech 43-yard field goal, 14:52. Bengals 3–0.
NYJ – Al Toon 46-yard pass from Ken O'Brien (Pat Leahy kick), 6:12. Jets 7–3.
NYJ – Pat Leahy 33-yard field goal, 0:00. Jets 10–3.
Third quarter
CIN – Eddie Brown 10-yard pass from Boomer Esiason (Jim Breech kick), 10:34. Tie 10–10.
NYJ – Al Toon 9-yard pass from Ken O'Brien (Pat Leahy kick), 4:44. Jets 17–10.
Fourth quarter
NYJ – Pat Leahy 26-yard field goal, 13:47. Jets 20–10.
CIN – James Brooks 3-yard pass from Boomer Esiason (Jim Breech kick), 9:46. Jets 20–17.
CIN – Safety, David Fulcher tackled Ken O'Brien in end zone, 8:59. Jets 20–19.
CIN – Jim Breech 44-yard field goal, 4:46. Bengals 22–20.
CIN – Jim Breech 37-yard field goal, 2:12. Bengals 25–20.
Top passers
NYJ – Ken O'Brien – 27/49, 300 yards, TD, 2 int
CIN – Boomer Esiason – 17/30, 202 yards, 2 TD, 2 int
Top rushers
NYJ – Freeman McNeil – 7 rushes, 24 yards Brad Baxter – 5 rushes, 24 yards
CIN – James Brooks – 15 rushes, 67 yards
Top receivers
NYJ – Al Toon – 8 receptions, 118 yards, 2 TD
CIN – Tim McGee – 6 receptions, 84 yards :

#### Week 2

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Bengals | 0 | 14 | 0 | 7 | 21 |
| Chargers | 13 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 16 |

#### Week 13

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Bengals | 7 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| Steelers | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 12 |

#### Week 17 vs Browns

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Browns | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 14 |
| Bengals | 0 | 14 | 0 | 7 | 21 |
at Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio
* Date: December 30
* Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST
* Game weather: 52 °F (11 °C)
* Game attendance: 60,041
* Referee: Gene Barth
* Pro-Football-Reference.com, The Football Database
Game information :
First quarter
No scoring
Second quarter
CIN – James Francis 17-yard interception return (Jim Breech kick), 7:10. Bengals 7–0.
CIN – Rodney Holman 22-yard pass from Boomer Esiason (Jim Breech kick), 2:14. Bengals 14–0. Drive:
Third quarter
CLE – Kevin Mack 2-yard run (Jerry Kauric kick), 13:36. Bengals 14–7. Drive:
CLE – Brian Brennan 16-yard pass from Mike Pagel (Jerry Kauric kick), 10:28. Tie 14–14. Drive:
Fourth quarter
CIN – Eric Ball 48-yard pass from Boomer Esiason (Jim Breech kick), 8:40. Bengals 21–14. Drive:
Top passers
CLE – Mike Pagel – 14/32, 184 yards, TD, 3 int
CIN – Boomer Esiason – 10/16, 154 yards, 2 TD, 2 int
Top rushers
CLE – Kevin Mack – 16 rushes, 85 yards, TD
CIN – James Brooks – 17 rushes, 84 yards
Top receivers
CLE – Webster Slaughter – 6 receptions, 115 yards
CIN – Eric Ball – 1 reception, 48 yards, TD :

### Standings

AFC Central :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| $^{(3)}$ Cincinnati Bengals | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 5–1 | 8–4 | 360 | 352 | W2 |
| $^{(6)}$ Houston Oilers | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 4–2 | 8–4 | 405 | 307 | W1 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 2–4 | 6–6 | 292 | 240 | L1 |
| Cleveland Browns | 3 | 13 | 0 | .188 | 1–5 | 2–10 | 228 | 462 | L2 |

### Best performances

* James Brooks, December 23, 1990, 201 rushing yards vs. Houston Oilers

## Playoffs
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent (seed) | Result | Record | Venue | Venue |
| Wildcard | January 6, 1991 | Houston Oilers (6) | W 41–14 | 1–0 | Riverfront Stadium | 60,012 |
| Divisional | January 13, 1991 | at Los Angeles Raiders (2) | L 10–20 | 1–1 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 92,045 |

## Team leaders
### Passing

| Player | Att | Comp | Yds | TD | INT | Rating |
| Boomer Esiason | 402 | 224 | 3031 | 24 | 22 | 77.0 |

### Rushing

| Player | Att | Yds | YPC | Long | TD |
| James Brooks | 195 | 1004 | 5.1 | 56 | 5 |
| Ickey Woods | 64 | 268 | 4.2 | 32 | 6 |

### Receiving

| Player | Rec | Yds | Avg | Long | TD |
| Eddie Brown | 44 | 706 | 16.0 | 50 | 9 |

### Defensive

| Player | Tackles | Sacks | INTs | FF | FR |
| James Francis | 76 | 8.0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Barney Bussey | 57 | 2.0 | 4 | 0 | 1 |

### Kicking and punting

| Player | FGA | FGM | FG% | XPA | XPM | XP% | Points |
| Jim Breech | 21 | 17 | 81.0% | 44 | 41 | 93.2% | 92 |
| Player | Punts | Yards | Long | Blkd | Avg. |
| Lee Johnson | 64 | 2705 | 70 | 0 | 42.3 |

### Special teams

| Player | KR | KRYards | KRAvg | KRLong | KRTD | PR | PRYards | PRAvg | PRLong | PRTD |
| Stanford Jennings | 29 | 584 | 20.1 | 33 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mitchell Price | 10 | 191 | 19.1 | 33 | 0 | 29 | 251 | 8.7 | 66 | 1 |

## Awards and records
### All-Pros

* Anthony Muñoz LT, 1st Team All-Pro

### All-Rookies

* James Francis OLB, PFWA All-Rookie Team

### Records

* Boomer Esiason, franchise record, most passing yards in one game, 490 yards (achieved on October 7, 1990)

### Milestones

* James Brooks, 1st 200 yard rushing game, December 23, 1990, 201 rushing yards vs. Houston Oilers
* James Brooks, 3rd 1000 yard rushing season (1,004 yards)