# 1989 Cincinnati Bengals season

The 1989 Cincinnati Bengals season was their 20th in the National Football League (NFL) and 22nd overall. The Bengals' 404 points scored were the fourth-most in the NFL in 1989. Four of their eight losses on the season were by a touchdown or less.
The 1989 Bengals are the most recent NFL team to score 55 points or more twice in a single season: Week 8 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (56) and Week 15 against the arch-rival Houston Oilers (61), both at home. Despite this, the Bengals finished the season 4th in their division and failed to earn a playoff berth, making them the only team in the AFC Central to do so.

## Offseason
### NFL Draft

1989 Cincinnati Bengals draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 2 | 35 | Eric Ball | Running back | UCLA |
| 2 | 55 | Freddie Childress | Offensive tackle | Arkansas |
| 3 | 83 | Erik Wilhelm | Quarterback | Oregon State |
| 4 | 89 | Kerry Owens | Linebacker | Arkansas |
| 4 | 111 | Rob Woods | Offensive tackle | Arizona |
| 5 | 138 | Natu Tuatagaloa | Defensive end | California |
| 6 | 166 | Craig Taylor | Running back | West Virginia |
| 7 | 194 | Kendal Smith | Wide receiver | Utah State |
| 8 | 222 | Chris Chenault | Linebacker | Kentucky |
| 9 | 250 | Richard Stephens | Guard | Tulsa |
| 10 | 256 | Cornell Holloway | Defensive back | Pittsburgh |
| 10 | 278 | Bob Jean | Quarterback | New Hampshire |
| 11 | 306 | Dana Wells | Defensive tackle | Arizona |
| 12 | 334 | Scott Jones | Offensive tackle | Washington |
| Made roster ||||||

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Recap |
| 1 | September 10 | at Chicago Bears | L 14–17 | 0–1 | Soldier Field | Recap |
| 2 | September 17 | Pittsburgh Steelers | W 41–10 | 1–1 | Riverfront Stadium | Recap |
| 3 | September 25 | Cleveland Browns | W 21–14 | 2–1 | Riverfront Stadium | Recap |
| 4 | October 1 | at Kansas City Chiefs | W 21–17 | 3–1 | Arrowhead Stadium | Recap |
| 5 | October 8 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | W 26–16 | 4–1 | Three Rivers Stadium | Recap |
| 6 | October 15 | Miami Dolphins | L 13–20 | 4–2 | Riverfront Stadium | Recap |
| 7 | October 22 | Indianapolis Colts | L 12–23 | 4–3 | Riverfront Stadium | Recap |
| 8 | October 29 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | W 56–23 | 5–3 | Riverfront Stadium | Recap |
| 9 | November 5 | at Los Angeles Raiders | L 7–28 | 5-4 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | Recap |
| 10 | November 13 | at Houston Oilers | L 24–26 | 5–5 | Astrodome | Recap |
| 11 | November 19 | Detroit Lions | W 42–7 | 6–5 | Riverfront Stadium | Recap |
| 12 | November 26 | at Buffalo Bills | L 7–24 | 6–6 | Rich Stadium | Recap |
| 13 | December 3 | at Cleveland Browns | W 21–0 | 7–6 | Cleveland Stadium | Recap |
| 14 | December 10 | Seattle Seahawks | L 17–24 | 7–7 | Riverfront Stadium | Recap |
| 15 | December 17 | Houston Oilers | W 61–7 | 8–7 | Riverfront Stadium | Recap |
| 16 | December 25 | at Minnesota Vikings | L 21–29 | 8–8 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | Recap |

### Season summary
#### Week 1 at Bears

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bengals | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
| Bears | 0 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 17 |
at Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois
* Date: September 10
* Game time: 1:00 p.m.
* Game weather: 64 °F (18 °C)
* Game attendance: 64,730
* Referee: Jerry Seeman
* Box Score, Box Score
Game information :
First quarter
CIN – James Brooks 4-yard pass from Boomer Esiason (Jim Breech kick), 9:52. Bengals 7–0.
Second quarter
CHI – Mike Tomczak 11-yard run (Kevin Butler kick), 0:10. Tie 7–7.
Third quarter
CIN – Ickey Woods 5-yard run (Jim Breech kick), 8:28. Bengals 14–7.
CHI – Kevin Butler 29-yard field goal, 11:40. Bengals 14–10.
Fourth quarter
CHI – James Thornton 20-yard pass from Mike Tomczak (Kevin Butler kick), 10:06. Bears 17–14.
Top passers
CIN – Boomer Esiason – 18/36, 184 yards, TD
CHI – Mike Tomczak – 10/24, 159 yards, TD, 2 INT
Top rushers
CIN – James Brooks – 13 rushes, 88 yards
CHI – Neal Anderson – 21 rushes, 146 yards
Top receivers
CIN – James Brooks – 5 receptions, 46 yards, TD
CHI – James Thornton – 4 receptions, 86 yards, TD :

#### Week 3 vs Browns

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Browns | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| Bengals | 0 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 21 |
at Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio
* Date: September 25
* Game time: 9:00 p.m. EDT
* Game weather: 53 °F (12 °C)
* TV: ABC
* Box Score

#### Week 14 vs. Seahawks

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Seahawks | 0 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 24 |
| Bengals | 7 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 17 |
at Riverfront Stadium • Cincinnati, Ohio
* Date: December 10
* Game time: 1:00pm local
* Game weather: Cloudy • 30 °F (−1 °C) • Wind 12 miles per hour (19 km/h) SW
* Game attendance: 54,744
* Referee: Bob McElwee
* TV: NBC
* Play-by-Play
Game information :
Seahawks
Dave Krieg 22/33, 258 Yds, 3 TD, INT
Curt Warner 14 Rush, 51 Yds
Brian Blades 6 Rec, 107 Yds, TD
Bengals
Boomer Esiason 21/42, 246 yds, TD
James Brooks 11 Rush, 52 Yds
Tim McGee 7 Rec, 109 Yds, TD :
   You don't live in Cleveland, you live in Cincinnati.
Scoring summary :
| Quarter | Time | Drive | Drive | Drive | Team | Scoring information | Score | Score |
| Quarter | Time | Plays | Yards | TOP | Team | Scoring information | SEA | CIN |
| 1 | 5:18 | 3 | 44 | 0:48 | Bengals | Tim McGee 21-yard touchdown reception from Boomer Esiason, Jim Breech kick good | 0 | 7 |
| 2 | 10:37 | 13 | 71 | 5:51 | Bengals | 24-yard field goal by Jim Breech | 0 | 10 |
| 2 | 0:42 | 12 | 78 | 2:25 | Seahawks | Steve Largent 10-yard touchdown reception from Dave Krieg, Norm Johnson kick good | 7 | 10 |
| 3 | 12:58 | 5 | 37 | 1:51 | Seahawks | 48-yard field goal by Norm Johnson | 10 | 10 |
| 3 | 10:14 | 1 | 60 | 0:12 | Seahawks | Brian Blades 60-yard touchdown reception from Dave Krieg, Norm Johnson kick good | 17 | 10 |
| 4 | 9:39 | | | | Bengals | Interception returned 18 yards for touchdown by Eric Thomas, Jim Breech kick good | 17 | 17 |
| 4 | 3:51 | 10 | 80 | 5:42 | Seahawks | Curt Warner 1-yard touchdown reception from Dave Krieg, Norm Johnson kick good | 24 | 17 |
| "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | 24 | 17 |

### Standings

AFC Central :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Cleveland Browns$^{(2)}$ | 9 | 6 | 1 | .594 | 3–3 | 6–5–1 | 334 | 254 | W2 |
| Houston Oilers$^{(4)}$ | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 3–3 | 6–6 | 365 | 412 | L2 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers$^{(5)}$ | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 1–5 | 6–6 | 265 | 326 | W3 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 8 | 8 | 0 | .500 | 5–1 | 6–6 | 404 | 285 | L1 |

## Team leaders
### Passing

| Player | Att | Comp | Yds | TD | INT | Rating |
| Boomer Esiason | 455 | 258 | 3525 | 28 | 11 | 92.1 |

### Rushing

| Player | Att | Yds | YPC | Long | TD |
| James Brooks | 221 | 1239 | 5.6 | 65 | 7 |

### Receiving

| Player | Rec | Yds | Avg | Long | TD |
| Tim McGee | 65 | 1211 | 18.6 | 74 | 8 |
| Rodney Holman | 50 | 736 | 14.7 | 73 | 9 |

### Defensive

| Player | Tackles | Sacks | INTs | FF | FR |
| David Fulcher | 107 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 4 |
| Jason Buck | 63 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 |

### Kicking and punting

| Player | FGA | FGM | FG% | XPA | XPM | XP% | Points |
| Jim Breech | 14 | 12 | 85.7% | 38 | 37 | 97.4% | 73 |
| Player | Punts | Yards | Long | Blkd | Avg. |
| Lee Johnson | 61 | 2446 | 62 | 2 | 40.1 |

### Special teams

| Player | KR | KRYards | KRAvg | KRLong | KRTD | PR | PRYards | PRAvg | PRLong | PRTD |
| Stanford Jennings | 26 | 525 | 20.2 | 33 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Martin | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 107 | 7.1 | 17 | 0 |

## Awards and records
### Pro Bowl selections

* Boomer Esiason QB, AFC Pro-Bowl Selection
* Rodney Holman TE, AFC Pro-Bowl Selection
* James Brooks RB, AFC Pro-Bowl Selection
* David Fulcher SS, AFC Pro-Bowl Selection
* Anthony Muñoz LT, AFC Pro-Bowl Selection

### Milestones

* Boomer Esiason, 5th straight 3,000-yard season
* James Brooks, 2nd 1,000-yard season (1,239 yards)
* Tim McGee, 1st 1,000-yard season (1,211 yards)