# 1997 Cincinnati Bengals season

The 1997 Cincinnati Bengals season was the team's 30th season in professional football and its 28th in the National Football League. After winning the first game of the season, the Bengals lost their next seven games to effectively end any playoff hopes. The struggles cost Jeff Blake his starting quarterback job, as former Bengal starting quarterback Boomer Esiason, who was reacquired in the off-season, came back in to lead the Bengals. With Esiason back under center the Bengals started to win as he connected on 13 touchdown passes, while giving up two interceptions. Under Esiason the Bengals won six of their final eight games, to finish with a 7–9 record. Just as the Bengals were ready to give Esiason the job full-time, he got a lucrative offer from ABC-TV to do games on Monday Night Football. Since he would earn more money on ABC he decided to retire. Running back Corey Dillon set a rookie rushing record (since broken) for most yards in a game. On December 4, 1997, Dillon rushed for 246 yards in a game against the Tennessee Oilers.
For the season, the Bengals sported new uniforms and a new logo, which would remain until 2003. The new tiger head logo remains in use today.

## Offseason
### NFL draft

1997 Cincinnati Bengals draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 14 | Reinard Wilson | Linebacker | Florida State |
| 2 | 43 | Corey Dillon * | Running back | Washington |
| 3 | 76 | Rod Payne | Center | Michigan |
| 4 | 111 | Tremain Mack * | Defensive back | Miami (FL) |
| 5 | 144 | Andre Purvis | Defensive tackle | North Carolina |
| 6 | 176 | Canute Curtis | Linebacker | West Virginia |
| 7 | 217 | William Carr | Defensive tackle | Michigan |
| Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Attendance | Record |
| 1 | August 31 | Arizona Cardinals | W 24–21 | 53,644 | 1–0 |
| 2 | September 7 | at Baltimore Ravens | L 23–10 | 52,968 | 1–1 |
| 3 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 4 | September 21 | at Denver Broncos | L 38–20 | 73,871 | 1–2 |
| 5 | September 28 | New York Jets | L 31–14 | 57,209 | 1–3 |
| 6 | October 5 | at Jacksonville Jaguars | L 21–13 | 67,128 | 1–4 |
| 7 | October 12 | at Tennessee Oilers | L 30–7 | 17,071 | 1–5 |
| 8 | October 19 | Pittsburgh Steelers | L 26–10 | 60,020 | 1–6 |
| 9 | October 26 | at New York Giants | L 29–27 | 72,584 | 1–7 |
| 10 | November 2 | San Diego Chargers | W 38–31 | 53,754 | 2–7 |
| 11 | November 9 | at Indianapolis Colts | W 28–13 | 58,473 | 3–7 |
| 12 | November 16 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | L 20–3 | 55,226 | 3–8 |
| 13 | November 23 | Jacksonville Jaguars | W 31–26 | 55,158 | 4–8 |
| 14 | November 30 | at Philadelphia Eagles | L 44–42 | 66,623 | 4–9 |
| 15 | December 4 | Tennessee Oilers | W 41–14 | 49,086 | 5–9 |
| 16 | December 14 | Dallas Cowboys | W 31–24 | 60,043 | 6–9 |
| 17 | December 21 | Baltimore Ravens | W 16–14 | 50,917 | 7–9 |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. ||||||

### Standings

AFC Central :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | STK |
| $^{(2)}$ Pittsburgh Steelers | 11 | 5 | 0 | .688 | 372 | 307 | L1 |
| $^{(5)}$ Jacksonville Jaguars | 11 | 5 | 0 | .688 | 394 | 318 | W2 |
| Tennessee Oilers | 8 | 8 | 0 | .500 | 333 | 310 | W1 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 355 | 405 | W3 |
| Baltimore Ravens | 6 | 9 | 1 | .406 | 326 | 345 | L1 |

## Team leaders
### Passing

| Player | Att | Comp | Yds | TD | INT | Rating |
| Jeff Blake | 317 | 184 | 2125 | 8 | 7 | 77.6 |
| Boomer Esiason | 186 | 118 | 1478 | 13 | 2 | 106.9 |

### Rushing

| Player | Att | Yds | YPC | Long | TD |
| Corey Dillon | 233 | 1129 | 4.8 | 66 | 10 |

### Receiving

| Player | Rec | Yds | Avg | Long | TD |
| Darnay Scott | 54 | 797 | 14.8 | 77 | 5 |
| Tony McGee | 34 | 414 | 12.2 | 37 | 6 |

### Defense

| Player | Tackles | Sacks | INTs | FF | FR |
| Sam Shade | 96 | 4.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Gerald Dixon | 50 | 8.5 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Corey Sawyer | 31 | 0.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |

### Kicking and punting

| Player | FGA | FGM | FG% | XPA | XPM | XP% | Points |
| Doug Pelfrey | 16 | 12 | 75.0% | 43 | 41 | 95.3% | 77 |
| Player | Punts | Yards | Long | Blkd | Avg. |
| Lee Johnson | 81 | 3471 | 66 | 0 | 42.9 |

### Special teams

| Player | KR | KRYards | KRAvg | KRLong | KRTD | PR | PRYards | PRAvg | PRLong | PRTD |
| Eric Bieniemy | 34 | 789 | 23.2 | 102 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Greg Myers | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 201 | 7.7 | 18 | 0 |

## Awards and records

* Corey Dillon, Franchise Record (since broken), Most Rushing Yards in One Game, 246 yards vs. Tennessee Oilers (achieved on December 4, 1997)
* Corey Dillon, Rookie Record (since broken), Most Rushing Yards in One Game, 246 yards vs. Tennessee Oilers (achieved on December 4, 1997)
* Corey Dillon, Franchise Record (tied), Most Points in One Game, 24 Points vs. Tennessee Oilers (achieved on December 4, 1997)
* Corey Dillon, Franchise Record (tied), Most Touchdowns in One Game, 4 TD's vs. Tennessee Oilers (achieved on December 4, 1997)

### Milestones

* Corey Dillon, 1st 1000 yard rushing season (1,129 rushing yards)