# 2004 Cincinnati Bengals season

The 2004 Cincinnati Bengals season was the team's 37th year in professional football and its 35th with the National Football League (NFL). The Bengals began to focus on the future, trading All-Pro running back Corey Dillon to the New England Patriots. That cleared the way for Rudi Johnson to start at running back. Carson Palmer was given the starting quarterback job. Palmer and the young Bengals would struggle early, losing five of their first seven games. As the season wore on, the Bengals began to hit their stride, as they climbed back to .500, at 6–6, before a sprained knee sent Palmer to the sidelines during a 35–28 road loss to the eventual Super Bowl champion New England Patriots.
With wins in their final two games, the Bengals would finish 8–8 for the second year in a row. Rudi Johnson finished sixth in the NFL in rushing with 1,454 yards, giving Bengals fans hope for the future.
This season would see the Bengals make their first appearance on Monday Night Football since 1992, a win at home against the Denver Broncos on October 25.

## Offseason
### NFL Draft

2004 Cincinnati Bengals draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 26 | Chris Perry | RB | Michigan |
| 2 | 49 | Keiwan Ratliff | CB | Florida |
| 2 | 56 | Madieu Williams | S | Maryland |
| 3 | 80 | Caleb Miller | LB | Arkansas |
| 3 | 96 | Landon Johnson | LB | Purdue |
| 4 | 114 | Matthias Askew | DT | Michigan State |
| 4 | 117 | Robert Geathers | DE | Georgia |
| 4 | 123 | Stacy Andrews | OT | Ole Miss |
| 5 | 149 | Maurice Mann | WR | Nevada |
| 6 | 183 | Greg Brooks | DB | North Texas |
| 7 | 218 | Casey Bramlet | QB | Wyoming |
| Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

## Regular season

The 2004 season constituted the first time since 1991 that the Bengals played the Washington Redskins, and the match produced their first ever away win over that franchise. The reason for this is that before the admission of the Texans in 2002, NFL scheduling formulas for games outside a team’s division were much more influenced by table position during the previous season.

### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Recap |
| 1 | September 12 | at New York Jets | L 24–31 | 0–1 | Giants Stadium | Recap |
| 2 | September 19 | Miami Dolphins | W 16–13 | 1–1 | Paul Brown Stadium | Recap |
| 3 | September 26 | Baltimore Ravens | L 9–23 | 1–2 | Paul Brown Stadium | Recap |
| 4 | October 3 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | L 17–28 | 1–3 | Heinz Field | Recap |
| 5 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 6 | October 17 | at Cleveland Browns | L 17–34 | 1–4 | Cleveland Browns Stadium | Recap |
| 7 | October 25 | Denver Broncos | W 23–10 | 2–4 | Paul Brown Stadium | Recap |
| 8 | October 31 | at Tennessee Titans | L 20–27 | 2–5 | The Coliseum | Recap |
| 9 | November 7 | Dallas Cowboys | W 26–3 | 3–5 | Paul Brown Stadium | Recap |
| 10 | November 14 | at Washington Redskins | W 17–10 | 4–5 | FedEx Field | Recap |
| 11 | November 21 | Pittsburgh Steelers | L 14–19 | 4–6 | Paul Brown Stadium | Recap |
| 12 | November 28 | Cleveland Browns | W 58–48 | 5–6 | Paul Brown Stadium | Recap |
| 13 | December 5 | at Baltimore Ravens | W 27–26 | 6–6 | M&T Bank Stadium | Recap |
| 14 | December 12 | at New England Patriots | L 28–35 | 6–7 | Gillette Stadium | Recap |
| 15 | December 19 | Buffalo Bills | L 17–33 | 6–8 | Paul Brown Stadium | Recap |
| 16 | December 26 | New York Giants | W 23–22 | 7–8 | Paul Brown Stadium | Recap |
| 17 | January 2 | at Philadelphia Eagles | W 38–10 | 8–8 | Lincoln Financial Field | Recap |
| Note: Intra-divisional opponents are in bold text |||||||

### Season summary
#### Week 2

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Dolphins | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 13 |
| • Bengals | 0 | 0 | 13 | 3 | 16 |

### Standings

AFC North :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| $^{(1)}$ Pittsburgh Steelers | 15 | 1 | 0 | .938 | 5–1 | 11–1 | 372 | 251 | W14 |
| Baltimore Ravens | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 3–3 | 6–6 | 317 | 268 | W1 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 8 | 8 | 0 | .500 | 2–4 | 4–8 | 374 | 372 | W2 |
| Cleveland Browns | 4 | 12 | 0 | .250 | 2–4 | 3–9 | 276 | 390 | W1 |
AFC
viewtalkedit :
| # | Team | Division | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | SOS | SOV | STK |
| Division leaders ||||||||||||
| 1 | Pittsburgh Steelers | North | 15 | 1 | 0 | .938 | 5–1 | 11–1 | .484 | .479 | W14 |
| 2 | New England Patriots | East | 14 | 2 | 0 | .875 | 5–1 | 10–2 | .492 | .478 | W2 |
| 3 | Indianapolis Colts | South | 12 | 4 | 0 | .750 | 5–1 | 8–4 | .500 | .458 | L1 |
| 4 | San Diego Chargers | West | 12 | 4 | 0 | .750 | 5–1 | 9–3 | .477 | .411 | W1 |
| Wild cards ||||||||||||
| 5 | New York Jets | East | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 3–3 | 7–5 | .523 | .406 | L2 |
| 6 | Denver Broncos | West | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 3–3 | 7–5 | .484 | .450 | W2 |
| Did not qualify for the postseason ||||||||||||
| 7 | Jacksonville Jaguars | South | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 2–4 | 6–6 | .527 | .479 | W1 |
| 8 | Baltimore Ravens | North | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 3–3 | 6–6 | .551 | .472 | W1 |
| 9 | Buffalo Bills | East | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 3–3 | 5–7 | .512 | .382 | L1 |
| 10 | Cincinnati Bengals | North | 8 | 8 | 0 | .500 | 2–4 | 4–8 | .543 | .453 | W2 |
| 11 | Houston Texans | South | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 4–2 | 6–6 | .504 | .402 | L1 |
| 12 | Kansas City Chiefs | West | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 3–3 | 6–6 | .551 | .509 | L1 |
| 13 | Oakland Raiders | West | 5 | 11 | 0 | .313 | 1–5 | 3–9 | .570 | .450 | L2 |
| 14 | Tennessee Titans | South | 5 | 11 | 0 | .313 | 1–5 | 3–9 | .512 | .463 | W1 |
| 15 | Miami Dolphins | East | 4 | 12 | 0 | .250 | 1–5 | 2–10 | .555 | .438 | L1 |
| 16 | Cleveland Browns | North | 4 | 12 | 0 | .250 | 1–5 | 3–9 | .590 | .469 | W1 |
| Tiebreakers ||||||||||||
| 1 2 Indianapolis clinched the AFC #3 seed instead of San Diego based upon head-to-head victory. 1 2 New York Jets clinched the AFC #5 seed instead of Denver based upon better record against common opponents (New York Jets were 5–0 to Denver’s 3–2 against San Diego, Cincinnati, Houston, and Miami). 1 2 3 Jacksonville and Baltimore finished ahead of Buffalo because they each defeated Buffalo head-to-head. 1 2 Jacksonville finished ahead of Baltimore based upon better record against common opponents (Jacksonville were 3–2 against Baltimore’s 2–3 versus Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, Buffalo and Kansas City). 1 2 Houston finished ahead of Kansas City based upon head-to-head victory. 1 2 Oakland finished ahead of Tennessee based upon head-to-head victory. 1 2 Miami finished ahead of Cleveland based upon head-to-head victory. ↑ When breaking ties for three or more teams under the NFL's rules, they are first broken within divisions, then comparing only the highest-ranked remaining team from each division. ||||||||||||

## Team leaders
### Passing

| Player | Att | Comp | Yds | TD | INT | Rating |
| Carson Palmer | 432 | 263 | 2897 | 18 | 18 | 77.3 |

### Rushing

| Player | Att | Yds | YPC | Long | TD |
| Rudi Johnson | 361 | 1454 | 4.0 | 52 | 12 |

### Receiving

| Player | Rec | Yds | Avg | Long | TD |
| Chad Johnson | 95 | 1274 | 13.4 | 53 | 9 |

### Defensive

| Player | Tackles | Sacks | INTs | FF | FR |
| Landon Johnson | 133 | 2.0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Justin Smith | 97 | 8.0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Tory James | 74 | 0.0 | 8 | 2 | 1 |

### Kicking and punting

| Player | FGA | FGM | FG% | XPA | XPM | XP% | Points |
| Shayne Graham | 31 | 27 | 87.1% | 41 | 41 | 100.0% | 122 |
| Player | Punts | Yards | Long | Blkd | Avg. |
| Kyle Larson | 83 | 3499 | 66 | 1 | 42.2 |

### Special teams

| Player | KR | KRYards | KRAvg | KRLong | KRTD | PR | PRYards | PRAvg | PRLong | PRTD |
| Cliff Russell | 39 | 872 | 22.4 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Keiwan Ratliff | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 207 | 12.2 | 49 | 0 |

## Awards and records
### Pro Bowl Selections

* Rudi Johnson RB, AFC Pro-Bowl Selection
* Chad Johnson WR, AFC Pro-Bowl Selection
* Willie Anderson RT, AFC Pro-Bowl Selection
* Tory James CB, AFC Pro-Bowl Selection

### All-Pro Award

* Willie Anderson RT, 1st Team All-Pro

### Milestones

* Rudi Johnson, 1st 1000 yard rushing season (1,454 yards)
* Chad Johnson, 3rd 1000 yard receiving season (1,274 yards)

### NFL Records

* 2nd Highest scoring regular season game in NFL history (58–48 win over the Cleveland Browns on November 28, 2004)