# 1987 Cincinnati Bengals season

The 1987 Cincinnati Bengals season was the team's 18th in the National Football League (NFL). The team could not improve upon its 10–6 year of the previous campaign, as the team dipped to a record of 4–11 in a season shortened by one game due to another players' strike, in which replacement players were used for three games.
This was the first season since 1970 that Ken Anderson was not on the opening day roster.

## Offseason
### NFL Draft

1987 Cincinnati Bengals draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 17 | Jason Buck | Defensive end | BYU |
| 2 | 49 | Eric Thomas * | Defensive back | Tulane |
| 3 | 76 | Leonard Bell | Defensive back | Indiana |
| 3 | 77 | Skip McClendon | Defensive end | Arizona State |
| 4 | 103 | Jim Riggs | Tight end | Clemson |
| 5 | 130 | Marc Logan | Running back | Kentucky |
| 5 | 139 | Greg Horne | Punter | Arkansas |
| 6 | 157 | Sonny Gordon | Defensive back | Ohio State |
| 7 | 188 | Chris Thatcher | Guard | Lafayette |
| 8 | 215 | Solomon Wilcots | Defensive back | Colorado |
| 9 | 242 | Craig Raddatz | Linebacker | Wisconsin |
| 10 | 269 | David McCluskey | Running back | Georgia |
| 11 | 296 | Jim Warne | Offensive tackle | Arizona State |
| 12 | 328 | John Holifield | Running back | West Virginia |
| Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

## Personnel
### NFL replacement players

After the league decided to use replacement players during the NFLPA strike, the following team was assembled:

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 13 | at Indianapolis Colts | W 23–21 | 1–0 | Hoosier Dome | 59,387 |
| 2 | September 20 | San Francisco 49ers | L 26–27 | 1–1 | Riverfront Stadium | 53,498 |
| – | September 27 | at Los Angeles Rams | canceled | 1–1 | Anaheim Stadium | |
| 3 | October 4 | San Diego Chargers | L 9–10 | 1–2 | Riverfront Stadium | 26,209 |
| 4 | October 11 | at Seattle Seahawks | W 17–10 | 2–2 | Kingdome | 31,739 |
| 5 | October 18 | Cleveland Browns | L 0–34 | 2–3 | Riverfront Stadium | 40,179 |
| 6 | October 25 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | L 20–23 | 2–4 | Three Rivers Stadium | 53,692 |
| 7 | November 1 | Houston Oilers | L 29–31 | 2–5 | Riverfront Stadium | 52,700 |
| 8 | November 8 | Miami Dolphins | L 14–20 | 2–6 | Riverfront Stadium | 53,840 |
| 9 | November 15 | at Atlanta Falcons | W 16–10 | 3–6 | Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium | 25,758 |
| 10 | November 22 | Pittsburgh Steelers | L 16–30 | 3–7 | Riverfront Stadium | 59,910 |
| 11 | November 29 | at New York Jets | L 20–27 | 3–8 | Giants Stadium | 41,135 |
| 12 | December 6 | Kansas City Chiefs | W 30–27 | 4–8 | Riverfront Stadium | 46,489 |
| 13 | December 13 | at Cleveland Browns | L 24–38 | 4–9 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 77,331 |
| 14 | December 20 | New Orleans Saints | L 24–41 | 4–10 | Riverfront Stadium | 43,424 |
| 15 | December 27 | at Houston Oilers | L 17–21 | 4–11 | Houston Astrodome | 49,775 |

### Standings

AFC Central :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Cleveland Browns$^{(2)}$ | 10 | 5 | 0 | .667 | 5–1 | 8–3 | 390 | 239 | W3 |
| Houston Oilers$^{(4)}$ | 9 | 6 | 0 | .600 | 5–1 | 7–4 | 345 | 349 | W2 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 8 | 7 | 0 | .533 | 2–4 | 6–5 | 285 | 299 | L2 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 4 | 11 | 0 | .267 | 0–6 | 3–9 | 285 | 370 | L3 |

## Team leaders
### Passing

| Player | Att | Comp | Yds | TD | INT | Rating |
| Boomer Esiason | 440 | 240 | 3321 | 16 | 19 | 73.1 |

### Rushing

| Player | Att | Yds | YPC | Long | TD |
| Larry Kinnebrew | 145 | 570 | 3.9 | 52 | 8 |

### Receiving

| Player | Rec | Yds | Avg | Long | TD |
| Eddie Brown | 44 | 608 | 13.8 | 47 | 3 |
| Mike Martin | 20 | 394 | 19.7 | 54 | 3 |

### Defensive

| Player | Tackles | Sacks | INTs | FF | FR |
| Tim Krumrie | 88 | 3.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Reggie Williams | 75 | 6.0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Robert Jackson | 70 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| David Fulcher | 72 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 |

### Kicking and punting

| Player | FGA | FGM | FG% | XPA | XPM | XP% | Points |
| Jim Breech | 30 | 24 | 80.0% | 27 | 25 | 92.6 | 97 |
| Player | Punts | Yards | Long | Blkd | Avg. |
| Scott Fulhage | 52 | 2168 | 58 | 0 | 41.7 |

### Special teams

| Player | KR | KRYards | KRAvg | KRLong | KRTD | PR | PRYards | PRAvg | PRLong | PRTD |
| Barney Bussey | 21 | 406 | 19.3 | 34 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Martin | 3 | 51 | 17.0 | 20 | 0 | 28 | 277 | 9.9 | 21 | 0 |

## Awards and records

* Anthony Muñoz, AFC Pro Bowl Selection
* Tim Krumrie, AFC Pro Bowl Selection