# 1994 Cincinnati Bengals season

The 1994 Cincinnati Bengals season was the team's 27th year in professional football and its 25th with the National Football League.
On October 2 history was made at Riverfront Stadium, when Dave Shula and the Bengals faced father Don Shula's Miami Dolphins in the first father-son coaching match up in NFL history. The elder Shula would emerge victorious 23–7, as the Bengals were in the midst of a 0–8 start for the third time in four years.
The Bengals equaled their 3-13 record from 1993 and again missed out on a playoff berth. During the season, the Bengals decided to move on from the struggling David Klingler, who had not lived up to his potential as the team's quarterback of the future despite being a high draft pick. After seven weeks without a win, Klingler was pulled in favor of off-season acquisition Jeff Blake, who nearly upset the defending world champion Dallas Cowboys in his first start.

## Offseason
### NFL Draft

1994 Cincinnati Bengals draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 1 | Dan Wilkinson | Defensive tackle | Ohio State |
| 2 | 30 | Darnay Scott | Wide receiver | San Diego State |
| 3 | 66 | Jeff Cothran | Fullback | Ohio State |
| 3 | 86 | Steve Shine | Linebacker | Northwestern |
| 4 | 104 | Corey Sawyer | Cornerback | Florida State |
| 5 | 132 | Trent Pollard | Offensive tackle | Eastern Washington |
| 6 | 162 | Kimo von Oelhoffen | Defensive tackle | Boise State |
| 6 | 184 | Jerry Reynolds | Offensive tackle | UNLV |
| 7 | 195 | Ramondo Stallings | Defensive end | San Diego State |
| Made roster ||||||

### Undrafted free agents

1994 Undrafted Free Agents of note :
| Player | Position | College |
| Jim Ballard | Quarterback | Mount Union |
| Jeff Hill | Wide receiver | Purdue |

## Regular season

* October 2, 1994: Dubbed the “Shula Bowl”, it marked the first time in NFL history that a head coaching matchup featured father against son. Don Shula’s Miami Dolphins defeated David Shula’s Cincinnati Bengals by a 23-7 mark.

### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | TV | TV Announcers | Attendance |
| 1 | September 4, 1994 | Cleveland Browns | L 20–28 | 0–1 | NBC | Tom Hammond, Cris Collinsworth | 52,778 |
| 2 | September 11, 1994 | at San Diego Chargers | L 10–27 | 0–2 | NBC | Dan Hicks, Bob Golic | 53,217 |
| 3 | September 18, 1994 | New England Patriots | L 28–31 | 0–3 | NBC | Tom Hammond, Cris Collinsworth | 46,640 |
| 4 | September 25, 1994 | at Houston Oilers | L 13–20 | 0–4 | NBC | Dan Hicks, Bob Golic | 44,253 |
| 5 | October 2, 1994 | Miami Dolphins | L 7–23 | 0–5 | TNT | Gary Bender, Pat Haden, Kevin Kiley | 55,056 |
| 6 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 7 | October 16, 1994 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | L 10–14 | 0–6 | NBC | Don Criqui, Beasley Reece | 55,353 |
| 8 | October 23, 1994 | at Cleveland Browns | L 13–37 | 0–7 | NBC | Don Criqui, Beasley Reece | 77,588 |
| 9 | October 30, 1994 | Dallas Cowboys | L 20–23 | 0–8 | Fox | Joe Buck, Tim Green, Kevin Frazier | 57,096 |
| 10 | November 6, 1994 | at Seattle Seahawks | W 20–17 (OT) | 1–8 | NBC | Mike Bush, Beasley Reece | 46,630 |
| 11 | November 13, 1994 | Houston Oilers | W 34–31 | 2–8 | NBC | Jim Donovan, Beasley Reece | 54,908 |
| 12 | November 20, 1994 | Indianapolis Colts | L 13–17 | 2–9 | NBC | Jim Donovan, Bob Golic | 55,566 |
| 13 | November 27, 1994 | at Denver Broncos | L 13–15 | 2–10 | NBC | Dan Hicks, Bob Golic | 69,714 |
| 14 | December 4, 1994 | Pittsburgh Steelers | L 15–38 | 2–11 | NBC | Charlie Jones, Randy Cross | 53,401 |
| 15 | December 11, 1994 | at New York Giants | L 20–27 | 2–12 | NBC | Marv Albert, Paul Maguire | 67,530 |
| 16 | December 18, 1994 | at Arizona Cardinals | L 7–28 | 2–13 | NBC | Dan Hicks, Bob Golic | 50,110 |
| 17 | December 24, 1994 | Philadelphia Eagles | W 33–30 | 3–13 | Fox | Thom Brennaman, Anthony Muñoz | 39,923 |

### Standings

AFC Central :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | STK |
| $^{(1)}$ Pittsburgh Steelers | 12 | 4 | 0 | .750 | 316 | 234 | L1 |
| $^{(4)}$ Cleveland Browns | 11 | 5 | 0 | .688 | 340 | 204 | W1 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 3 | 13 | 0 | .188 | 276 | 406 | W1 |
| Houston Oilers | 2 | 14 | 0 | .125 | 226 | 352 | W1 |

## Season summary
### Week 13 at Broncos

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bengals | 0 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 13 |
| Broncos | 6 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 15 |
at Mile High Stadium, Denver, Colorado
* Date: November 27, 1994
* Game time: 4:00 p.m. EDT
* Game weather: 27 °F (−3 °C)
* Game attendance: 69,714
* TV announcers (NBC): Dan Hicks, Bob Golic
* Box Score, Box Score
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
| Bengals | Passing | Jeff Blake | 15/33, 215 Yds, TD, INT |
| Bengals | Rushing | Steve Broussard | 8 Rush, 52 Yds |
| Bengals | Receiving | Carl Pickens | 6 Rec, 132 Yds, TD |
| Broncos | Passing | John Elway | 21/38, 239 Yds, TD |
| Broncos | Rushing | Leonard Russell | 13 Rush, 30 Yds |
| Broncos | Receiving | Anthony Miller | 5 Rec, 116 Yds, TD |
Scoring summary :
| Quarter | Time | Drive | Drive | Drive | Team | Scoring information | Score | Score |
| Quarter | Time | Plays | Yards | TOP | Team | Scoring information | CIN | DEN |
| 1 | 12:30 | 7 | 58 | | Broncos | 34-yard field goal by Jason Elam | 0 | 3 |
| 1 | 4:13 | 6 | 4 | | Broncos | 33-yard field goal by Jason Elam | 0 | 6 |
| 2 | 7:19 | 11 | 55 | | Bengals | 43-yard field goal by Doug Pelfrey | 3 | 6 |
| 2 | 4:09 | 7 | 58 | | Broncos | Anthony Miller 16-yard touchdown reception from John Elway, 2-point conversion attempt failed | 3 | 12 |
| 2 | 2:57 | 4 | 7 | | Broncos | 37-yard field goal by Jason Elam | 3 | 15 |
| 2 | 0:11 | 11 | 66 | | Bengals | 32-yard field goal by Doug Pelfrey | 6 | 15 |
| 4 | 14:48 | 4 | 80 | | Bengals | Carl Pickens 70-yard touchdown reception from Jeff Blake, Doug Pelfrey kick good | 13 | 15 |
| "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. | 13 | 15 |

## Team leaders
### Passing

| Player | Att | Comp | Yds | TD | INT | Rating |
| Jeff Blake | 306 | 156 | 2154 | 14 | 9 | 76.9 |

### Rushing

| Player | Att | Yds | YPC | Long | TD |
| Derrick Fenner | 141 | 468 | 3.3 | 21 | 1 |
| Steve Broussard | 94 | 403 | 4.3 | 37 | 2 |

### Receiving

| Player | Rec | Yds | Avg | Long | TD |
| Carl Pickens | 71 | 1127 | 15.9 | 70 | 11 |

### Defensive

| Player | Tackles | Sacks | INTs | FF | FR |
| Steve Tovar | 122 | 3.0 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| Alfred Williams | 48 | 9.5 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Louis Oliver | 63 | 1.0 | 3 | 1 | 0 |

### Kicking and punting

| Player | FGA | FGM | FG% | XPA | XPM | XP% | Points |
| Doug Pelfrey | 33 | 28 | 84.8% | 25 | 24 | 96.0% | 104 |
| Player | Punts | Yards | Long | Blkd | Avg. |
| Lee Johnson | 79 | 3461 | 64 | 1 | 43.8 |

### Special teams

| Player | KR | KRYards | KRAvg | KRLong | KRTD | PR | PRYards | PRAvg | PRLong | PRTD |
| Eric Ball | 42 | 915 | 21.8 | 43 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Corey Sawyer | 1 | 14 | 14.0 | 14 | 0 | 26 | 307 | 11.8 | 82 | 1 |

## Awards and records

* Doug Pelfrey, Franchise Record, Most Field Goals in One Game, 6 (achieved on November 6, 1994)
* Jeff Blake, AFC offensive player of the month for November
* Darnay Scott, WR, PFWA All-Rookie Team

### Milestones

* Carl Pickens, 1st 1000 Yard Receiving Season (1,127 yards)