# 1998 Cincinnati Bengals season

The 1998 season was the Cincinnati Bengals' 31st in professional football and their 29th in the National Football League (NFL). The Bengals finished with a 3–13 record for the fourth time in the 1990s, as new free agent quarterback Neil O'Donnell was sacked 30 times. Despite the poor showing by the offensive line, running back Corey Dillon established himself as one of the NFL's premier running backs, as he rushed for 1,120 yards. The only bright spot for the Bengals in 1998 was when they swept division rival Pittsburgh. This was the Bengals only sweep of the Steelers during the "Bungles" years.

## Offseason
### NFL draft

The Bengals drafted nine players in 1998.
1998 Cincinnati Bengals draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 13 | Takeo Spikes * | Linebacker | Auburn |
| 1 | 17 | Brian Simmons | Linebacker | North Carolina |
| 2 | 43 | Artrell Hawkins | Cornerback | Cincinnati |
| 3 | 75 | Steve Foley | Linebacker | Louisiana–Monroe |
| 3 | 78 | Mike Goff | Guard | Iowa |
| 4 | 105 | Glen Steele | Defensive tackle | Michigan |
| 6 | 167 | Jason Tucker | Wide receiver | TCU |
| 7 | 202 | Marcus Parker | Running back | Virginia Tech |
| 7 | 222 | Damian Vaughn | Tight end | Miami (OH) |
| Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

### Undrafted free agents

1998 Undrafted Free Agents of note :
| Player | Position | College |
| Alonzo Clayton | Wide receiver | Northern Iowa |
| Brad Costello | Punter | Boston University |
| Mike Doughty | Tackle | Notre Dame |
| Damon Gibson | Wide receiver | Iowa |
| Daryle Heidelburg | Wide receiver | Jackson State |
| Jeff Leonard | Defensive end | Wyoming |
| Derrick LeVake | Tackle | Wisconsin–Whitewater |
| Adrian Luster | Defensive Tackle | The Citadel |
| Ric Mathias | Cornerback | Wisconsin–La Crosse |
| Jason Moore | Safety | San Diego State |
| Kevin Moore | Safety | Morgan State |
| Buddy Rodgers | Fullback | Maryland |
| Adrian Ross | Linebacker | Colorado State |
| Erik Storz | Linebacker | Boston College |

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Attendance |
| 1 | September 6 | Tennessee Oilers | L 14–23 | 0–1 | 55,848 |
| 2 | September 13 | at Detroit Lions | W 34–28 | 1–1 | 66,354 |
| 3 | September 20 | Green Bay Packers | L 6–13 | 1–2 | 56,346 |
| 4 | September 27 | at Baltimore Ravens | L 24–31 | 1–3 | 68,154 |
| 5 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 6 | October 11 | Pittsburgh Steelers | W 25–20 | 2–3 | 59,979 |
| 7 | October 18 | at Tennessee Oilers | L 14–44 | 2–4 | 33,288 |
| 8 | October 25 | at Oakland Raiders | L 10–27 | 2–5 | 40,089 |
| 9 | November 1 | Denver Broncos | L 26–33 | 2–6 | 59,974 |
| 10 | November 8 | at Jacksonville Jaguars | L 11–24 | 2–7 | 67,040 |
| 11 | November 15 | at Minnesota Vikings | L 3–24 | 2–8 | 64,232 |
| 12 | November 22 | Baltimore Ravens | L 13–20 | 2–9 | 52,571 |
| 13 | November 29 | Jacksonville Jaguars | L 17–34 | 2–10 | 55,432 |
| 14 | December 6 | Buffalo Bills | L 20–33 | 2–11 | 54,359 |
| 15 | December 13 | at Indianapolis Colts | L 26–39 | 2–12 | 55,179 |
| 16 | December 20 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | W 25–24 | 3–12 | 52,017 |
| 17 | December 27 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | L 0–35 | 3–13 | 49,826 |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. ||||||

### Standings

AFC Central :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | STK |
| $^{(3)}$ Jacksonville Jaguars | 11 | 5 | 0 | .688 | 392 | 338 | W1 |
| Tennessee Oilers | 8 | 8 | 0 | .500 | 330 | 320 | L2 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 263 | 303 | L5 |
| Baltimore Ravens | 6 | 10 | 0 | .375 | 269 | 335 | W1 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 3 | 13 | 0 | .188 | 268 | 452 | L1 |

## Team leaders
### Passing

| Player | Att | Comp | Yds | TD | INT | Rating |
| Neil O'Donnell | 343 | 212 | 2216 | 15 | 4 | 90.2 |

### Rushing

| Player | Att | Yds | YPC | Long | TD |
| Corey Dillon | 262 | 1130 | 4.3 | 66 | 4 |

### Receiving

| Player | Rec | Yds | Avg | Long | TD |
| Carl Pickens | 82 | 1023 | 12.5 | 67 | 5 |
| Darnay Scott | 51 | 817 | 16.0 | 70 | 7 |

### Defensive

| Player | Tackles | Sacks | INTs | FF | FR |
| Takeo Spikes | 112 | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Reinard Wilson | 63 | 6.0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Sam Shade | 78 | 1.0 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| Artrell Hawkins | 70 | 1.0 | 3 | 2 | 1 |

### Kicking and punting

| Player | FGA | FGM | FG% | XPA | XPM | XP% | Points |
| Doug Pelfrey | 27 | 19 | 70.4% | 21 | 21 | 100.0% | 78 |
| Player | Punts | Yards | Long | Blkd | Avg. |
| Lee Johnson | 69 | 3083 | 69 | 1 | 44.7 |

### Special teams

| Player | KR | KRYards | KRAvg | KRLong | KRTD | PR | PRYards | PRAvg | PRLong | PRTD |
| Tremain Mack | 45 | 1165 | 25.9 | 97 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Damon Gibson | 17 | 372 | 21.9 | 30 | 0 | 27 | 218 | 8.1 | 65 | 1 |

## Awards and records

* Carl Pickens, franchise record, most receptions in one game, 13 (achieved on October 11, 1998)

### Milestones

* Corey Dillon, 2nd 1,000-yard rushing season (1,130 rushing yards)
* Carl Pickens, 4th 1,000-yard receiving season (1,023 receiving yards)
* Chad Cornelius, led NFL in punt average in the preseason before tearing the ACL/MCL on his kicking leg. Was the first punter to down his own punt.