1996 Cincinnati Bengals season

1996 Cincinnati Bengals season
Head coachDave Shula (fired October 21, 1-6 record)
Bruce Coslet (interim; 7-2 record)
Home stadiumCinergy Field
Results
Record8–8
Division place3rd AFC Central
PlayoffsDid not qualify
Pro BowlersWR Carl Pickens
CB Ashley Ambrose

The 1996 Cincinnati Bengals season was the franchise's 29th in professional football and its 27th with the National Football League. The Dave Shula era came to a sudden end when he was fired after a 1–6 start, as Jeff Blake struggled with turnovers. Former Bengals tight end Bruce Coslet, the team's offensive coordinator and a former New York Jets head coach, would replace Shula as head coach. The move paid off right away as the Bengals won the first three games under Coslet. After losing two of their next three games, the Bengals closed the year with three straight wins to finish with an 8–8 record.[1] One bright spot was that wide receiver Carl Pickens became the first member of the Bengals to have 100 receptions in a season.

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1996 NFL draft
1996 Cincinnati Bengals draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 10 Willie Anderson *  Offensive tackle Auburn
2 39 Marco Battaglia  Tight end Rutgers
3 69 Ken Blackman  Guard Illinois
4 108 Jevon Langford  Defensive end Oklahoma State
5 144 Greg Myers  Defensive back Colorado State
6 178 Tom Tumulty  Linebacker Pittsburgh
7 219 Rod Jones  Offensive tackle Kansas
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[2]

Undrafted free agents

1996 Undrafted free agents of note
Player Position College
Nick Ferguson Safety Georgia Tech
Chris Hetherington Fullback Yale
Damon Huard Quarterback Washington
Tim Morabito Defensive tackle Boston College

Personnel

Staff

1996 Cincinnati Bengals staff

Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

  • Special Teams – Joe Wessel

Strength and conditioning

  • Strength and Conditioning – Kim Wood

Roster

1996 Cincinnati Bengals roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams (ST)

Practice squad

53 active, 6 inactive, 4 practice squad Reserve


Rookies in italics

[3]

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Venue Attendance
1 September 1, 1996 at St. Louis Rams L 26–16 Trans World Dome 62,659
2 September 8, 1996 at San Diego Chargers L 27–14 Jack Murphy Stadium 55,880
3 September 15, 1996 New Orleans Saints W 30–15 Cinergy Field 45,412
4 Bye
5 September 29, 1996 Denver Broncos L 14–10 Cinergy Field 51,798
6 October 6, 1996 Houston Oilers L 30–27 (OT) Cinergy Field 44,680
7 October 13, 1996 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 20–10 Three Rivers Stadium 58,875
8 October 20, 1996 at San Francisco 49ers L 28–21 3Com Park 63,218
9 October 27, 1996 Jacksonville Jaguars W 28–21 Cinergy Field 45,890
10 November 3, 1996 at Baltimore Ravens W 24–21 Memorial Stadium 60,743
11 November 10, 1996 Pittsburgh Steelers W 34–24 Cinergy Field 57,265
12 November 17, 1996 at Buffalo Bills L 31–17 Rich Stadium 75,549
13 November 24, 1996 Atlanta Falcons W 41–31 Cinergy Field 44,868
14 December 1, 1996 at Jacksonville Jaguars L 30–27 Jacksonville Municipal Stadium 57,408
15 December 8, 1996 Baltimore Ravens W 21–14 Cinergy Field 43,022
16 December 15, 1996 at Houston Oilers W 21–13 Houston Astrodome 15,131
17 December 22, 1996 Indianapolis Colts W 31–24 Cinergy Field 49,389
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

AFC Central
W L T PCT PF PA STK
(3) Pittsburgh Steelers 10 6 0 .625 344 257 L2
(5) Jacksonville Jaguars 9 7 0 .563 325 335 W5
Cincinnati Bengals 8 8 0 .500 372 369 W3
Houston Oilers 8 8 0 .500 345 319 W1
Baltimore Ravens 4 12 0 .250 371 441 L3

Team leaders

Passing

Player Att Comp Yds TD INT Rating
Jeff Blake 549 308 3624 24 14 80.3

Rushing

Player Att Yds YPC Long TD
Garrison Hearst 225 847 3.8 24 0
Ki-Jana Carter 91 264 2.9 31 8

Receiving

Player Rec Yds Avg Long TD
Carl Pickens 100 1180 11.8 61 12

Defensive

Player Tackles Sacks INTs FF FR
Steve Tovar 104 3.0 4 0 0
Dan Wilkinson 44 6.5 1 0 1
Ashley Ambrose 50 2.0 8 1 0

Kicking and punting

Player FGA FGM FG% XPA XPM XP% Points
Doug Pelfrey 28 23 82.1% 41 41 100.0% 110
Player Punts Yards Long Blkd Avg.
Lee Johnson 80 3630 67 1 45.4

Special teams

Player KR KRYards KRAvg KRLong KRTD PR PRYards PRAvg PRLong PRTD
David Dunn 35 782 22.3 90 1 7 54 7.7 20 0
Corey Sawyer 12 241 20.1 33 0 15 117 7.8 62 0

Awards and records

  • Carl Pickens, Franchise Record, Most Receptions in One Season, 100 Receptions[4]
  • Carl Pickens, Led AFC, Receptions, 100 Receptions[5]

Milestones

  • Carl Pickens, 3rd 1000 Yard Receiving Season, 1,180 yards[6]

References

  1. ^ "Season summary and statistics". Sports E Cylclopedia.
  2. ^ "1996 Cincinnati Bengals Draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 28, 2014.
  3. ^ "1996 Cincinnati Bengals starters, roster, and players". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 17, 2014.
  4. ^ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book. New York: Workman Publishing Co. p. 37. ISBN 0-7611-2480-2.
  5. ^ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book. p. 451.
  6. ^ NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book. p. 440.
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