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. 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
Undrafted free agents + 1996 Undrafted free agents of note Player Position CollegeNick FergusonSafetyGeorgia TechChris HetheringtonFullbackYaleDamon HuardQuarterbackWashingtonTim MorabitoDefensive tackleBoston College
Personnel
Staff
Roster
Regular season Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 September 1, 1996 at St. Louis Rams L 26–16 0-1 Trans World Dome 62,659 2 September 8, 1996 at San Diego Chargers L 27–14 0-2 Jack Murphy Stadium 55,880 3 September 15, 1996 New Orleans Saints W 30–15 1-2 Cinergy Field 45,412 4 Bye 5 September 29, 1996 Denver Broncos L 14–10 1-3 Cinergy Field 51,798 6 October 6, 1996 Houston Oilers L 30–27 1-4 Cinergy Field 44,680 7 October 13, 1996 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 20–10 1-5 Three Rivers Stadium 58,875 8 October 20, 1996 at San Francisco 49ers L 28–21 1-6 3Com Park 63,218 9 October 27, 1996 Jacksonville Jaguars W 28–21 2-6 Cinergy Field 45,890 10 November 3, 1996 at Baltimore Ravens W 24–21 3-6 Memorial Stadium 60,743 11 November 10, 1996 Pittsburgh Steelers W 34–24 4-6 Cinergy Field 57,265 12 November 17, 1996 at Buffalo Bills L 31–17 4-7 Rich Stadium 75,549 13 November 24, 1996 Atlanta Falcons W 41–31 5-7 Cinergy Field 44,868 14 December 1, 1996 at Jacksonville Jaguars L 30–27 5-8 Jacksonville Municipal Stadium 57,408 15 December 8, 1996 Baltimore Ravens W 21–14 6-8 Cinergy Field 43,022 16 December 15, 1996 at Houston Oilers W 21–13 7-8 Houston Astrodome 15,131 17 December 22, 1996 Indianapolis Colts W 31–24 8-8 Cinergy Field 49,389 Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Standings
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 Carl Pickens, Led AFC, Receptions, 100 Receptions
Milestones Carl Pickens, 3rd 1000 Yard Receiving Season, 1,180 yards
References
External links
1996 Cincinnati Bengals at Pro-Football-Reference.com