The 1991 Cincinnati Bengals season was the team's 24th year in professional football and its 22nd with the National Football League (NFL). Prior to the start of the season, the Bengals lost their patriarch when founder, former head coach and general manager Paul Brown died at the age of 82. His son Mike would assume control of the franchise. The Bengals would stumble out the gate losing their first eight games before defeating the Cleveland Browns 23–21 at Riverfront Stadium. The Bengals would only win two more games the rest of the season finishing with a 3–13 record.

The Bengals' pass defense would surrender 7.586 yards per pass attempt in 1991, one of the ten worst totals in NFL history.

Following the season head coach Sam Wyche was fired and replaced by assistant Dave Shula. Shula, the son of former Miami Dolphins and Baltimore Colts head coach Don Shula, served as the team’s wide receivers coach after a stint with the Miami Dolphins under his father, and the Dallas Cowboys as its offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach under head coach Jimmy Johnson. Upon his hiring as the Bengals’ head coach, he became the youngest head coach to ever be hired by an NFL team at age 32.

Offseason NFL draft

Undrafted free agents

+ 1991 undrafted free agents of notePlayerPositionCollegeJohn LangelohKickerMichigan StateKen McKayTight endLouisvilleDave SenczyszynTackleWisconsinChris SwartzQuarterbackMorehead State

Personnel

Staff

Roster

Preseason Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 at Detroit Lions L 20–24 0–1 Pontiac Silverdome 47,899 2 Philadelphia Eagles L 24–29 0–2 Riverfront Stadium 56,390 3 Minnesota Vikings W 27–24 1–2 Riverfront Stadium 56,358 4 at Green Bay Packers W 19–16 2–2 Lambeau Field 52,390

Regular season

Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 September 1 at Denver Broncos L 14–45 0–1 Mile High Stadium 72,855 2 September 8 Houston Oilers L 7–30 0–2 Riverfront Stadium 56,463 3 September 15 at Cleveland Browns L 13–14 0–3 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 78,269 4 September 22 Washington Redskins L 27–34 0–4 Riverfront Stadium 52,038 5 Bye 6 October 6 Seattle Seahawks L 7–13 0–5 Riverfront Stadium 60,010 7 October 13 at Dallas Cowboys L 23–35 0–6 Texas Stadium 63,275 8 at Buffalo Bills L 16–35 0–7 Rich Stadium 80,131 9 October 27 at Houston Oilers L 3–35 0–8 Houston Astrodome 58,634 10 November 3 Cleveland BrownsW 23–21 1–8 Riverfront Stadium 55,077 11 November 10 Pittsburgh Steelers L 27–33(OT) 1–9 Riverfront Stadium 55,503 12 November 17 at Philadelphia Eagles L 10–17 1–10 Veterans Stadium 63,189 13 November 24 Los Angeles Raiders L 14–38 1–11 Riverfront Stadium 52,044 14 December 1 New York Giants W 27–24 2–11 Riverfront Stadium 45,063 15 at Miami Dolphins L 13–37 2–12 Joe Robbie Stadium 60,616 16 December 15 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 10–17 2–13 Three Rivers Stadium 35,420 17 December 22 New England Patriots W 29–7 3–13 Riverfront Stadium 46,394 Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

Season summary

Week 16 at Steelers

With the loss, the Bengals fell to 2-13 and finished with a 1-5 record against the AFC Central and 0-8 on the road.

Team leaders

Passing Player Att Comp Yds TD INT Rating Boomer Esiason 413 233 2883 13 16 72.5

Rushing Player Att Yds YPC Long TD Harold Green 158 731 4.6 75 2 Ickey Woods 36 97 2.7 12 4

Receiving Player Rec Yds Avg Long TD Eddie Brown 59 837 14.0 53 2 Tim McGee 51 802 15.7 52 4

Defensive Player Tackles Sacks INTs FF FR David Fulcher 95 0.0 4 4 3 Tim Krumrie 68 4.0 0 1 1

Kicking/Punting Player FGA FGM FG% XPA XPM XP% Points Jim Breech 29 23 79.3% 27 27 100.0% 96 Player Punts Yards Long Blkd Avg. Lee Johnson 64 2795 62 0 43.7

Special teams Player KR KRYards KRAvg KRLong KRTD PR PRYards PRAvg PRLong PRTD Shane Garrett 13 214 16.5 24 0 1 7 7.0 7 0 Eric Ball 13 262 20.2 24 0 0 0 0 0 0 Mitchell Price 5 91 18.2 22 0 14 203 14.5 78 1

References

External links 1991 Cincinnati Bengals at Pro-Football-Reference.com Bengals History on official website