The 1989 Cincinnati Bengals season was their 20th in the National Football League (NFL) and 22nd overall. The Bengals' 404 points scored were the fourth-most in the NFL in 1989. Four of their eight losses on the season were by a touchdown or less.
The 1989 Bengals are the most recent NFL team to score 55 points or more twice in a single season: Week 8 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (56) and Week 15 against the arch-rival Houston Oilers (61), both at home. Despite this, the Bengals finished the season 4th in their division and failed to earn a playoff berth, making them the only team in the AFC Central to do so.
Offseason
NFL draft
Undrafted free agents
+ 1989 undrafted free agents of notePlayerPositionCollegeRich GicewiczTight EndMichigan StateBrett GrimshawRunning BackWestern IllinoisTom GrunoLinebackerToledoJohn GuerreroTackleUSCTodd PhilcoxQuarterbackSyracuseMark RothwellWide receiverWisconsin–Stout
Personnel
Staff
Roster
Regular season
Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap 1 September 10 at Chicago Bears L 14–17 0–1 Soldier Field Recap 2 September 17 Pittsburgh Steelers W 41–10 1–1 Riverfront Stadium Recap 3 Cleveland Browns W 21–14 2–1 Riverfront Stadium Recap 4 October 1 at Kansas City Chiefs W 21–17 3–1 Arrowhead Stadium Recap 5 October 8 at Pittsburgh Steelers W 26–16 4–1 Three Rivers Stadium Recap 6 October 15 Miami Dolphins L 13–20 4–2 Riverfront Stadium Recap 7 October 22 Indianapolis Colts L 12–23 4–3 Riverfront Stadium Recap 8 October 29 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 56–23 5–3 Riverfront Stadium Recap 9 November 5 at Los Angeles Raiders L 7–28 5-4 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Recap 10 at Houston Oilers L 24–26 5–5 Astrodome Recap 11 November 19 Detroit Lions W 42–7 6–5 Riverfront Stadium Recap 12 November 26 at Buffalo Bills L 7–24 6–6 Rich Stadium Recap 13 December 3 at Cleveland Browns W 21–0 7–6 Cleveland Stadium Recap 14 December 10 Seattle Seahawks L 17–24 7–7 Riverfront Stadium Recap 15 December 17 Houston Oilers W 61–7 8–7 Riverfront Stadium Recap 16 December 25 at Minnesota Vikings L 21–29 8–8 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Recap
Season summary
Week 1 at Bears
Week 2 vs. Steelers
Week 3 vs. Browns
Week 14 vs. Seahawks
Standings
Team leaders
Passing Player Att Comp Yds TD INT Rating Boomer Esiason 455 258 3525 28 11 92.1
Rushing Player Att Yds YPC Long TD James Brooks 221 1239 5.6 65 7
Receiving Player Rec Yds Avg Long TD Tim McGee 65 1211 18.6 74 8 Rodney Holman 50 736 14.7 73 9
Defensive Player Tackles Sacks INTs FF FR David Fulcher 107 0 8 1 4 Jason Buck 63 6 0 1 1
Kicking and punting Player FGA FGM FG% XPA XPM XP% Points Jim Breech 14 12 85.7% 38 37 97.4% 73 Player Punts Yards Long Blkd Avg. Lee Johnson 61 2446 62 2 40.1
Special teams Player KR KRYards KRAvg KRLong KRTD PR PRYards PRAvg PRLong PRTD Stanford Jennings 26 525 20.2 33 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 Mike Martin 0 0 0.0 0 0 15 107 7.1 17 0
Awards and records
Pro Bowl selections Boomer Esiason QB, AFC Pro Bowl selection Rodney Holman TE, AFC Pro Bowl selection James Brooks RB, AFC Pro Bowl selection David Fulcher SS, AFC Pro Bowl selection Anthony Muñoz LT, AFC Pro Bowl selection
Milestones Boomer Esiason, 5th straight 3,000-yard season James Brooks, 2nd 1,000-yard season (1,239 yards) Tim McGee, 1st 1,000-yard season (1,211 yards)
References
External links 1989 Cincinnati Bengals at Pro-Football-Reference.com