1989 Cincinnati Bengals season

1989 Cincinnati Bengals season
General manager	Paul Brown
Head coach	Sam Wyche
Home stadium	Riverfront Stadium
Results
Record	8–8
Division place	4th AFC Central
Playoffs	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	6 G Max Montoya OT Anthony Muñoz TE Rodney Holman QB Boomer Esiason RB James Brooks SS David Fulcher

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

Main article: 1989 NFL draft

1989 Cincinnati Bengals draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
2	35	Eric Ball	Running back	UCLA
2	55	Freddie Childress	Offensive tackle	Arkansas
3	83	Erik Wilhelm	Quarterback	Oregon State
4	89	Kerry Owens	Linebacker	Arkansas
4	111	Rob Woods	Offensive tackle	Arizona
5	138	Natu Tuatagaloa	Defensive end	California
6	166	Craig Taylor	Running back	West Virginia
7	194	Kendal Smith	Wide receiver	Utah State
8	222	Chris Chenault	Linebacker	Kentucky
9	250	Richard Stephens	Guard	Tulsa
10	256	Cornell Holloway	Defensive back	Pittsburgh
10	278	Bob Jean	Quarterback	New Hampshire
11	306	Dana Wells	Defensive tackle	Arizona
12	334	Scott Jones	Offensive tackle	Washington
Made roster

Undrafted free agents

1989 undrafted free agents of note

Player	Position	College
Rich Gicewicz	Tight End	Michigan State
Brett Grimshaw	Running Back	Western Illinois
Tom Gruno	Linebacker	Toledo
John Guerrero	Tackle	USC
Todd Philcox	Quarterback	Syracuse
Mark Rothwell	Wide receiver	Wisconsin–Stout

Personnel

Staff

1989 Cincinnati Bengals staff

Front office President – John Sawyer General Manager – Paul Brown Assistant General Manager – Mike Brown Director of Player Personnel – Pete Brown Head coaches Head Coach – Sam Wyche Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator – Bruce Coslet Running Backs – Jim Anderson Tight Ends – Bill Johnson Offensive Line – Jim McNally

Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Backs – Dick LeBeau Defensive Line – Chuck Studley Linebackers – Dick Selcer Special teams coaches Special Teams – Mike Stock Strength and conditioning Strength – Kim Wood

Roster

1989 Cincinnati Bengals roster

Quarterbacks (QB)  7 Boomer Esiason 12 Erik Wilhelm Running backs (RB) 42 Eric Ball 21 James Brooks 40 John Holifield 36 Stanford Jennings 20 Craig Taylor Wide receivers (WR) 81 Eddie Brown 48 John Garrett 89 Ira Hillary 88 Mike Martin 85 Tim McGee 83 Kendal Smith Tight ends (TE) 82 Rodney Holman 84 Eric Kattus 87 Jim Riggs

Offensive linemen (OL) 74 Brian Blados T 77 Scott Jones T 64 Bruce Kozerski C 65 Max Montoya G 73 Ken Moyer T 78 Anthony Muñoz T 75 Bruce Reimers G 63 Joe Walter T Defensive linemen (DL) 99 Jason Buck DE 98 David Grant NT 71 Mike Hammerstein DE 69 Tim Krumrie NT 72 Skip McClendon DE 70 Jim Skow DE 96 Natu Tuatagaloa DE

Linebackers (LB) 53 Leo Barker OLB 58 Joe Kelly ILB 59 Kevin Walker ILB 51 Leon White OLB 57 Reggie Williams OLB 91 Carl Zander ILB Defensive backs (DB) 24 Lewis Billups CB 27 Barney Bussey SS 34 Richard Carey CB 29 Rickey Dixon FS 33 David Fulcher SS 22 Eric Thomas CB 41 Solomon Wilcots CB Special teams (ST) 55 Ed Brady LS  3 Jim Breech K 11 Lee Johnson P

Practice squad 10 Todd Philcox QB 79 Dana Wells NT Reserve 35 Chris Barber S (IR) 37 Robert Jackson S (IR) 68 Paul Jetton C (IR) 15 Turk Schonert QB (IR) 30 Ickey Woods FB (IR) 60 Rob Woods T (IR) 47 active, 6 inactive, 2 practice squad Rookies in italics

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	September 25	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	November 13	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 One: Cincinnati Bengals (0–0) at Chicago Bears (0–0)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Bengals	7	0	7	0	14
Bears	0	7	3	7	17

at Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois

• Date: September 10
• Game time: 1:00 p.m.
• Game weather: 64 °F (18 °C)
• Game attendance: 64,730
• Referee: Jerry Seeman
• TV announcers (NBC): Dick Enberg and Bill Walsh
• Box Score, Box Score

Game information

First quarter CIN – James Brooks 4-yard pass from Boomer Esiason (Jim Breech kick), 9:52. Bengals 7–0. Second quarter CHI – Mike Tomczak 11-yard run (Kevin Butler kick), 0:10. Tie 7–7. Third quarter CIN – Ickey Woods 5-yard run (Jim Breech kick), 8:28. Bengals 14–7. CHI – Kevin Butler 29-yard field goal, 11:40. Bengals 14–10. Fourth quarter CHI – James Thornton 20-yard pass from Mike Tomczak (Kevin Butler kick), 10:06. Bears 17–14. Top passers CIN – Boomer Esiason – 18/36, 184 yards, TD CHI – Mike Tomczak – 10/24, 159 yards, TD, 2 INT Top rushers CIN – James Brooks – 13 rushes, 88 yards CHI – Neal Anderson – 21 rushes, 146 yards Top receivers CIN – James Brooks – 5 receptions, 46 yards, TD CHI – James Thornton – 4 receptions, 86 yards, TD

Week 3 vs. Browns

Week Three: Cleveland Browns (2–0) at Cincinnati Bengals (1–1)

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Browns	0	14	0	0	14
Bengals	0	14	7	0	21

at Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio

• Date: September 25
• Game time: 9:00 p.m. EDT
• Game weather: 53 °F (12 °C)
• TV announcers (ABC): Frank Gifford, Al Michaels, Dan Dierdorf
• Box Score

Week 14 vs. Seahawks

See also: 1989 Seattle Seahawks season

Week Fourteen: Seattle Seahawks at Cincinnati Bengals – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Seahawks	0	7	10	7	24
Bengals	7	3	0	7	17

at Riverfront Stadium • Cincinnati, Ohio

• Date: December 10
• Game time: 1:00pm local
• Game weather: Cloudy • 30 °F (−1 °C) • Wind 12 miles per hour (19 km/h) SW
• Game attendance: 54,744
• Referee: Bob McElwee
• TV: NBC
• Play-by-Play

Game information
Seahawks Dave Krieg 22/33, 258 Yds, 3 TD, INT Curt Warner 14 Rush, 51 Yds Brian Blades 6 Rec, 107 Yds, TD Bengals Boomer Esiason 21/42, 246 yds, TD James Brooks 11 Rush, 52 Yds Tim McGee 7 Rec, 109 Yds, TD

You don't live in Cleveland, you live in Cincinnati.

— Sam Wyche, Bengals head coach

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP SEA CIN 1 5:18 3 44 0:48 Bengals Tim McGee 21-yard touchdown reception from Boomer Esiason, Jim Breech kick good 0 7 2 10:37 13 71 5:51 Bengals 24-yard field goal by Jim Breech 0 10 2 0:42 12 78 2:25 Seahawks Steve Largent 10-yard touchdown reception from Dave Krieg, Norm Johnson kick good 7 10 3 12:58 5 37 1:51 Seahawks 48-yard field goal by Norm Johnson 10 10 3 10:14 1 60 0:12 Seahawks Brian Blades 60-yard touchdown reception from Dave Krieg, Norm Johnson kick good 17 10 4 9:39 Bengals Interception returned 18 yards for touchdown by Eric Thomas, Jim Breech kick good 17 17 4 3:51 10 80 5:42 Seahawks Curt Warner 1-yard touchdown reception from Dave Krieg, Norm Johnson kick good 24 17 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 24 17

Standings

AFC Central
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Cleveland Browns(2)	9	6	1	.594	3–3	6–5–1	334	254	W2
Houston Oilers(4)	9	7	0	.563	3–3	6–6	365	412	L2
Pittsburgh Steelers(5)	9	7	0	.563	1–5	6–6	265	326	W3
Cincinnati Bengals	8	8	0	.500	5–1	6–6	404	285	L1

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)

External links

• 1989 Cincinnati Bengals at Pro-Football-Reference.com