1993 Cincinnati Bengals season

The 1993 Cincinnati Bengals season was the team's 26th year in professional football and its 24th with the National Football League. This for the first time since 1979, Anthony Muñoz was not on the opening day roster and for the first time since 1983, Boomer Esiason was not on the opening day roster. The David Klingler experiment at starting quarterback got off to a poor start, as the Bengals lost their first ten games for the second of three 0–8 starts in four seasons.

1993 Cincinnati Bengals season
Head coach	Dave Shula
Home stadium	Riverfront Stadium
Results
Record	3–13
Division place	4th AFC Central
Playoffs	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	None
← 1992 Bengals seasons 1994 →

The Bengals would finally get their first win against the Los Angeles Raiders 16–10, at Riverfront Stadium, but were the last winless team for the first of two consecutive years.^[1] This ignominy would not be suffered subsequently by any NFL franchise until division rivals the Cleveland Browns went 1–31 in 2016 and 2017. After dropping their next two games, the Bengals closed the season by winning twice before losing their closer to a disappointing Saints outfit to finish with their second 3–13 season in three years.^[2]

The late-season win over the Raiders was their first win against a team that finished with a winning record since the 1990–91 AFC Wild Card win over the Oilers (41–14, January 6, 1991). This was the only such regular-season win from 1991–1994 and would be the last such win until week 1 of 1995 (Indianapolis). The win was one of only four against teams with winning records in head coach David Shula's tenure with the team.

Offseason

• March 17, 1993: The Cincinnati Bengals traded Boomer Esiason to the New York Jets.^[3]

NFL draft

Main article: 1993 NFL draft

1993 Cincinnati Bengals draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	5	John Copeland	Defensive end	Alabama
2	37	Tony McGee	Tight end	Michigan
3	59	Steve Tovar	Linebacker	Ohio State
3	63	Ty Parten	Defensive tackle	Arizona
4	90	Marcello Simmons	Defensive back	SMU
5	117	Forey Duckett	Defensive back	UNLV
6	148	Tom Scott	Offensive tackle	East Carolina
7	175	Lance Gunn	Defensive back	Texas
8	202	Doug Pelfrey	Placekicker	Kentucky
Made roster

^[4]

Personnel

Staff

1993 Cincinnati Bengals staff

Front office President – John Sawyer Vice President/General Manager – Mike Brown Director of Player Personnel – Pete Brown Head coaches Head Coach – Dave Shula Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator/Tight Ends – Mike Pope Quarterbacks – Ken Anderson Running Backs – Jim Anderson Wide Receivers – Richard Williamson Offensive Line – Jim McNally

Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator – Ron Lynn Defensive Line – Bob Karmelowicz Linebackers – Mike Haluchak Defensive Backs – Ron Meeks Special teams coaches Special Teams – Marv Braden Strength and conditioning Strength – Kim Wood

Roster

1993 Cincinnati Bengals roster

Quarterbacks (QB)  7 David Klingler 10 Jay Schroeder  4 Erik Wilhelm Running backs (RB) 42 Eric Ball KR 21 Ryan Benjamin 44 Derrick Fenner FB 28 Harold Green 36 Ostell Miles 30 Ronald Williams Wide receivers (WR) 86 Wesley Carroll 80 Carl Pickens 89 Jeff Query 81 Patrick Robinson Tight ends (TE) 47 David Frisch 82 Tony McGee 49 Jeff Thomason 48 Craig Thompson

Offensive linemen (OL) 60 Chuck Bradley T 72 Scott Brumfield G 68 Donnell Johnson T 66 Dan Jones T 64 Bruce Kozerski C 75 Jack Linn G 73 Ken Moyer G/C 61 Thomas Rayam G 74 Tom Scott G/T 63 Joe Walter T Defensive linemen (DL) 92 John Copeland DE 70 Artis Ford NT 97 Mike Frier DE 98 George Hinkle DE 71 Garry Howe NT 69 Tim Krumrie NT 96 Danny Stubbs DE

Linebackers (LB) 50 James Francis OLB 58 Alex Gordon OLB 59 Karmeeleyah McGill OLB 90 Eric Shaw ILB 91 Brad Smith ILB 51 Steve Tovar ILB 94 Alfred Williams OLB Defensive backs (DB) 43 Mike Brim CB 32 Ron Carpenter FS 24 Alan Grant CB 25 Rod Jones CB 30 R. J. Kors SS 22 Marcello Simmons CB 34 Fernandus Vinson SS 37 Leonard Wheeler CB 31 Darryl Williams FS Special teams (ST) 11 Lee Johnson P 55 Randy Kirk LS  9 Doug Pelfrey K

Practice squad none 53 active, 10 inactive Reserve 41 Forey Duckett CB (IR) 27 Lance Gunn S (IR) 12 Donald Hollas QB (PUP) 56 Ricardo McDonald LB (IR) 95 Roosevelt Nix DE (IR) 93 Ty Parten DE (IR) 77 Kevin Sargent T (IR) 84 Milt Stegall WR (IR) 83 Elbert Turner WR (IR) 39 Sheldon White CB (NF-Inj.) Rookies in italics

^[5]

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 5	at Cleveland Browns	L 14–27	0–1	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	75,508
2	September 12	Indianapolis Colts	L 6–9	0–2	Riverfront Stadium	50,299
3	September 19	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 7–34	0–3	Three Rivers Stadium	53,682
4	September 26	Seattle Seahawks	L 10–19	0–4	Riverfront Stadium	46,880
5	Bye
6	October 10	at Kansas City Chiefs	L 15–17	0–5	Arrowhead Stadium	75,394
7	October 17	Cleveland Browns	L 17–28	0–6	Riverfront Stadium	55,647
8	October 24	at Houston Oilers	L 12–28	0–7	Houston Astrodome	50,039
9	Bye
10	November 7	Pittsburgh Steelers	L 16–24	0–8	Riverfront Stadium	51,202
11	November 14	Houston Oilers	L 3–38	0–9	Riverfront Stadium	42,347
12	November 21	at New York Jets	L 12–17	0–10	Giants Stadium	64,264
13	November 28	Los Angeles Raiders	W 16–10	1–10	Riverfront Stadium	43,272
14	December 5	at San Francisco 49ers	L 8–21	1–11	Candlestick Park	60,039
15	December 12	at New England Patriots	L 2–7	1–12	Foxboro Stadium	29,794
16	December 19	Los Angeles Rams	W 15–3	2–12	Riverfront Stadium	36,612
17	December 26	Atlanta Falcons	W 21–17	3–12	Riverfront Stadium	27,014
18	January 2, 1994	at New Orleans Saints	L 13–20	3–13	Louisiana Superdome	58,036

Standings

AFC Central
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	STK
(2) Houston Oilers	12	4	0	.750	368	238	W11
(6) Pittsburgh Steelers	9	7	0	.563	308	281	W1
Cleveland Browns	7	9	0	.438	304	307	L1
Cincinnati Bengals	3	13	0	.188	187	319	L1

Team leaders

Passing

Player	Att	Comp	Yds	TD	INT	Rating
David Klingler	343	190	1935	6	9	66.6

Rushing

Player	Att	Yds	YPC	Long	TD
Harold Green	215	589	2.7	25	0
Derrick Fenner	121	482	4.0	26	1

Receiving

Player	Rec	Yds	Avg	Long	TD
Jeff Query	56	654	11.7	51	4
Carl Pickens	43	565	13.1	36	6

Defensive

Player	Tackles	Sacks	INTs	FF	FR
Darryl Williams	123	2.0	2	1	1
Danny Stubbs	24	5.0	0	0	1
Michael Brim	49	0.0	3	1	1

Kicking and punting

Player	FGA	FGM	FG%	XPA	XPM	XP%	Points
Doug Pelfrey	31	24	77.4%	16	13	81.3%	85

Player	Punts	Yards	Long	Blkd	Avg.
Lee Johnson	90	3954	60	0	43.9

Special teams

Player	KR	KRYards	KRAvg	KRLong	KRTD	PR	PRYards	PRAvg	PRLong	PRTD
Patrick Robinson	30	567	18.9	42	0	43	305	7.1	36	0

Awards and records

• Against the New England Patriots in Week 15, the Bengals became the first NFL team since the Minnesota Vikings against the Detroit Lions in Week 14 of 1983, to score only a safety in a game. The next occurrence in the regular season was in the opening week of the 2013 Jacksonville Jaguars season against the Chiefs (the Atlanta Falcons were limited to a safety by the New York Giants in a 2011 NFC wild card playoff game).