1996 Cincinnati Bengals season

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.^[1] One bright spot was that wide receiver Carl Pickens became the first member of the Bengals to have 100 receptions in a season.

1996 Cincinnati Bengals season
Head coach	Dave Shula (fired October 21, 1-6 record) Bruce Coslet (interim; 7-2 record)
Home stadium	Cinergy Field
Results
Record	8–8
Division place	3rd AFC Central
Playoffs	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	WR Carl Pickens CB Ashley Ambrose
← 1995 Bengals seasons 1997 →

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1996 NFL draft

1996 Cincinnati Bengals draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	10	Willie Anderson *	Offensive tackle	Auburn
2	39	Marco Battaglia	Tight end	Rutgers
3	69	Ken Blackman	Guard	Illinois
4	108	Jevon Langford	Defensive end	Oklahoma State
5	144	Greg Myers	Defensive back	Colorado State
6	178	Tom Tumulty	Linebacker	Pittsburgh
7	219	Rod Jones	Offensive tackle	Kansas
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

^[2]

Undrafted free agents

1996 Undrafted free agents of note

Player	Position	College
Nick Ferguson	Safety	Georgia Tech
Chris Hetherington	Fullback	Yale
Damon Huard	Quarterback	Washington
Tim Morabito	Defensive tackle	Boston College

Personnel

Staff

1996 Cincinnati Bengals staff

Front office President – Mike Brown Head coaches Head Coach – Dave Shula Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator – Bruce Coslet Quarterbacks – Ken Anderson Running Backs – Jim Anderson Wide Receivers – John Garrett Tight Ends – Gary Moeller Offensive Line – Paul Alexander

Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator – Larry Peccatiello Defensive Line – Tim Krumrie Linebackers – Joe Pascale Defensive Backs – Ron Meeks Staff Assistant – Bobby DePaul Special teams coaches Special Teams – Joe Wessel Strength and conditioning Strength and Conditioning – Kim Wood

Roster

1996 Cincinnati Bengals roster

Quarterbacks (QB)  8 Jeff Blake 12 Kerry Joseph  4 Erik Wilhelm Running backs (RB) 21 Eric Bieniemy 32 Ki-Jana Carter 46 Jeff Cothran FB 20 Garrison Hearst 44 Brian Milne FB Wide receivers (WR) 80 David Dunn 84 Jeff Hill KR 85 James Hundon KR 81 Carl Pickens 86 Darnay Scott Tight ends (TE) 89 Marco Battaglia 82 Tony McGee 87 Troy Sadowski

Offensive linemen (OL) 71 Willie Anderson T 66 Ken Blackman G 74 Rich Braham G/C 65 Darrick Brilz C 75 Anthony Brown T 62 Brock Gutierrez C 60 Rod Jones G 76 Trent Pollard G 61 Melvin Tuten T 63 Joe Walter T Defensive linemen (DL) 92 John Copeland DE 90 Tim Johnson DT 94 Jevon Langford DE 93 Tim Morabito DT 70 Artie Smith DE 79 Ramondo Stallings DE 67 Kimo von Oelhoffen DT 99 Dan Wilkinson DT

Linebackers (LB) 55 Andre Collins OLB 51 Gerald Dixon OLB 50 James Francis OLB 56 Ricardo McDonald OLB 52 Randy Neal OLB 53 Tom Tumulty MLB Defensive backs (DB) 33 Ashley Ambrose CB 25 Rod Jones CB 24 Roger Jones CB 31 Greg Myers FS 26 Bo Orlando FS 23 Corey Sawyer 35 Sam Shade SS 22 Jimmy Spencer CB 27 Bracy Walker SS 37 Leonard Wheeler CB Special teams (ST) 11 Lee Johnson P  9 Doug Pelfrey K 59 Greg Truitt LS

Practice squad 83 Kevin Jordan WR -- Stephen Pitts RB 17 Gunnard Twyner WR 98 Thomas Meyer DE 53 active, 6 inactive, 4 practice squad Reserve 72 Scott Brumfield G (IR) 68 Joel Davis G (Military) 40 Deland McCullough RB (IR) 77 Kevin Sargent T (IR) 51 Steve Tovar LB (IR) 91 Brett Wallerstedt LB (IR) Rookies in italics

^[3]

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance	TV Time(EST)	TV Announcers
1	September 1, 1996	at St. Louis Rams	L 26–16	62,659	NBC 1:00pm	Dan Hicks & Bart Oates
2	September 8, 1996	at San Diego Chargers	L 27–14	55,880	NBC 4:00pm	Jim Lampley & Bob Golic
3	September 15, 1996	New Orleans Saints	W 30–15	45,412	FOX 1:00pm	Kenny Albert & Tim Green
4	Bye
5	September 29, 1996	Denver Broncos	L 14–10	51,798	NBC 1:00pm	Charlie Jones & Randy Cross
6	October 6, 1996	Houston Oilers	L 30–27 (OT)	44,680	TNT 8:00pm	Verne Lundquist & Pat Haden
7	October 13, 1996	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 20–10	58,875	NBC 1:00pm	Charlie Jones & Randy Cross
8	October 20, 1996	at San Francisco 49ers	L 28–21	63,218	NBC 4:00pm	Dick Enberg, Paul Maguire & Phil Simms
9	October 27, 1996	Jacksonville Jaguars	W 28–21	45,890	NBC 1:00pm	Don Criqui & Beasley Reece
10	November 3, 1996	at Baltimore Ravens	W 24–21	60,743	NBC 1:00pm	Don Criqui & Beasley Reece
11	November 10, 1996	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 34–24	57,265	NBC 1:00pm	Don Criqui & Beasley Reece
12	November 17, 1996	at Buffalo Bills	L 31–17	75,549	NBC 1:00pm	Don Criqui & Beasley Reece
13	November 24, 1996	Atlanta Falcons	W 41–31	44,868	FOX 1:00pm	Thom Brennaman & Ron Pitts
14	December 1, 1996	at Jacksonville Jaguars	L 30–27	57,408	NBC 1:00pm	Dan Hicks & Bart Oates
15	December 8, 1996	Baltimore Ravens	W 21–14	43,022	NBC 1:00pm	Jim Lampley & Bob Golic
16	December 15, 1996	at Houston Oilers	W 21–13	15,131	NBC 4:00pm	Jim Lampley & Bob Golic
17	December 22, 1996	Indianapolis Colts	W 31–24	49,389	NBC 1:00pm	Jim Lampley & Bob Golic
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

AFC Central
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	STK
(3) Pittsburgh Steelers	10	6	0	.625	344	257	L2
(5) Jacksonville Jaguars	9	7	0	.563	325	335	W5
Cincinnati Bengals	8	8	0	.500	372	369	W3
Houston Oilers	8	8	0	.500	345	319	W1
Baltimore Ravens	4	12	0	.250	371	441	L3

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^[4]
• Carl Pickens, Led AFC, Receptions, 100 Receptions^[5]

Milestones

• Carl Pickens, 3rd 1000 Yard Receiving Season, 1,180 yards^[6]