1999 Cincinnati Bengals season

The 1999 Cincinnati Bengals season was the team's 32nd year in professional football and its 30th with the National Football League (NFL). In what would be the final season of pro football being played at Riverfront Stadium, then known as Cinergy Field, the Bengals struggled out of the gates again losing 10 of their first 11 games. After winning two straight, the Bengals faced the expansion Cleveland Browns in the final game at Riverfront Stadium. The Bengals would win the game 44–28^[a] before losing their final two games to finish with a 4–12 record.

1999 Cincinnati Bengals season
Head coach	Bruce Coslet
Home stadium	Cinergy Field
Results
Record	4–12
Division place	5th AFC Central
Playoffs	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	RB Corey Dillon
← 1998 Bengals seasons 2000 →

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1999 NFL draft

1999 Cincinnati Bengals draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	3	Akili Smith	Quarterback	Oregon
2	33	Charles Fisher	Defensive back	West Virginia
3	65	Cory Hall	Defensive back	Fresno State
4	98	Craig Yeast	Wide receiver	Kentucky
5	135	Nick Luchey	Fullback	Miami (FL)
6	173	Kelly Gregg	Defensive tackle	Oklahoma
7	209	Tony Coats	Guard	Washington
7	245	Scott Covington	Quarterback	Miami (FL)
7	249	Donald Broomfield	Defensive tackle	Clemson
Made roster

^[2]

Personnel

Staff

1999 Cincinnati Bengals staff

Front office President – Mike Brown Head coaches Head coach – Bruce Coslet Assistant head coach/defensive coordinator – Dick LeBeau Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator – Ken Anderson Running backs – Jim Anderson Wide receivers – Steve Mooshagian Tight ends – Frank Verducci Offensive line – Paul Alexander

Defensive coaches Defensive line – Tim Krumrie Linebackers – Mark Duffner Defensive backs – Ray Horton Defensive staff assistant – Louie Cioffi Special teams coaches Special teams – Al Roberts Strength and conditioning Strength and conditioning – Kim Wood

Roster

1999 Cincinnati Bengals roster

Quarterbacks (QB)  8 Jeff Blake  4 Scott Covington 15 Eric Kresser 11 Akili Smith Running backs (RB) 38 Michael Basnight 28 Corey Dillon 46 Clif Groce FB 39 Nick Williams FB 39 Sedrick Shaw Wide receivers (WR) 87 Damon Griffin 85 James Hundon 80 Willie Jackson KR 81 Carl Pickens 86 Darnay Scott 84 Craig Yeast PR Tight ends (TE) 89 Marco Battaglia 88 Steve Bush LS 82 Tony McGee

Offensive linemen (OL) 71 Willie Anderson T 74 Rich Braham C 61 Tony Coats G 63 Mike Goff G/T 62 Brock Gutierrez C/G 60 Rod Jones T 58 Jay Leeuwenburg G 72 Matt O'Dwyer G 75 Jamain Stephens T Defensive linemen (DL) 90 Michael Bankston DE 92 John Copeland DE 99 Oliver Gibson NT 94 Jevon Langford DE 97 Andre Purvis DE 70 Glen Steele DE 67 Kimo von Oelhoffen NT

Linebackers (LB) 98 Canute Curtis OLB 95 Steve Foley OLB 91 Billy Granville ILB 57 Adrian Ross OLB 56 Brian Simmons ILB 51 Takeo Spikes ILB 55 Reinard Wilson OLB Defensive backs (DB) 33 JoJuan Armour SS 40 Myron Bell SS 21 Tom Carter CB 26 Cory Hall FS 27 Artrell Hawkins CB 22 Rodney Heath CB 20 Ty Howard CB 34 Tremain Mack 31 Greg Myers FS 42 Lawrence Wright SS Special teams (ST)  6 Brad Costello P  9 Doug Pelfrey K

Practice squad 79 Chad Pegues DT 50 Ben Peterson LB 83 Damian Vaughn TE 53 active, 10 inactive, 3 practice squad Reserve 36 Brandon Bennett RB (IR) 37 Roosevelt Blackmon CB (IR) 32 Ki-Jana Carter RB (IR) 73 Brian DeMarco G (IR) 76 Mike Doughty T (IR) 25 Charles Fisher CB (IR) 24 Ric Mathias CB (IR) 29 Kelvin Moore S (IR) 59 Greg Truitt LS (IR) 53 Tom Tumulty LB (PUP) Rookies in italics

^[3]

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 12	at Tennessee Titans	L 35–36	0–1	Adelphia Coliseum	65,272
2	September 19	San Diego Chargers	L 7–34	0–2	Cinergy Field	47,660
3	September 26	at Carolina Panthers	L 3–27	0–3	Ericcson Stadium	61,269
4	October 3	St. Louis Rams	L 10–38	0–4	Cinergy Field	45,481
5	October 10	at Cleveland Browns	W 18–17	1–4	Cleveland Browns Stadium	73,048
6	October 17	Pittsburgh Steelers	L 3–17	1–5	Cinergy Field	59,669
7	October 24	at Indianapolis Colts	L 10–31	1–6	RCA Dome	55,996
8	October 31	Jacksonville Jaguars	L 10–41	1–7	Cinergy Field	49,138
9	November 7	at Seattle Seahawks	L 20–37	1–8	Kingdome	66,303
10	November 14	Tennessee Titans	L 14–24	1–9	Cinergy Field	46,017
11	November 21	Baltimore Ravens	L 31–34	1–10	Cinergy Field	43,279
12	November 28	at Pittsburgh Steelers	W 27–20	2–10	Three Rivers Stadium	50,907
13	December 5	San Francisco 49ers	W 44–30	3–10	Cinergy Field	53,463
14	December 12	Cleveland Browns	W 44–28	4–10	Cinergy Field	59,972
15	Bye
16	December 26	at Baltimore Ravens	L 0–22	4–11	PSINet Stadium	68,036
17	January 2, 2000	at Jacksonville Jaguars	L 7–24	4–12	Alltel Stadium	70,532

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

AFC Central
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	STK
(1) Jacksonville Jaguars	14	2	0	.875	396	217	W1
(4) Tennessee Titans	13	3	0	.813	392	324	W4
Baltimore Ravens	8	8	0	.500	324	277	L1
Pittsburgh Steelers	6	10	0	.375	317	320	L1
Cincinnati Bengals	4	12	0	.250	283	460	L2
Cleveland Browns	2	14	0	.125	217	437	L6

^[4]

Team leaders

Passing

Player	Att	Comp	Yds	TD	INT	Rating
Jeff Blake	389	215	2670	16	12	77.6

Rushing

Player	Att	Yds	YPC	Long	TD
Corey Dillon	263	1200	4.6	50	5

Receiving

Player	Rec	Yds	Avg	Long	TD
Darnay Scott	68	1022	15.0	76	7

Defensive

Player	Tackles	Sacks	INTs	FF	FR
Brian Simmons	111	3.0	0	0	1
Michael Bankston	56	6.0	0	0	0
Rodney Heath	46	0.0	3	2	1

Kicking and punting

Player	FGA	FGM	FG%	XPA	XPM	XP%	Points
Doug Pelfrey	27	18	66.7%	27	27	100.0%	81

Player	Punts	Yards	Long	Blkd	Avg.
Will Brice	60	2475	72	2	41.3

Special teams

Player	KR	KRYards	KRAvg	KRLong	KRTD	PR	PRYards	PRAvg	PRLong	PRTD
Tremain Mack	51	1382	27.1	99	1	0	0	0.0	0	0
Damon Griffin	15	296	19.7	42	0	23	195	8.5	34	0

Awards and records

Milestones

• Corey Dillon, 3rd 1000 yard rushing season (1,200 rushing yards) ^[5]
• Darnay Scott, 1st 1000 yard receiving season (1,022 receiving yards) ^[6]

Notes

1. Coach Bruce Coslet took running back Corey Dillon out of that game in the third quarter even though he was on pace to break the league's single-game rushing record of 275 yards, set by the late Walter Payton almost 22 years before. Asked why afterwards, Coslet reminded reporters that Payton had set that record in a 10–7 game.^[1]