The 1990 Cincinnati Bengals season was the franchise's 23rd year in professional football and its 21st with the National Football League (NFL). The Bengals won the AFC Central division for the second time in three seasons.
The Bengals would finish the season 9–7 and make the playoffs. In the postseason, Cincinnati won over the Houston Oilers in the wild-card round 41–14, but lost to the Los Angeles Raiders 20–10 in the divisional round. The Bengals would not make the playoffs again until the 2005 season and would not win a playoff game again until their Super Bowl-appearing 2021 season beginning what eventually became an 8-game playoff losing streak, tied with the Detroit Lions for longest in NFL history.
Offseason
NFL draft
Undrafted free agents
+ 1990 undrafted free agents of notePlayerPositionCollegeDavid ClarkRunning backDartmouthGary GusemanKicker Miami (FL)Tyreese HerdsCornerbackKansas StateLarry HasgroveCornerbackOhioDavid HodgeTight endSouth CarolinaStuart MabergTackleConnecticutDan MurrayLinebackerEast StroudsburgRobert MyersPunterWashington StateJason NovacekTight endFresno StateCraig PattersonNose tackleBYUKirk ScraffordGuardMontanaScott SegristKickerTexas TechJohn SimpsonWide receiverBaylorRob VaranoWide receiverLehighTodd WhiteWide receiverCal State-FullertonSean WhitemanCornerbackSyracuse
Personnel
Staff
Roster
Regular season
Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap 1 September 9 New York Jets W 25–20 1–0 Riverfront Stadium Recap 2 September 16 at San Diego Chargers W 21–16 2–0 Jack Murphy Stadium Recap 3 September 23 New England Patriots W 41–7 3–0 Riverfront Stadium Recap 4 at Seattle Seahawks L 16–31 3–1 Kingdome Recap 5 October 7 at Los Angeles Rams W 34–31 4–1 Anaheim Stadium Recap 6 October 14 at Houston Oilers L 17–48 4–2 Astrodome Recap 7 at Cleveland Browns W 34–13 5–2 Cleveland Stadium Recap 8 October 28 at Atlanta Falcons L 17–38 5–3 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium Recap 9 November 4 New Orleans Saints L 7–21 5–4 Riverfront Stadium Recap 10Bye 11 November 18 Pittsburgh Steelers W 27–3 6–4 Riverfront Stadium Recap 12 November 25 Indianapolis Colts L 20–34 6–5 Riverfront Stadium Recap 13 December 2 at Pittsburgh Steelers W 16–12 7–5 Three Rivers Stadium Recap 14 December 9 San Francisco 49ers L 17–20 7–6 Riverfront Stadium Recap 15 December 16 at Los Angeles Raiders L 7–24 7–7 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Recap 16 December 23 Houston Oilers W 40–20 8–7 Riverfront Stadium Recap 17 December 30 Cleveland Browns W 21–14 9–7 Riverfront Stadium Recap
Game summaries
Week 1 vs Jets
Week 2
Pro-Football-Reference.com
Week 13
Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Mar-30.
Week 17 vs Browns
Standings
NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, , p. 292
Best performances James Brooks, December 23, 1990, 201 rushing yards vs. Houston Oilers NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, , p. 438
Playoffs
Schedule
Week Date Opponent (seed) Result Record Venue Venue Wildcard January 6, 1991 Houston Oilers (6) W 41–14 1–0 Riverfront Stadium 60,012 Divisional January 13, 1991 at Los Angeles Raiders (2) L 10–20 1–1 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 92,045
Team leaders
Passing Player Att Comp Yds TD INT Rating Boomer Esiason 402 224 3031 24 22 77.0
Rushing Player Att Yds YPC Long TD James Brooks 195 1004 5.1 56 5 Ickey Woods 64 268 4.2 32 6
Receiving Player Rec Yds Avg Long TD Eddie Brown 44 706 16.0 50 9
Defensive Player Tackles Sacks INTs FF FR James Francis 76 8.0 1 2 0 Barney Bussey 57 2.0 4 0 1
Kicking and punting Player FGA FGM FG% XPA XPM XP% Points Jim Breech 21 17 81.0% 44 41 93.2% 92 Player Punts Yards Long Blkd Avg. Lee Johnson 64 2705 70 0 42.3
Special teams Player KR KRYards KRAvg KRLong KRTD PR PRYards PRAvg PRLong PRTD Stanford Jennings 29 584 20.1 33 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 Mitchell Price 10 191 19.1 33 0 29 251 8.7 66 1
Awards and records
All-Pros Anthony Muñoz LT, first-team All-Pro
All-Rookies James Francis OLB, PFWA All-Rookie Team
Records Boomer Esiason, franchise record, most passing yards in one game, 490 yards (achieved on October 7, 1990) NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, , p. 37
Milestones James Brooks, 1st 200 yard rushing game, December 23, 1990, 201 rushing yards vs. Houston Oilers James Brooks, 3rd 1000 yard rushing season (1,004 yards) NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, , p. 436
References
External links 1990 Cincinnati Bengals at Pro-Football-Reference.com