The 2018 season was the Cincinnati Bengals' 49th season in the National Football League (NFL), their 51st overall and their 16th and final under head coach Marvin Lewis. The Bengals failed to improve upon their 2017 campaign as they collapsed to a 6–10 finish (after a 4–1 start) to finish in 4th place in the AFC North. This marked the 3rd consecutive season the Bengals failed to make the playoffs.
Longtime coach Marvin Lewis and team owner Mike Brown announced a mutual parting of ways following this season after 16 seasons. Despite leading the Bengals to 4 division titles, and 7 winning seasons/playoff appearances, Lewis was unable to lead the Bengals to a single playoff win. He holds the record for most wins, seasons, and playoff losses for a head coach without a playoff win.
Offseason
Free agents
Unrestricted
Position Player 2018 Team Date signed Contract P Kevin Huber Cincinnati Bengals March 15 3 years, $7.95 million QB A. J. McCarron Buffalo Bills March 15 2 years, $10 million DE Chris Smith Cleveland Browns March 14 3 years, $12 million OT Andre Smith Arizona Cardinals March 16 2 years, $8 million RB Jeremy Hill New England Patriots March 17 1 year, $1.5 million TE Tyler Eifert Cincinnati Bengals March 17 1 year, $5.5 million LB Kevin Minter New York Jets April 10 1 year, $880K RB Cedric Peerman OT Eric Winston DT Pat Sims
Signings Position Player 2017 team Date signed Contract OT Bobby Hart New York Giants February 14 1 year, $1 million LB Preston Brown Buffalo Bills March 16 1 year, $4 million QB Matt Barkley Arizona Cardinals March 17 2 years, $3.1 million
Departures Position Player 2018 team Contract WR Brandon LaFell Oakland Raiders 1 year, $1.75 million FS George Iloka Minnesota Vikings 1 year, $880K H-back Ryan Hewitt Indianapolis Colts 1 year, 990K C T.J. Johnson
Draft
Draft trades The Bengals traded their first- and sixth-round selections (12th and 187th overall) to Buffalo in exchange for Buffalo's first- and fifth-round selections and tackle Cordy Glenn The Bengals traded a conditional selection to Jacksonville in exchange for defensive end Chris Smith. As Smith was on the Bengals' active roster for at least six games during the 2017 season, Jacksonville acquired Cincinnati's seventh-round selection (230th overall). The Bengals traded linebacker Marquis Flowers to New England in exchange for New England's seventh-round selection (249th overall). The Bengals traded their 2nd-round pick (46th overall) and a 3rd-round pick (100th overall) to the Kansas City Chiefs in exchange for the Chiefs' 2nd-round pick (54th overall) and 3rd-round pick (78th overall).
Undrafted free agents + Player Position College Signed Cut Ka'Raun White WR West Virginia May 8September 1 Quinton Flowers RB South FloridaMay 11 Trayvon Henderson S Hawaii Placed on IR Chris Worley LB Ohio StateSeptember 1 Junior Joseph LB UConn Ja'Von Rolland-Jones DE Arkansas State August 2 Ray Lawry RB Old Dominion August 10 Jordan Franks TE UCF September 1 Gaelin Elmore DE East Carolina July 17 (Retired) Devonte Boyd WR UNLV September 1 Austin Fleer T Colorado Mesa August 10 Tyrice Beverette S Stony BrookMay 14September 1 Brad Lundblade C Oklahoma State Chris Okoye DT Ferris State Jared Murphy WR Miami (OH) July 26 Cory Helms OL South CarolinaAugust 4 August 29 Kayaune Ross WR KentuckySeptember 1 Eddy Wilson DT Purdue Simeyon Robinson DT James Madison August 13
Staff
Final roster
Roster changes August 2: Released WR Brandon LaFell after two seasons with the team. August 19: Released S George Iloka, who started every game the past two seasons. Iloka spent his first six years in the league with the Bengals. August 24: Terminated the contract of DT Chris Baker, who was signed this past offseason as a free agent.
NFL Top 100
Rank Player Position Change 22 A. J. Green WR 5 63 Geno Atkins DT 5
Preseason Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap 1 Chicago Bears W 30–27 1–0 Paul Brown Stadium Recap 2 at Dallas Cowboys W 21–13 2–0 AT&T Stadium Recap 3 August 26 at Buffalo Bills W 26–13 3–0 New Era Field Recap 4 Indianapolis Colts L 26–27 3–1 Paul Brown Stadium Recap
Regular season
Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap 1 September 9 at Indianapolis Colts W 34–23 1–0 Lucas Oil Stadium Recap 2 Baltimore Ravens W 34–23 2–0 Paul Brown Stadium Recap 3 September 23 at Carolina Panthers L 21–31 2–1 Bank of America Stadium Recap 4 September 30 at Atlanta Falcons W 37–36 3–1 Mercedes-Benz Stadium Recap 5 October 7 Miami Dolphins W 27–17 4–1 Paul Brown Stadium Recap 6 October 14 Pittsburgh Steelers L 21–28 4–2 Paul Brown Stadium Recap 7 October 21 at Kansas City Chiefs L 10–45 4–3 Arrowhead Stadium Recap 8 October 28 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 37–34 5–3 Paul Brown Stadium Recap 9Bye 10 November 11 New Orleans Saints L 14–51 5–4 Paul Brown Stadium Recap 11 November 18 at Baltimore Ravens L 21–24 5–5 M&T Bank Stadium Recap 12 November 25 Cleveland Browns L 20–35 5–6 Paul Brown Stadium Recap 13 December 2 Denver Broncos L 10–24 5–7 Paul Brown Stadium Recap 14 December 9 at Los Angeles Chargers L 21–26 5–8 StubHub Center Recap 15 December 16 Oakland Raiders W 30–16 6–8 Paul Brown Stadium Recap 16 December 23 at Cleveland Browns L 18–26 6–9 FirstEnergy Stadium Recap 17 December 30 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 13–16 6–10 Heinz Field Recap Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Game summaries
Week 1: at Indianapolis Colts
The Bengals opened the 2018 NFL season in Indianapolis. After trading field goals in the first quarter, the Colts took the lead on Andrew Luck's first touchdown pass since Week 17 of the 2016 NFL season to TE Eric Ebron. After Indianapolis added another Adam Vinatieri field goal, Cincinnati trailed 13–3 in the second quarter before WR John Ross caught a 3-yard TD pass from Andy Dalton for his first career NFL catch and touchdown. The Colts took a 23–10 lead in the third quarter after a T. Y. Hilton TD catch, but the Bengals went on to score 17 unanswered points, including touchdowns by A. J. Green and Joe Mixon, and held a 27–23 lead with less than four minutes to go in the fourth quarter. Bengals safety Shawn Williams was ejected earlier in the game on an unnecessary roughness call for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Andrew Luck and was replaced in the secondary by Clayton Fejedelem. With the Colts driving to win the game late in the fourth, Fejedelem hit Colts TE Jack Doyle forcing a fumble and returned it 83-yards for a touchdown, sealing the victory for the Bengals.
The win snapped the Bengals' eight-game road losing streak against the Colts, beating them at Indianapolis for the first time since the 1997 season.
Week 2: vs. Baltimore Ravens
The Bengals played their division rival, the Baltimore Ravens, in their home opener on Thursday Night Football and started the night on fire. WR A. J. Green caught three touchdown passes in the first half to give the Bengals an early 21–0 lead. Dalton added another touchdown pass to WR Tyler Boyd, but the Ravens closed the cap with TE Mark Andrews hauling in a Joe Flacco touchdown pass to cut the Ravens deficit to 14 at halftime. After a Justin Tucker field goal closed the gap even further in the third quarter, Ravens WR John Brown caught a 21-yard touchdown pass from Flacco to get the Ravens within five with less than 10 minutes to go in the game. Cincinnati tacked on a field goal to increase the lead to eight with just under three minutes to go in the game. With the Ravens trying to tie the game, Bengals safety Shawn Williams got a strip-sack on Flacco and the Bengals recovered the fumble. Cincinnati added a 40-yard field goal by Randy Bullock to put the game out of reach and start the season 2-0 for the first time since 2015.
Week 3: at Carolina Panthers
The Bengals faced the Panthers in their second road game of the season and took an early lead on a Giovani Bernard TD run, but the Panthers answered back with a Cam Newton TD run. Later in the first quarter Andy Dalton threw his first interception of the day, a pass intended for John Ross, but it was intercepted by Donte Jackson. In the second quarter, WR Devin Funchess and RB C. J. Anderson both caught TD passes from Newton and Carolina took a 21–14 lead into the half. In the third, Dalton was picked off again by Efe Obada and a second Newton TD run extended the Panthers lead to 14. Cincinnati soon followed with a TD by WR Tyler Boyd decreasing the Panthers' lead to seven. With less than four minutes to go in the game, another Dalton pass intended for Ross was once again intercepted by Jackson. A Graham Gano field goal made the score 31–21 and in the last few seconds of the game Dalton threw a pass intended for Tyler Eifert in the end zone, but was picked by Luke Kuechly for Dalton's fourth interception of the game. The loss drops the Bengals to 2–1.
Week 4: at Atlanta Falcons
For the second-straight week, the Bengals were on the road against an opponent from the NFC South, the Atlanta Falcons. The scoring started early as Falcons rookie RB Ito Smith scored his first NFL TD on the opening possession of the game. The Bengals started scoring some points of their own in the first quarter with a 15-yard TD pass from Andy Dalton to Tyler Eifert and a Giovani Bernard TD run to give the Bengals a 14–7 lead after one. Points continued to be put on the board in the second quarter with TE Logan Paulsen hauling in a TD pass from Matt Ryan, but Cincinnati answered quickly with John Ross' second TD of the season. Matt Ryan's second TD pass of the game to Calvin Ridley tied the game and the Bengals quickly regained the lead on Giovani Bernard's second TD run. Atlanta was able to get in field goal range at the end of the half and Matt Bryant kicked a 55-yard field goal to put the score at 28–24 in favor of the Bengals. The scoring slowed in the third quarter with a 28-yard Matt Bryant field goal being the only points added to the scoreboard, but the Bengals lost TE Tyler Eifert to a broken ankle. With the Bengals holding a 28–27 lead going into the fourth quarter, WR Calvin Ridley scored his second TD of the game to finally give the Falcons the lead, 33–28. Cincinnati and Atlanta then traded field goals to give the Falcons a 36–31 advantage with just over four minutes to go in the game. QB Andy Dalton led a 16 play, 75-yard drive, including two conversions on fourth down, that ended with a 13-yard TD pass to A. J. Green with seven seconds remaining on the clock. The Bengals failed on their two-point conversion, but kept the Falcons from scoring in the final seconds to improve to 3–1.
Week 5: vs. Miami Dolphins
In the first Sunday home game of the season, the Bengals (3–1) took on the Miami Dolphins (3–1) and the first score of the game didn't come until midway through the second quarter. A Kenyan Drake TD catch from Ryan Tannehill gave the Dolphins a 7–0 lead and then a punt return by Jakeem Grant put the Dolphins up 14–0 at the half. The Bengals and Dolphins traded field goals in the third quarter as Miami took a 17–3 lead into the fourth quarter. The Bengals cut the deficit to 7 after Joe Mixon caught a TD pass from QB Andy Dalton, who threw the ball up as he was being sacked. Then the Bengals defense took over with DE Michael Johnson intercepting a Ryan Tannehill pass, one that hit his own offensive lineman, and took it 22-yards for a TD. After a Randy Bullock field goal and with the Bengals leading 20–17, DE Carlos Dunlap had a strip-sack on Tannehill and the fumble was recovered by rookie DE Sam Hubbard, who returned 19-yards for a TD. The Bengals would hold on to win 27–17 and remain in first place in the AFC North with a 4–1 record.
Week 6: vs. Pittsburgh Steelers