1983 Cincinnati Bengals season

The 1983 season was the Cincinnati Bengals' 14th season in the National Football League, their 16th overall, and their fourth and final under head coach Forrest Gregg.

1983 Cincinnati Bengals season
General manager	Paul Brown
Head coach	Forrest Gregg
Home field	Riverfront Stadium
Results
Record	7–9
Division place	3rd AFC Central
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
← 1982 Bengals seasons 1984 →

Cincinnati lost six of their first seven games, then won six of nine to finish at 7–9. Despite the record, the Bengals claimed the top overall defense in the NFL, and were 4–2 in divisional games.

After the season in December, Gregg was allowed out of his contract's remaining year to succeed Bart Starr as head coach of the Green Bay Packers.^[1] Several days later, Indiana Hoosiers head coach Sam Wyche, a former Bengals quarterback, was named as his replacement.^[2]

Offseason

NFL Draft

Main article: 1983 NFL Draft

1983 Cincinnati Bengals draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	25	Dave Rimington	Center	Nebraska
2	53	Ray Horton	Cornerback	Washington
3	81	Jimmy Turner	Defensive back	UCLA
4	109	Steve Maidlow	Linebacker	Michigan State
5	137	Jeff Christensen	Quarterback	Eastern Illinois
6	152	Kiki DeAyala	Linebacker	Texas
6	165	Larry Kinnebrew	Running back	Tennessee State
7	193	James Griffin	Defensive back	Middle Tennessee
8	221	Mike Martin	Wide receiver	Illinois
9	248	Stanley Wilson	Running back	Oklahoma
10	276	Tim Krumrie *	Defensive tackle	Wisconsin
11	304	Gary Williams	Wide receiver	Ohio State
12	332	Andre Young	Linebacker	Bowling Green
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

^[3]

Personnel

Staff

1983 Cincinnati Bengals staff

	Front office President – John Sawyer General Manager – Paul Brown Director of Player Personnel – Pete Brown Head coaches Head Coach – Forrest Gregg Offensive coaches Quarterbacks/Receivers – Bruce Coslet Offensive Backfield – George Sefcik Offensive Line – Jim McNally			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers – Hank Bullough Defensive Line – Dick Modzelewski Defensive Backfield – Dick LeBeau Strength and conditioning Strength – Kim Wood

Roster

1983 Cincinnati Bengals roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 14 Ken Anderson 11 Jeff Christensen 15 Turk Schonert Running backs (RB) 40 Charles Alexander 46 Pete Johnson FB 28 Larry Kinnebrew 32 Stanley Wilson Wide receivers (WR) 80 Cris Collinsworth 85 Isaac Curtis 86 Steve Kreider 88 Mike Martin 81 David Verser Tight ends (TE) 48 Andy Gibler 89 Dan Ross

Offensive linemen (OL) 66 Jim Hannula T 62 Dave Lapham G 65 Max Montoya G 78 Anthony Muñoz T 68 Mike Obrovac T 50 Dave Rimington C 77 Mike Wilson T Defensive linemen (DL) 61 Jerry Boyarsky NT 79 Ross Browner DE 73 Eddie Edwards DE 69 Tim Krumrie NT

Linebackers (LB) 52 Tom Dinkel OLB 55 Jim LeClair ILB 59 Jeff Schuh 56 Ron Simpkins 57 Reggie Williams OLB Defensive backs (DB) 34 Louis Breeden 21 Oliver Davis 20 Ray Horton 26 Bobby Kemp 37 Robert Jackson 13 Ken Riley 25 John Simmons Special teams 3 Jim Breech K 87 Pat McInally P

Reserve 70 Emanuel Weaver DT (IR) Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 4	Los Angeles Raiders	L 10–20	0–1	Riverfront Stadium	50,956
2	September 11	Buffalo Bills	L 6–10	0–2	Riverfront Stadium	46,839
3	September 15	at Cleveland Browns	L 7–17	0–3	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	79,700
4	September 25	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 23–17	1–3	Tampa Stadium	56,023
5	October 2	Baltimore Colts	L 31–34	1–4	Riverfront Stadium	48,104
6	October 10	Pittsburgh Steelers	L 14–24	1–5	Riverfront Stadium	56,086
7	October 16	at Denver Broncos	L 17–24	1–6	Mile High Stadium	74,305
8	October 23	Cleveland Browns	W 28–21	2–6	Riverfront Stadium	50,047
9	October 30	Green Bay Packers	W 34–14	3–6	Riverfront Stadium	53,349
10	November 6	at Houston Oilers	W 55–14	4–6	Houston Astrodome	39,706
11	November 13	at Kansas City Chiefs	L 15–20	4–7	Arrowhead Stadium	44,711
12	November 20	Houston Oilers	W 38–10	5–7	Riverfront Stadium	46,375
13	November 28	at Miami Dolphins	L 14–38	5–8	Miami Orange Bowl	74,506
14	December 4	at Pittsburgh Steelers	W 23–10	6–8	Three Rivers Stadium	55,832
15	December 11	Detroit Lions	W 17–9	7–8	Riverfront Stadium	45,728
16	December 17	at Minnesota Vikings	L 14–20	7–9	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	51,565

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

AFC Central
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Pittsburgh Steelers(3)	10	6	0	.625	4–2	8–4	355	303	L1
Cleveland Browns	9	7	0	.563	3–3	7–5	356	342	W1
Cincinnati Bengals	7	9	0	.438	4–2	4–8	346	302	L1
Houston Oilers	2	14	0	.125	1–5	1–11	288	460	L1

Game summaries

Week 1: vs. Los Angeles Raiders

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Raiders	7	10	0	3	20
Bengals	0	0	3	7	10

Game information

First quarter LA (7:32) – Marcus Allen 1 yard run (Chris Bahr kick) – Raiders 7–0 Second quarter LA (9:05) – Marcus Allen 1 yard run (Chris Bahr kick) – Raiders 14–0 LA (4:59) – Chris Bahr 38 yard field goal – Raiders 17–0 Third quarter CIN (9:23) – Jim Breech 36 yard field goal – Raiders 17–3 Fourth quarter LA (12:25) – Chris Bahr 39 yard field goal – Raiders 20–3 CIN (1:00) – M.L. Harris 9 yard pass from Ken Anderson (Jim Breech kick) – Raiders 20–10 Raiders Jim Plunkett 14/29, 158 Yds, INT Marcus Allen 17 Rush, 47 Yds, 2 TD Malcolm Barnwell 5 Rec, 66 Yds Bengals Ken Anderson 26/35, 226 Yds, TD, INT Stanley Wilson 4 Rush, 20 Yds Dan Ross 5 Rec, 50 Yds

at Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati

• Date: September 4
• Game time: 1:00 p.m.
• Game weather: 75 °F (24 °C), wind 9 mph (14 km/h)
• Game attendance: 50,956
• Referee: Ben Dreith
• TV announcers (NBC): Marv Albert and John Brodie
• Pro-Football-Reference.com

Awards and records

• Passing: Ken Anderson (297 Att, 198 Comp, 2333 Yds, 66.7 Pct, 12 TD, 13 Int, 85.6 Rating)
• Rushing: Pete Johnson (210 Att, 763 Yds, 3.6 Avg, 16 Long, 14 TD)
• Receiving: Cris Collinsworth (66 Rec, 1130 Yds, 17.1 Avg, 63 Long, 5 TD)
• Scoring: Jim Breech, 87 points (16 FG; 39 PAT)

References

1. "Gregg replaces Starr at Green Bay". Lakeland Ledger. (Florida). Associated Press. December 25, 1983. p. 8C.
2. "Wyche becomes Bengal coach". Lakeland Ledger. (Florida). Associated Press. December 29, 1983. p. 3D.
3. "1983 Cincinnati Bengals draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 6, 2014.

External links

• 1983 Cincinnati Bengals at Pro-Football-Reference.com