1997 Cincinnati Bengals season

The 1997 Cincinnati Bengals season was the team's 30th season in professional football and its 28th in the National Football League. After winning the first game of the season, the Bengals lost their next seven games to effectively end any playoff hopes. The struggles cost Jeff Blake his starting quarterback job, as former Bengal starting quarterback Boomer Esiason, who was reacquired in the off-season, came back in to lead the Bengals. With Esiason back under center the Bengals started to win as he connected on 13 touchdown passes, while giving up two interceptions. Under Esiason the Bengals won six of their final eight games, to finish with a 7–9 record. Just as the Bengals were ready to give Esiason the job full-time, he got a lucrative offer from ABC-TV to do games on Monday Night Football. Since he would earn more money on ABC he decided to retire.^[1] Running back Corey Dillon set a rookie rushing record (since broken) for most yards in a game. On December 4, 1997, Dillon rushed for 246 yards in a game against the Tennessee Oilers.^[2]

1997 Cincinnati Bengals season
Head coach	Bruce Coslet
Home field	Cinergy Field
Results
Record	7–9
Division place	4th AFC Central
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	None
← 1996 Bengals seasons 1998 →

For the season, the Bengals sported new uniforms and a new logo, which would remain until 2003. The new tiger head logo remains in use today.

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1997 NFL Draft

1997 Cincinnati Bengals draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	14	Reinard Wilson	Linebacker	Florida State
2	43	Corey Dillon *	Running back	Washington
3	76	Rod Payne	Center	Michigan
4	111	Tremain Mack *	Defensive back	Miami (FL)
5	144	Andre Purvis	Defensive tackle	North Carolina
6	176	Canute Curtis	Linebacker	West Virginia
7	217	William Carr	Defensive tackle	Michigan
Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

^[3]

Personnel

Staff

1997 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 Tight ends – Bob Wylie Offensive line – Paul Alexander Offensive Staff Assistant – John Garrett

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

1997 Cincinnati Bengals roster

Quarterbacks (QB)  8 Jeff Blake  7 Boomer Esiason 15 Eric Kresser Running backs (RB) 21 Eric Bieniemy KR 32 Ki-Jana Carter 28 Corey Dillon 45 Ty Douthard 44 Brian Milne FB Wide receivers (WR) 80 David Dunn KR 85 James Hundon 84 Mike Jenkins 86 Darnay Scott Tight ends (TE) 89 Marco Battaglia 88 Steve Bush 82 Tony McGee

Offensive linemen (OL) 71 Willie Anderson T 66 Ken Blackman G 74 Rich Braham G 65 Darrick Brilz C 75 Anthony Brown G/T 72 Scott Brumfield G 68 Joel Davis G 62 Brock Gutierrez C 60 Rod Jones T 64 Rod Payne C 77 Kevin Sargent T Defensive linemen (DL) 96 Brentson Buckner NT 92 John Copeland DE 94 Jevon Langford DE 67 Kimo von Oelhoffen NT 97 Andre Purvis DE 93 Mike Thompson NT 99 Dan Wilkinson DE

Linebackers (LB) 55 Andre Collins OLB 98 Canute Curtis OLB 51 Gerald Dixon OLB 50 James Francis OLB 91 Billy Granville ILB 56 Ricardo McDonald ILB 58 Steve Tovar ILB 57 Reinard Wilson OLB Defensive backs (DB) 33 Ashley Ambrose CB 30 Cory Gilliard FS 34 Tremain Mack SS 31 Greg Myers 26 Bo Orlando FS 27 Tito Paul CB 23 Corey Sawyer CB 35 Sam Shade SS 22 Jimmy Spencer CB 42 Lawrence Wright SS Special teams 11 Lee Johnson P  9 Doug Pelfrey K 59 Greg Truitt LS

Practice squad -- Bill Kushner P 53 active, 5 inactive, 1 practice squad, 1 exemption Reserve 41 Scottie Graham RB (IR) 81 Carl Pickens WR (IR) 79 Ramondo Stallings DE (IR) 52 Tim Terry LB (IR) 53 Tom Tumulty LB (IR) Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance	Record
1	August 31	Arizona Cardinals	W 24–21	53,644	1–0
2	September 7	at Baltimore Ravens	L 23–10	52,968	1–1
3	Bye
4	September 21	at Denver Broncos	L 38–20	73,871	1–2
5	September 28	New York Jets	L 31–14	57,209	1–3
6	October 5	at Jacksonville Jaguars	L 21–13	67,128	1–4
7	October 12	at Tennessee Oilers	L 30–7	17,071	1–5
8	October 19	Pittsburgh Steelers	L 26–10	60,020	1–6
9	October 26	at New York Giants	L 29–27	72,584	1–7
10	November 2	San Diego Chargers	W 38–31	53,754	2–7
11	November 9	at Indianapolis Colts	W 28–13	58,473	3–7
12	November 16	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 20–3	55,226	3–8
13	November 23	Jacksonville Jaguars	W 31–26	55,158	4–8
14	November 30	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 44–42	66,623	4–9
15	December 4	Tennessee Oilers	W 41–14	49,086	5–9
16	December 14	Dallas Cowboys	W 31–24	60,043	6–9
17	December 21	Baltimore Ravens	W 16–14	50,917	7–9
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

AFC Central
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	STK
(2) Pittsburgh Steelers	11	5	0	.688	372	307	L1
(5) Jacksonville Jaguars	11	5	0	.688	394	318	W2
Tennessee Oilers	8	8	0	.500	333	310	W1
Cincinnati Bengals	7	9	0	.438	355	405	W3
Baltimore Ravens	6	9	1	.406	326	345	L1

Team leaders

Passing

Player	Att	Comp	Yds	TD	INT	Rating
Jeff Blake	317	184	2125	8	7	77.6
Boomer Esiason	186	118	1478	13	2	106.9

Rushing

Player	Att	Yds	YPC	Long	TD
Corey Dillon	233	1129	4.8	66	10

Receiving

Player	Rec	Yds	Avg	Long	TD
Darnay Scott	54	797	14.8	77	5
Tony McGee	34	414	12.2	37	6

Defense

Player	Tackles	Sacks	INTs	FF	FR
Sam Shade	96	4.0	1	1	1
Gerald Dixon	50	8.5	0	1	0
Corey Sawyer	31	0.0	4	0	0

Kicking and punting

Player	FGA	FGM	FG%	XPA	XPM	XP%	Points
Doug Pelfrey	16	12	75.0%	43	41	95.3%	77

Player	Punts	Yards	Long	Blkd	Avg.
Lee Johnson	81	3471	66	0	42.9

Special teams

Player	KR	KRYards	KRAvg	KRLong	KRTD	PR	PRYards	PRAvg	PRLong	PRTD
Eric Bieniemy	34	789	23.2	102	1	0	0	0.0	0	0
Greg Myers	0	0	0.0	0	0	26	201	7.7	18	0

Awards and records

• Corey Dillon, Franchise Record (since broken), Most Rushing Yards in One Game, 246 yards vs. Tennessee Oilers (achieved on December 4, 1997) ^[2]
• Corey Dillon, Rookie Record (since broken), Most Rushing Yards in One Game, 246 yards vs. Tennessee Oilers (achieved on December 4, 1997)
• Corey Dillon, Franchise Record (tied), Most Points in One Game, 24 Points vs. Tennessee Oilers (achieved on December 4, 1997) ^[4]
• Corey Dillon, Franchise Record (tied), Most Touchdowns in One Game, 4 TD's vs. Tennessee Oilers (achieved on December 4, 1997) ^[4]

Milestones

• Corey Dillon, 1st 1000 yard rushing season (1,129 rushing yards) ^[5]

References

1. "Season summary and statistics". Sports E Cylclopedia.
2. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book. New York: Workman Publishing Co. p. 438. ISBN 0-7611-2480-2.
3. "1997 Cincinnati Bengals Draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 28, 2014.
4. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book. Workman Publishing Co. p. 37.
5. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book. Workman Publishing Co. p. 436.

External links

• Official website
• 1997 Cincinnati Bengals at Pro-Football-Reference.com