The

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

season was the franchise's 36th season in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL), the 38th overall, and the third under

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

Marvin Lewis Marvin Roland Lewis Jr. (born September 23, 1958) is an American professional American football, football coach. He recently served as the assistant head coach for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). Lewis was previously ...

. It was the team's first season with a winning record, playoff berth, and division title since

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

. In the fourteen seasons and 224 games in between (

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

–

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

), the Bengals' record was 71–153, a 0.317 winning percentage. It would be the Bengals' lone playoff appearance in a span of 18 years (1991–

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

). Quarterback

Carson Palmer Carson Hilton Palmer (born December 27, 1979) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons. He played college football for the USC Trojans, winning the Heisman Trophy as ...

got off to a strong start on his way to a solid 3836-yard season with 32 touchdown passes, earning a trip to the

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (since 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's All-star, star players. The format has changed ...

. Receiving many of Palmer's passes was Chad Johnson, who followed teammate Palmer to the Pro Bowl in Hawaii, racking up an impressive 1,432 yards in receiving with nine touchdowns, many of which were followed by unique celebrations that made him a regular star on the sports highlight shows. Following a 42–29 win over the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...

, the Bengals faced the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

, this time in Pittsburgh, where the Bengals offense continued to fly behind Carson Palmer, who had three touchdown passes and 227 yards passing in an impressive 38–31 win that gave the Bengals first place in the AFC North at 9–3. The Bengals would not relinquish first place, winning the next two games to clinch the division with two weeks to go. On December 18, with a 41–17 win over the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

, the Bengals clinched a playoff spot. After clinching the division the Bengals played cautiously and dropped their final two games to finish with an 11–5 record, beating out the eventual Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers, who finished with an identical record, on a tiebreaker situation. However, a costly loss to the Steelers in the wild card round extended their playoff win drought to 16 years.

Offseason

NFL draft

Personnel

Roster

Regular season

In addition to their regular games with

AFC North The American Football Conference – Northern Division or AFC North is one of the four Division (sport), divisions of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The division was created after the NFL realign ...

rivals, the Bengals played teams from the

AFC South The American Football Conference – Southern Division or AFC South is one of the four Division (sport), divisions of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). It was created before the 2002 NFL season, 200 ...

and

NFC North The National Football Conference – Northern Division or NFC North is one of the four divisions of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). Nicknamed the "Black and Blue Division" for the rough and toug ...

as per the schedule rotation, and also played intraconference games against

the Bills The Bills are a high-impact, acoustic folk music quintet from the West Coast of Canada. Formed in 1996 (as The Bill Hilly Band), they have performed extensively throughout North America and Europe, with their strongest followings in Western Can ...

and the Chiefs based on divisional positions from 2004.

Schedule

Note: Intra-divisional opponents are in bold text

Week 1

* Rudi Johnson 26 Rush, 126 Yds

Week 8 vs Packers

Standings

Postseason

Wild Card vs Steelers

On January 8, 2006, the

took on the

in the opening round of the playoffs, making it the Bengals’ first playoff appearance of the decade. Early in the game, disaster struck for the Bengals when Steelers lineman Kimo von Oelhoffen hit Bengals quarterback

's knee, resulting in a tear of Palmer's

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation. In ...

(ACL). Backup quarterback

Jon Kitna Jon Kelly Kitna (born September 21, 1972) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for the Seattle Seahawks, Cincinnati Bengals, Detroit Lions, and Dallas Cowboys. He played colleg ...

took over and did very well, giving Cincinnati leads of 10–0 and 17–7 at points of the game. All seemed well for the Bengals until the Steelers came back with 24 unanswered points and upset the Cincinnati Bengals with a final score of 31–17. The Steelers went on to win the Super Bowl. With the costly loss, the Bengals season ended at 11–6, thus once again it extended their playoff win drought to 16 years.

Team leaders

Passing

Rushing

Receiving

Defensive

Kicking and punting

Special teams

Awards and records

Pro Bowl Selections

QB, AFC Pro-Bowl Selection * Rudi Johnson RB, AFC Pro-Bowl Selection *

Chad Johnson Chad Ochocinco Johnson (born Chad Javon Johnson, January 9, 1978), known from 2008 to 2012 as Chad Ochocinco, is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for 11 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He ...

WR, AFC Pro-Bowl Selection * Willie Anderson RT, AFC Pro-Bowl Selection *

Deltha O'Neal Deltha Lee O'Neal, III (born January 30, 1977) is an American former professional football player who was a cornerback for nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the California Golden Bears, and was ...

CB, AFC Pro-Bowl Selection

All-Pro Award

WR, 1st Team All-Pro * Willie Anderson RT, 1st Team All-Pro *

CB, 1st Team All-Pro

Milestones

's first six starts of the season, combined with his last three starts of 2004, made him only the second passer in NFL history to post nine straight games with a passer rating of 100 or more (

Peyton Manning Peyton Williams Manning (born March 24, 1976) is an American former professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons. Nicknamed "the Sheriff", he spent 14 seasons with the In ...

, 2004) *

led the NFL in three major passing categories – TD passes (32), completion percentage (67.8) and TD-INT differential (32–12) * Rudi Johnson, 2nd 1000 yard rushing season (1,458 yards) *

4th 1000 yard receiving season *

Tab Perry Tab Wilson Perry (born January 20, 1982) is an American former professional football wide receiver. He was selected by the Cincinnati Bengals in the sixth round of the 2005 NFL draft. He played college football at UCLA. Perry was also a member ...

, 1st 1000-yard return season (1,562 yards)

Records

*Cincinnati Bengals

and

T. J. Houshmandzadeh Touraj Houshmandzadeh Jr. ( ; born September 26, 1977) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Oregon State Beavers and was selected by ...

set Bengals records for most receptions (175) and receiving yards (2,388) by a duo. *The Bengals established a home season attendance record of 526,469 to break the mark of 524,248 set a season earlier.

References

External links

*
2005 Cincinnati Bengals
at

Pro-Football-Reference.com Pro Football Reference (PFR) is an online statistics database for professional American football maintained by Sports Reference. The site provides career statistics for players, teams, and games, as well as records and NFL draft history. PFR was ...

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AFC North championship seasons Cincinnati Bengals seasons Cincin