2004 Cincinnati Bengals season

2004 Cincinnati Bengals season
Head coach	Marvin Lewis
Home field	Paul Brown Stadium
Results
Record	8–8
Division place	3rd AFC North
Playoff finish	did not qualify
Timeline
Previous season      Next season < 2003      2005 >

The 2004 Cincinnati Bengals season was the team's 37th year in professional football and its 35th with the National Football League. The Bengals began to focus on the future, as the team traded All-Pro Rb Corey Dillon to the New England Patriots, clearing the way for Rudi Johnson to start at HB, while giving QB Carson Palmer the starting job at quarterback. Palmer and the young Bengals would struggle early, losing five of their first seven games. However, as the season wore on, and Palmer grew comfortable on the field, the Bengals began to hit their stride, as they climbed back to .500 at 6-6, before an sprained knee sent Palmer to the sidelines in a hard fought 35-28 road loss to the eventual Super Bowl Champion Patriots.

Nonetheless, with wins in their final two games the Bengals would finish 8-8 for the second year in a row as Rudi Johnson finished sixth in the NFL in rushing with 1,454 yards, giving Bengals fans hope for the future.

Personnel

Staff

2004 Cincinnati Bengals staff
Head Coaches Head Coach – Marvin Lewis Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Line – Paul Alexander Offensive Coaches Offensive Coordinator – Bob Bratkowski Quarterbacks – Ken Zampese Running Backs – Jim Anderson Wide Receivers – Hue Jackson Tight Ends – Jonathan Hayes Assistant Offensive Line – Bob Surace			Defensive Coaches Defensive Coordinator – Leslie Frazier Defensive Line – Jay Hayes Linebackers – Ricky Hunley Defensive Backs – Kevin Coyle Assistant Defensive Backs – Louie Cioffi Assistant – Chuck Bresnahan Special Teams Coaches Special Teams – Darrin Simmons Strength and Conditioning Strength and Conditioning – Chip Morton Assistant Strength and Conditioning – Ray Oliver

Roster

2004 Cincinnati Bengals roster
Quarterbacks  9 Carson Palmer  3 Jon Kitna Running Backs  32 Rudi Johnson  23 Chris Perry  33 Kenny Watson Wide Receivers  80 Peter Warrick  83 Kevin Walter  84 T.J. Houshmandzadeh  85 Chad Johnson  87 Kelley Washington  88 Cliff Russell Tight Ends  48 Brad St. Louis  82 Reggie Kelly  86 Tony Stewart  89 Matt Schobel		Offensive Linemen  51 Larry Moore  63 Bobbie Williams  68 Jerry Fontenot  71 Willie Anderson  74 Rich Braham  75 Scott Kooistra  76 Levi Jones  79 Stacy Andrews  -- Alex Sulfsted Defensive Linemen  90 Justin Smith  91 Robert Geathers  92 Duane Clemons  93 Greg Scott  97 John Thornton  98 Terrance Martin		Linebackers  51 Kevin Hardy  55 Markus Wilkins  56 Brian Simmons  58 Caleb Miller  59 Landon Johnson Defensive Backs  22 Kim Herring  24 Deltha O'Neal  25 Keiwan Ratliff  30 Terrell Roberts  34 Kevin Kaesviharn  42 Anthony Mitchell  45 Rogers Beckett Special Teams  10 Kyle Richardson  17 Shayne Graham  19 Kyle Larson

Regular season

The 2004 season constituted the first time since 1991 that the Bengals played the Washington Redskins, and the match produced their first ever away win over that franchise. The reason for this is that before the admission of the Texans in 2002, NFL scheduling formulas for games outside a team’s division were much more influenced by table position during the previous season.

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 12, 2004	at New York Jets	L 24–31	77,230
2	September 19, 2004	Miami Dolphins	W 16–13	65,705
3	September 26, 2004	Baltimore Ravens	L 9–23	65,575
4	October 3, 2004	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 17–18	62,402
5	Bye
6	October 17, 2004	at Cleveland Browns	L 17–34	73,263
7	October 25, 2004	Denver Broncos	W 23–10	65,806
8	October 31, 2004	at Tennessee Titans	L 20–27	68,932
9	November 7, 2004	Dallas Cowboys	W 26–3	65,721
10	November 14, 2004	at Washington Redskins	W 17–10	87,786
11	November 21, 2004	Pittsburgh Steelers	L 14–19	65,780
12	November 28, 2004	Cleveland Browns	W 58–48	65,677
13	December 5, 2004	at Baltimore Ravens	W 27–26	69,695
14	December 12, 2004	at New England Patriots	L 28–35	68,756
15	December 19, 2004	Buffalo Bills	L 17–33	65,378
16	December 26, 2004	New York Giants	W 23–22	64,606
17	January 2, 2005	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 38–10	67,074

Standings

AFC North
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Pittsburgh Steelers	15	1	0	.938	5–1	11–1	408	231	W14
Baltimore Ravens	9	7	0	.563	3–3	6–6	317	268	W1
Cincinnati Bengals	8	8	0	.500	2–4	4–8	374	372	W2
Cleveland Browns	4	12	0	.250	2–4	3–9	276	390	W1

References

• Bengals on Pro Football Reference
• Bengals Schedule on jt-sw.com
• Bengals History on Official Site