The 1991 Cincinnati Bengals season was the team's 24th year in professional football and its 22nd with the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). Prior to the start of the season, the Bengals lost their patriarch when founder, former head coach and general manager

Paul Brown Paul Eugene Brown (September 7, 1908 – August 5, 1991) was an American football coach and executive in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and National Football League (NFL). Brown was both the co-founder and first coach of the Clevela ...

died at the age of 82. His son

Mike Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and docume ...

would assume control of the franchise. The Bengals would stumble out the gate losing their first eight games before defeating the Cleveland Browns 23–21 at

Riverfront Stadium Riverfront Stadium, also known as Cinergy Field from 1996 to 2002, was a multi-purpose stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States that was the home of the Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball from 1970 through 2002 and the Cincinnati Bengals o ...

. The Bengals would only win two more games the rest of the season finishing with a 3–13 record. The Bengals' pass defense would surrender 7.586 yards per pass attempt in 1991, one of the ten worst totals in NFL history. Following the season head coach

Sam Wyche Samuel David Wyche (; January 5, 1945 – January 2, 2020) was an American football quarterback and coach. He was a quarterback and head coach for the Cincinnati Bengals and a quarterbacks coach for the San Francisco 49ers. As head coach, he l ...

was fired and replaced by assistant

Dave Shula David Donald Shula (born May 28, 1959) is an American football coach and former player. He is the wide receivers coach at Dartmouth College. Shula served as the head coach for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL) from 1 ...

. Shula, the son of former

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

and

Baltimore Colts The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team that played in Baltimore from its founding in 1953 to 1984. The team now plays in Indianapolis, as the Indianapolis Colts. The team was named for Baltimore's history of horse breed ...

head coach

Don Shula Donald Francis Shula (January 4, 1930 – May 4, 2020) was an American football defensive back and coach who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) from 1963 to 1995. The head coach of the Miami Dolphins for most of his ca ...

, served as the team’s wide receivers coach after a stint with the Miami Dolphins under his father, and the Dallas Cowboys as its offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach under head coach Jimmy Johnson. Upon his hiring as the Bengals’ head coach, he became the youngest head coach to ever be hired by an NFL team at age 32.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Personnel

Staff

Roster

Regular season

Schedule

Standings

Season summary

Week 16 at Steelers

Team leaders

Passing

Rushing

Receiving

Defensive

Kicking/Punting

Special teams

References

External links

1991 Cincinnati Bengals
at

Pro-Football-Reference.com Pro-Football-Reference.com is a website providing a variety of statistics for American football. It is one of the few sites that provides information on both active and retired players. The site provides statistics for teams dating back to 1920. ...

Bengals History on official website
{{1991 NFL season by team

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 club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

Cincinnati Bengals seasons

Cincin Cincin (which literally translates to 'ring cakes' in English) is a traditional kuih for the Bruneian Malay people in the states of Sabah, Malaysia as well in Brunei. File:Close-up to Kuih cincin.JPG, Close-up to Kuih cincin See also * M ...