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Bengals season primer... super-mega post

All-time Record: Bengals are 261-334-1 all-time. Sam Wyche won the most games (64). Forrest Gregg (.557), Bill Johnson (.545) and Marvin Lewis (.538) are the only Bengals head coaches with a career winning record.

Other all-time musings:

  • Lemar Parrish (1974) holds the team record for most punt return yards with 338 (18.8 yards per) in a single season. Parrish and Craig Yeast hold the record for most punt return touchdowns (2).
  • Tab Perry holds the record for most kickoff return yards (1,562) in a single-season (2005). Lemar Parrish, Willie Shelby, Stanford Jennings, David Dunn, Eric Bieniemy, Tremain Mack (twice) and Brandon Bennett are the only Bengals to score a touchdown on a kickoff return.
  • Ken Riley is still Cincinnati's interception god. He shares the record for most interceptions run back for touchdown (2). The other? Yeap, figured it out by now did you? It's Lemar Parrish.
  • Who holds the record for best punt average in a single-season? Is it Kyle Larson, Lee Johnson, Pat McInally? It's Dave Lewis averaging 46.2 yards per punt in 1970.
  • Chad Johnson holds the top-four best seasons in yards receiving: 1,432 (2005), 1,369 (2006), 1,355 (2003) and 1,274 (2004).
  • Carson Palmer's 440 yards against San Diego was the most thrown since Boomer Esiason ripped off 490 yards against the LA Rams in 1990. Ken Anderson is the only quarterback to throw for more than 440 yards in a single game -- against Buffalo in 1975.
  • Corey Dillon holds the longest play (96-yard touchdown run against Detroit in 2001) from scrimmage not on a kickoff return or touchdown.
  • The Bengals are 14-10 in overtime. Unfortunately, they are on a two-game losing streak (Buffalo won 22-16 in 2003, Pittsburgh won 23-17 in 2006). The last win came in 2001 against Pittsburgh. A Josh Miller punt pinned the Bengals at their own one-yard line. Jon Kitna drove the Bengals 86 yards on 11 plays setting up a Neil Rackers "for crackers" winning field goal.

Milestones:

With 64 receptions, Chad Johnson (466) will tie the Bengals all-time receptions leader -- Carl Pickens (530).
With one rushing touchdown, Rudi Johnson (45) will have sole possession of second place all-time surpassing Corey Dillon (45). He still has a way to go before beating Pete Johnson's 64.
With 84 receptions, T.J. Houshmandzadeh (303) will be fifth all-time for most receptions in franchise history surpassing Darnay Scott (386).
With 50 interceptions, Deltha O'Neal will tie Ken Riley for most all-time interceptions. Go get 'em Deltha.

September 10th. Here's a history of the Bengals during regular season games falling on September 10th.

Season Opp. Score Location
1978 Cleveland L - 10-13 (OT) Cleveland
1989 Chicago L - 14-17 Soldier Field
1995 Jacksonville W - 24-17 Riverfront
2000 Cleveland L - 7-24 Paul Brown
2006 Kansas City W - 23-10 Arrowhead
5 Games Record: 2-3 78-81  

On two AP NFL MVPs
The Bengals have two winners from the Associated Press NFL Most Valuable Player award. Both were quarterbacks leading their teams to 12-4 seasons.
Kenny Anderson - Won in 1981. Led the NFL with a 98.4 passer rating, completing 62.6% (300/479) of his passes for 3,754 yards and 29 touchdowns -- against 10 picks.
Boomer Esiason - Won in 1988. Led the NFL with a 97.4 passer rating with 28 touchdowns (AFC lead), a 57.5% (223/388) completion rate for 3,572 yards against 10 picks.

Colleges. Which college has most appeared on the Bengals all-time roster?

  1. Ohio State, 19 players
  2. Florida, 15 players
  3. Penn State and West Virginia, 14 players
  4. Cincinnati and Arizona State, 13 players

Against the NFC: The Bengals are 70-62 against NFL teams during the regular season.

Best Defense: How many times did the Bengals allow the least amount of yards in the NFL? Only once, in 1983 (T-2nd for best rush defense and 3rd for best pass defense).

Best Offense: How many times did the Bengals gain the most yardage in the NFL? Twice: 1986, 1988. Even with the current offense, the Bengals haven't finished with a top-five offense in yardage gained since 1989.

Quick note: Only two Bengals have kicked two field goals of 50 yards or more in the same game.
Chris Bahr, 55 and 52 yards against Houston on September 23, 1979
Doug Pelfrey, 53 and 50 yards against Houston on October 24, 1993

Played in a movie. If anyone plays Bob Bratkowski in a movie -- no idea why that would happen -- Malcolm McDowell has the inside track.

Are they brothers? In another edition of who would play you in a movie, Ricky Hunley -- Bengals linebacker coach -- would have no choice but to have Suge Knight play him.

A little blue
Not much is known about Blue Adams. So, here goes my attempt. Daniel Adams, Miami Senior High School grad, is the oldest of 14 children. He was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the seventh round (220 overall). Was waived on Sept. 8, 2003 by the Lions and signed to the Tampa Bay practice squad two days later. Signed on October 8 to Jacksonville's 53-man roster. Opened training camp in 2004 with the Jags but was acquired by the Bears via waivers. Waived by Chicago. Played in 2005 for the Rhein Fire (all-league honors) in association with Tampa Bay. Stayed with Tampa Bay, playing in 29 of 32 possible games until signing with the Bengals via free agency.

By the way, he's a local product playing with the Cincinnati Bearcats from 1998-2002. School record of 12 interceptions and named co-MVP in 2002 (as senior). Picked off six interceptions his senior season with two run back for touchdowns.

Notable jersey history.

9 - Palmer's jersey number also belonged to Doug Pelfrey and Massimo Manca.
32 - Rudi's jersey number also belonged to Ki-Jana Carter, Stanley Wilson, Scott Perry and Bob Jones.
85 - Chad's jersey number also belonged to James Hundon, Tim McGee and Isaac Curtis.
84 - T.J.'s jersey number also belonged to Milt Stegall, Dan Ross (1985), Don Bass and Bob Trumpy.
71 - Willie's number also belonged to Rufus Mayes.

Trivia: When the Bengals drafted Ahmad Brooks, which contract did the team terminate that same day? Larry Moore

Trivia II: The Bengals played the Indianapolis Colts on Friday. When was the last time the Bengals played a regular season game on a Friday? 9/6/68, first game ever against San Diego

Quick irrelevant information
Did you know that the highest attended game with the Bengals was at Kansas City (77,956). The highest at home? Against Cleveland (66,072) -- more than the final game of the year against Pittsburgh (66,049).

Proof of alignment parity: Since NFL realigned the league into eight divisions with four teams each, 27 of 32 teams have qualified for the playoffs at least one time -- 22 different teams have won division titles.

Best single-game performances

Passing yards

  1. 440, Carson Palmer against San Diego
  2. 352, Carson Palmer against Cleveland I
  3. 297, Carson Palmer against Oakland

Rushing yards

  1. 145, Rudi Johnson against Cleveland I
  2. 129, Rudi Johnson against Denver
  3. 117, Rudi Johnson against Oakland

Receiving yards

  1. 260, Chad Johnson against San Diego
  2. 190, Chad Johnson against New Orleans
  3. 124, Chris Henry against Pittsburgh

Most receptions

  1. 11, Chad Johnson against San Diego
  2. 10, T.J. Houshmandzadeh against Tampa Bay
  3. 10, T.J. Houshmandzadeh against Baltimore

The Bengals best offensive games based on yards.

  1. San Diego (545 yards total)
  2. Cleveland I (481 yards total)
  3. Oakland (439 yards total)

The Bengals best offensive games based on points.

  1. San Diego, 41 points
  2. Cleveland I, 34 points
  3. New Orleans, 31 points

Best defensive performances based on total yards allowed.

  1. Cleveland II (203 yards total)
  2. Oakland (223 yards total)
  3. Carolina (277 yards total)

Worst defensive performances based on total yards allowed.

  1. New Orleans (595 yards total)
  2. Pittsburgh II (482 yards total)
  3. San Diego (431 yards total)

How five players and coaches prepare for game day

Gary Brackett, Indianapolis LB
"During the week, my off-the-field preparation consists of a lot of film study. I try to watch the last couple of games the opponent played and see if I can notice any tendencies from the players and the things they like to do. I’m just trying to get a gauge for their speed and how they react to different things on the field. There’s a lot of work in the classroom."

Terry Cousin, Jacksonville CB
"I’m thinking about the upcoming game that Tuesday. I come in and get treatment and then go in and watch film not even knowing our game plan, but I know our coverages and I can apply that to what the opponent is doing. Even though we have Tuesday off, preparation really starts that day instead of on Wednesday morning."

Trent Green , Miami QB
"I start watching tape on Tuesday, the players’ off-day. During the rest of the week, from Wednesday through Friday, after spending the day at the training facility, I’ll go home to spend some time with my family. After the kids go to bed, I’ll watch a few more hours of tape."

Al Harris , Green Bay CB
"Preparation is very important because games only last a few hours, but you’re preparing for those few hours all the way through the week. I look at it like we’re playing a game every single day so that when it comes time to play the real game, you’re already expecting what’s going to happen and you know what’s going to happen."

Rex Ryan , Baltimore Defensive Coordinator
"I spend about 40 hours watching film during the week. We want to put our players in the best position to be successful, and we’ll put in as much time as we need in order to do that. It gives our players peace of mind knowing the coaches have done our homework too. By game day, we’re ready to go, knowing we have done our best to prepare all week long."

Stories on local products making/missing the Bengals

Bengals cut Everett from roster [The Village Daily Sun]
Bengals waive ex-Warrior Uperesa, might sign him back [The Honolulu Advertiser]
Kilmer makes the cut with Bengals [The Daily Review]