It's pretty safe to assume that 2005 was the best season by the Bengals in a really, really, long time -- and at this rate, really long time would assert itself as predictions. But we generally agree, it's our offense that's hurting us the most. So let's take a comparative look at the Bengals through the seasons during the Marvin Lewis era. I wanted to chart how many games the offense recorded 300 yards or more. At the same time, I wanted to chart how many times the offense recorded less than 200 yards.
| 300 | 400 | |
| 2003 | 8 | 5 |
| 2004 | 9 | 3 * |
| 2005 | 13 | 5 ** |
| 2006 | 9 | 3 *** |
| 2007 | 10 | 3 **** |
| 2008 | 1 | 0 |
Through the first five games.
| 300 | 400 | |
| 2003 | 1 | 1 |
| 2004 | 2 | 0 |
| 2005 | 4 | 2 ** |
| 2006 | 2 | 1 |
| 2007 | 3 | 2 **** |
| 2008 | 1 | 0 |
* November 11, 2004, the offense recorded 504 total yards offense (Browns)
** September 18, 2005, the offense recorded 504 total yards offense (Vikings)
*** November 12, 2006, the offense recorded 545 total yards offense (Chargers)
**** September 16, 2007, the offense recorded 531 total yards offense (Browns)
| < 200 | |
| 2003 | 1 |
| 2004 | 1 |
| 2005 | 1 + |
| 2006 | 0 |
| 2007 | 0 |
| 2008 | 1 |
+ January 1, 2006, the offense recorded 163 yards total. However, starters left early in preparation for Wild Card weekend.
From my charts, the Bengals have only recorded four games in which they've recorded less than 200 yards total offense; one of which we shouldn't take seriously considering it was a week 17 game before the 2005 Wild Card weekend.
On September 21, 2003, the Bengals offense recorded only 182 yards total against the Pittsburgh Steelers. On October 17, 2004, the Bengals offense recorded only 189 yards total against the Cleveland Browns. On September 7, 2008, the Bengals offense recorded only 154 yards total against the Baltimore Ravens.
The following is a list of average yards, per game, listed by season.
| Avg. | |
| 2003 | 333.1 |
| 2004 | 321.6 |
| 2005 | 358.1 |
| 2006 | 341.4 |
| 2007 | 348.0 |
| 2008 | 239.2 |
How about first downs? Like above, a breakdown of average first downs picked up per game, listed by season.
| Avg. | |
| 2003 | 19.6 |
| 2004 | 17.9 |
| 2005 | 21.4 |
| 2006 | 19.6 |
| 2007 | 20.0 |
| 2008 | 15.0 |
A breakdown of average passing yards, per game, listed by season. This is based on numbers from Carson Palmer, Jon Kitna, and Ryan Fitzpatrick.
| Avg. | |
| 2003 | 208.9 |
| 2004 | 206.3 |
| 2005 | 238.8 |
| 2006 | 239.6 |
| 2007 | 250.8 |
| 2008 | 161.2 |
A breakdown of average rushing yards, per game, listed by season.
| Avg. | |
| 2003 | 124.1 |
| 2004 | 114.9 |
| 2005 | 119.4 |
| 2006 | 101.8 |
| 2007 | 97.3 |
| 2008 | 78.0 |
So yea, the Bengals offense, typically a key of the team's successes, has been dreadful. They are making strides in recent games, but still below the averages of previous Bengals offenses.