The Worst Moments in Cincinnati Bengals History: From ACLs to L’s

CINCINNATI – This story should come with a warning label for Cincinnati Bengals fans, as it’s sure to open some old wounds.

If not for the deep playoff runs in 2021 and 2022, it might require an X rating.

We’ve already ranked the best moments in franchise history, so we’re contractually obligated to list the worst ones.

Any long-time Bengals fan knows this could be a 10-part series, but we’ve condensed it to a Top 10 list.

Ranking the Worst Moments in Cincinnati Bengals History

Before we get to the rankings, it needs to be noted that some of the worst moments in franchise history have involved the deaths of key figures.

Life obviously is more important than football, so mixing scoreboard disappointment with the passing of team founder Paul Brown or the untimely deaths of wide receiver Chris Henry or Vikki Zimmer, the wife of defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer, or the near tragedy involving Damar Hamlin wouldn’t be appropriate.

So we’ll keep the list limited to football moments.

And before we get to the 10 worst, let’s look at some that just missed the cut.

Honorable mention (in chronological order):

• Quarterback Greg Cook’s career-derailing injury in 1969
• Hiring Bill “Tiger” Johnson instead of Bill Walsh in 1976
• Getting blown out 44-17 by the Jets in a playoff game at home in 1982
• Losing a win-and-in playoff game on Christmas night in Minnesota in 1989
• Turning down New Orleans’ trade offer and drafting Akili Smith in 1999
• A delay of game penalty on the first play of the season in 2002
• Denver receiver Brandon Stokley’s tipped pass touchdown in the 2009 season opener
• Missing the playoffs because of a botched extra point in Denver in 2006
• Missing the playoffs because of Shayne Graham’s shanked field goal a week later in 2006
• The morose press conference at the end of 2010 when Mike Brown announced Marvin Lewis would be returning as head coach
• Giving up 196 rushing yards in 2013 home playoff loss to Chargers
• Randy Bullock’s seizing calves in the 2020 season opener
• Joe Burrow’s ACL tear in 2020
• Joseph Ossai’s personal foul at the end of the 2022 AFC Championship Game

10) Kicking Rocks

The Bengals took training camp north to Dayton for the first practice of the Zac Taylor era despite the fact that the turf at Welcome Stadium was a shoddy, rocky mess.

Early in the practice, A.J. Green landed awkwardly on the turf after going up for a contested catch and was carted off the field in obvious pain.

The ankle injury wasn’t believed to be season-ending at the time, but the team was a mess without its star receiver and started 0-11.

Green had no interest in coming back to be a part of it and elected to sit out the season, beginning the fraying of the relationship between the franchise and one of its greatest players of all time.

9) Coslet Quits

After an initial surge of success following his replacement of Dave Shula as head coach in 1996, Bruce Coslet went 3-13 in 1998, 4-12 in 1999, and started 0-3 in 2000.

By then, he’d seen enough. The day after an embarrassing 37-0 loss in Baltimore, Coslet resigned. The Bengals had been shutout two games in a row and outscored 74-7 through the first three.

Defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau succeeded Coslet and said he tried to talk him out of it, “but he was not to be swayed.”

It was a dark day in the darkest era of Bengals football.

8) Dalton’s Thumb

After leading the Bengals to four consecutive playoff appearances in his first four seasons in the league, Andy Dalton was playing at an MVP level in 2015 and surrounded by arguably the most talented roster in franchise history to that point.

Cincinnati was 10-2 and in line for the AFC’s No. 1 seed when the team faced Pittsburgh in Week 14. Dalton threw an ill-advised interception near the goal line and compounded his mistake by breaking the thumb on his throwing hand while trying to tackle Steelers defensive end Stephon Tuitt.

The injury ended Dalton’s season and Cincinnati’s realistic hopes for a Super Bowl title. The team still won the division, but then another of the franchise’s worst moments, which appears later on this list, happened.

1997 Ki-Jana Carter rushes 13X for 104 yards including this 79 yard TD vs Denver on first play on the second half. This was his first and only 100 yard game in the NFL. last 100 game prior to this game was the 1995 Rose Bowl. #bengals #CincinnatiFootballHistory pic.twitter.com/yB1evY6xIm

— Bengal Jim & Friends (@bengaljims_BTR) April 3, 2020

7) Ki-Jana’s ACL

After winning just three games in three of the previous four seasons – and only five in the other one – the Bengals traded up from No. 5 to select Penn State running back Ki-Jana Carter with the No. 1 pick.

But on his third carry of the preseason, Carter tore his ACL on the artificial turf at the Silverdome against the Detroit Lions.

He missed his entire rookie season and never came close to realizing the potential expected from the No. 1 pick, gaining just 747 yards in four seasons with the Bengals.

6) Hiring Dave Shula

Bengals owner Mike Brown compounded the mistake of moving on from Sam Wyche by hiring the unproven Dave Shula as his replacement, ushering in the darkest days in franchise history.

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After winning his first two games as head coach in 1992, Shula went 17-52 in four-plus seasons, sending the franchise into such a rut that it would be 13 years after his hiring before they experienced a winning season.

5) Palmer’s ACL

One of the best regular-season teams in Bengals history and one of the favorites to win Super Bowl LV, the 2005 team appeared poised to make a deep run in the playoffs.

But on the second offensive play of the wild-card game against Pittsburgh, quarterback Carson Palmer crumpled in a heap after Steelers defensive end Kimo von Oelhoffen barreled into his left knee, shredding all the ligaments – and Cincinnati’s Super Bowl hopes.

Palmer actually completed a 66-yard throw to Chris Henry, who also was hurt on the play and knocked out of the game. Pittsburgh took advantage of the injuries to pull off a 31-17 upset and went on to win the Super Bowl.

4) Goal-Line Stand

While the other two Super Bowls in Cincinnati history saw the opponent rip the lead away in the closing seconds, the Bengals never led in Super Bowl XVI against the San Francisco 49ers.

But they might have had it not been for four things — first, second, third, and fourth down.

Trailing 20-7 late in the third quarter, Cincinnati had first and goal at the 3-yard line. After Pete Johnson was stopped short of the goal line on first down, it was second and goal at 1.

A Johnson run for no gain, a Charles Alexander reception for no gain and another Johnson rush for nothing result in the 49ers taking over with a 13-point lead and 16 minutes remaining.

The Bengals forced a punt and scored a touchdown on their next possession. Had it not been for the goal-line stand, it would have been the go-ahead score. Instead, they lost 26-21.

3) Meltdown at Paul Brown

AJ McCarron’s touchdown pass to A.J. Green gave the Bengals a 16-15 lead against Pittsburgh in the 2015 Wild Card game, and Vontaze Burfict’s interception a few seconds later sent Paul Brown Stadium into delirium knowing the Bengals were finally going to win their first playoff game since the 1990 season.

But after an inexcusable fumble by Jeremy Hill, Cincinnati reaped the repercussions from years of ignoring and/or excusing the antics of Burfict and Pacman Jones, who each committed 15-yard penalties to put the Steelers in position for a game-winning 35-yard field goal with seconds remaining.

Wet, miserable and broken, Bengals fans streamed out of the stadium mostly in silence and would need to wait another six years to end the longest playoff advancement drought in the fourth major sports leagues.

2) Final Sequence Super Bowl LVI

The Bengals were one fourth-down stop away from their first Super Bowl title, and then they weren’t.

Instead of the Rams facing fourth and goal from the Cincinnati 8-yard line, a phantom holding call on linebacker Logan Wilson gifted Los Angeles first and goal at the 4, which turned into first and goal at the 1 after a pass interference call on Eli Apple. Two plays later, Matthew Stafford hit Super Bowl MVP Cooper Kupp for a 1-yard touchdown and 23-20 lead.

Burrow and the Bengals drove to midfield, but Aaron Donald got to Burrow before he could get off a fourth-down pass to a wide-open Ja’Marr Chase up the right sideline, and the Rams hoisted the Lombardi trophy.

AARON DONALD CALLS GAME!

The #Rams are going to win the #SuperBowl

pic.twitter.com/R5rDwaiapG

— Pro Football Network (@PFN365) February 14, 2022

1) 34 Seconds

San Francisco quarterback Joe Montana’s game-winning touchdown pass to John Taylor with 34 seconds left in Super Bowl XXIII is an easy choice for the top spot.

It didn’t just rob the best team in franchise history of a first title, the little amount of time remaining made it that much crueler.

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And it was the final and most painful body blow to cap off a rough stretch that began with running back Stanley Wilson going AWOL on a cocaine binge the night before the game, Tim Krumrie’s broken leg early in the contest and Lewis Billups dropping a Montana interception that could have sealed a championship.

It’s been more than 36 years, and the sting is still strong for any Cincinnati fan who lived through it.