2002 Cincinnati Bengals season

2002 Cincinnati Bengals season
Head coachDick LeBeau
Home stadiumPaul Brown Stadium
Results
Record2–14
Division place4th AFC North
PlayoffsDid not qualify
Pro BowlersFB Lorenzo Neal

The 2002 Cincinnati Bengals season was the franchise's 33rd season in the National Football League (NFL), the 35th overall, and the second and final full season under head coach Dick LeBeau. With a record of 2–14, however, they were the worst team in football in 2002. The team's struggles continued as they lost their first seven contests losing by an average of 19 points in each game. The Bengals would finally garner their first victory in Week 8 by soundly defeating the expansion Houston Texans on the road 38–3. The winning would not last long, however, as the Bengals lost their next six games to fall to 1–13, this lethargic result was later matched by the 2019 team, which also finished at 2–14.

In their final game at home, the Bengals would stun the New Orleans Saints 20–13 to earn their second win on the season, but there would be no saving the Bengals from setting a new franchise record for losses as they finished the season with a 27–9 loss to the Buffalo Bills on the road to finish with a league-worst 2–14 record. This resulted in the Bengals owner Mike Brown firing head coach Dick LeBeau and replacing him with Washington's defensive coordinator Marvin Lewis.

By being the worst team in 2002, they earned the first pick in the 2003 NFL draft, which they would use to draft Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Carson Palmer out of USC, and releasing embattled quarterback Akili Smith.[1]

Offseason

Additions Subtractions
QB Gus Frerotte (Broncos) TE Tony McGee (Cowboys)
WR Michael Westbrook (Redskins) WR Darnay Scott (Cowboys)
CB Jeff Burris (Colts) FS Chris Carter (Texans)

NFL draft

Main article: 2002 NFL draft
2002 Cincinnati Bengals draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 10 Levi Jones  Offensive tackle Arizona State
2 41 Lamont Thompson  Safety Washington State
3 67 Matt Schobel  Tight end TCU
4 109 Travis Dorsch  Punter Purdue
6 181 Marquand Manuel  Safety Florida
7 219 Joey Evans  Defensive end North Carolina
      Made roster  

[2]

Undrafted free agents

2002 undrafted free agents of note
Player Position College
Chris Archie Wide receiver Eastern Michigan
Justin Bland Offensive tackle Missouri
John Grabowski Offensive tackle Eastern Michigan
Robert Grant Safety Hawaii
Gavin Hoffman Quarterback Penn
Harold Jackson Fullback Temple
Stephon Kelly Safety Winston-Salem State
Dwayne Levels Linebacker Oklahoma State
Kwazeon Leverette Wide receiver Syracuse
Darcey Levy Wide receiver Pittsburgh
Jason Murray Fullback Notre Dame
Reggie Myles Defensive back Alabama
Jermaine Petty Linebacker Arkansas
Pig Prather Safety Mississippi State
Tito Rodriguez Linebacker UCF
Tierre Sams Cornerback Fresno State
Trent Sansbury Tight end Furman
Michael Slater Wide receiver Murray State
Thatcher Szalay Center Montana

Personnel

2002 Cincinnati Bengals staff

Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

  • Offensive coordinator – Bob Bratkowski
  • Quarterbacks – Ken Anderson
  • Running backs – Jim Anderson
  • Wide receivers – Steve Mooshagian
  • Tight ends – John Garrett
  • Offensive line – Paul Alexander
  • Offensive assistant – Bob Surace
 Defensive coaches
  • Defensive coordinator/linebackers – Mark Duffner
  • Defensive line – Tim Krumrie
  • Cornerbacks – Kevin Coyle
  • Safeties – Darren Perry
  • Defensive assistant – Louie Cioffi

Special teams coaches

  • Special teams – Al Roberts

Strength and conditioning

  • Strength and conditioning – Kim Wood
  • Strength and conditioning assistant – Rodney Holman

Roster

2002 Cincinnati Bengals roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

  • 87 Chris Edmonds
  • 89 Matt Schobel
  • 86 Tony Stewart
 Offensive linemen (OL)
  • 71 Willie Anderson T
  • 74 Rich Braham C
  • 60 Reggie Coleman T
  • 63 Mike Goff G
  • 62 Brock Gutierrez C
  • 76 Levi Jones T
  • 77 Victor Leyva G/T
  • 72 Matt O'Dwyer G
  • 79 Scott Rehberg G
  • 66 Thatcher Szalay G

Defensive linemen (DL)

  • 96 Vaughn Booker DE
  • 92 Eric Ogbogu DE
  • 90 Justin Smith DE
  • 68 Ron Smith DT
  • 70 Glen Steele DT
  • 97 Bernard Whittington DE
  • 94 Tony Williams DT
  • 55 Reinard Wilson DE
 Linebackers (LB)
  • 98 Canute Curtis OLB
  • 50 Riall Johnson OLB
  • 52 Dwayne Levels OLB
  • 57 Adrian Ross OLB
  • 56 Brian Simmons MLB
  • 51 Takeo Spikes OLB

Defensive backs (DB)

  • 33 JoJuan Armour SS
  • 21 Jeff Burris CB
  • 42 Lavar Glover CB
  • 27 Artrell Hawkins CB
  • 34 Kevin Kaesviharn CB
  • 44 Marquand Manuel SS
  • 37 Reggie Myles CB
  • 31 Jason Perry FS

Special teams (ST)

  • 10 Travis Dorsch K/P
  •  8 Nick Harris P
  •  5 Neil Rackers K
  • 48 Brad St. Louis LS
 Practice squad
  • 93 Mario Monds DT
  • 46 Tito Rodriguez LB
  • 43 Derek Smith TE

Reserve

  • 88 Sean Brewer TE (IR)
  • 95 Steve Foley LB (IR)
  • 99 Oliver Gibson DT (IR)
  • 26 Cory Hall S (IR)
  • 25 Ligarius Jennings CB (IR)
  • 45 Stephon Kelly S (IR)
  • 20 Mark Roman S (IR)
  • 59 Armegis Spearman LB (IR)
  • 75 Jamain Stephens T (IR)
  • 24 Lamont Thompson S (IR)
  • 73 Richmond Webb T (IR)
Rookies in italics
53 active, 11 reserve, 3 practice squad

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 September 8, 2002 San Diego Chargers L 6–34 0–1 Paul Brown Stadium 53,705
2 September 15, 2002 at Cleveland Browns L 7–20 0–2 Cleveland Browns Stadium 73,358
3 September 22, 2002 at Atlanta Falcons L 3–30 0–3 Georgia Dome 68,129
4 September 29, 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 7–35 0–4 Paul Brown Stadium 57,234
5 October 6, 2002 at Indianapolis Colts L 21–28 0–5 RCA Dome 56,570
6 October 13, 2002 Pittsburgh Steelers L 7–34 0–6 Paul Brown Stadium 63,900
7 Bye
8 October 27, 2002 Tennessee Titans L 24–30 0–7 Paul Brown Stadium 52,822
9 November 3, 2002 at Houston Texans W 38–3 1–7 Reliant Stadium 69,827
10 November 10, 2002 at Baltimore Ravens L 27–38 1–8 Ravens Stadium 69,024
11 November 17, 2002 Cleveland Browns L 20–27 1–9 Paul Brown Stadium 64,060
12 November 24, 2002 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 21–29 1–10 Heinz Field 60,473
13 December 1, 2002 Baltimore Ravens L 23–27 1–11 Paul Brown Stadium 44,878
14 December 8, 2002 at Carolina Panthers L 31–52 1–12 Ericsson Stadium 66,799
15 December 15, 2002 Jacksonville Jaguars L 15–29 1–13 Paul Brown Stadium 42,092
16 December 22, 2002 New Orleans Saints W 20–13 2–13 Paul Brown Stadium 43,544
17 December 29, 2002 at Buffalo Bills L 9–27 2–14 Ralph Wilson Stadium 47,850

Note: Intra-divisional opponents are in bold text

Game summaries

Week 1: vs. San Diego Chargers

Week 1: San Diego Chargers (0–0) at Cincinnati Bengals (0–0) – Game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Chargers 10 10 7734
Bengals 0 0 336

at Paul Brown Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio

  • Date: September 9
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m. EDT
  • Game weather: 90 °F (32 °C), relative humidity 60%, wind 7 mph
  • Game attendance: 53,705
  • Referee: Johnny Grier
  • TV announcers (CBS): Don Criqui and Solomon Wilcots
  • Box score, Game Book
Game information

Week 3: at Atlanta Falcons

Week 3: Cincinnati Bengals at Atlanta Falcons
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Bengals 0 3 003
Falcons 13 7 7330

at Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Georgia

Game information

Week 17: at Buffalo Bills

Week 17: Cincinnati Bengals (2–13) at Buffalo Bills (7–8) – Game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Bengals 0 3 069
Bills 6 14 7027

at Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, New York

Game information

With the loss, the Bengals ended their season at a franchise worst 2-14 record (eventually tied by the 2019 Bengals) while also going 1-7 on the road and finishing dead last in NFL. Thus, securing the #1 pick for the 2003 NFL Draft. Head coach Dick LeBeau would end up being fired after the game.

Standings

Division

AFC North
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
(3) Pittsburgh Steelers 10 5 1 .656 6–0 8–4 390 345 W3
(6) Cleveland Browns 9 7 0 .563 3–3 7–5 344 320 W2
Baltimore Ravens 7 9 0 .438 3–3 7–5 316 354 L2
Cincinnati Bengals 2 14 0 .125 0–6 1–11 279 456 L1

Conference

AFC
# Team Division W L T PCT DIV CONF SOS SOV
Division leaders
1[a] Oakland Raiders West 11 5 0 .688 4–2 9–3 .529 .531
2[a] Tennessee Titans South 11 5 0 .688 6–0 9–3 .479 .474
3 Pittsburgh Steelers North 10 5 1 .656 6–0 8–4 .486 .451
4[b] New York Jets East 9 7 0 .563 4–2 6–6 .500 .500
Wild Cards
5 Indianapolis Colts South 10 6 0 .625 4–2 8–4 .479 .400
6[c] Cleveland Browns North 9 7 0 .563 3–3 7–5 .486 .413
Did not qualify for the postseason
7[c][d] Denver Broncos West 9 7 0 .563 3–3 5–7 .527 .486
8[b][c][d][e] New England Patriots East 9 7 0 .563 4–2 6–6 .525 .455
9[b][e] Miami Dolphins East 9 7 0 .563 2–4 7–5 .508 .486
10[f] Buffalo Bills East 8 8 0 .500 2–4 5–7 .473 .352
11[f][g] San Diego Chargers West 8 8 0 .500 3–3 6–6 .492 .453
12[g] Kansas City Chiefs West 8 8 0 .500 2–4 6–6 .527 .516
13 Baltimore Ravens North 7 9 0 .438 3–3 7–5 .506 .384
14 Jacksonville Jaguars South 6 10 0 .375 1–5 4–8 .506 .438
15 Houston Texans South 4 12 0 .250 1–5 2–10 .518 .492
16 Cincinnati Bengals North 2 14 0 .125 0–6 1–11 .537 .406
Tiebreakers[h]
  1. ^ a b Oakland finished ahead of Tennessee based on head-to-head victory.
  2. ^ a b c N.Y. Jets finished ahead of New England based on win percentage in common games (8–4 to 7–5) after both finished ahead of Miami based on division record (4–2 to 2–4).
  3. ^ a b c Cleveland finished ahead of Denver and New England based on conference record (7–5 vs 5–7/6–6)
  4. ^ a b Denver finished ahead of New England based on head-to-head victory.
  5. ^ a b New England finished ahead of Miami based on division record (4–2 to 2–4).
  6. ^ a b Buffalo finished ahead of San Diego based on head-to-head victory.
  7. ^ a b San Diego finished ahead of Kansas City based on division record (3–3 to 2–4).
  8. ^ When breaking ties for three or more teams under the NFL's rules, they are first broken within divisions, then comparing only the highest ranked remaining team from each division.

Team leaders

Passing

Player Att Comp Yds TD INT Rating
Jon Kitna 473 294 3178 16 16 79.1

Rushing

Player Att Yds YPC Long TD
Corey Dillon 314 1311 4.2 67 7

Receiving

Player Rec Yds Avg Long TD
Chad Johnson 69 1166 16.9 72 5
Peter Warrick 53 606 11.4 37 6

Defensive

Player Tackles Sacks INTs FF FR
Takeo Spikes 171 1.5 0 2 4
Justin Smith 67 6.5 0 1 0
Artrell Hawkins 92 2.0 2 1 2
Kevin Kaesviharn 62 0.0 2 1 0

Kicking and punting

Player FGA FGM FG% XPA XPM XP% Points
Neil Rackers 18 15 83.3% 32 30 93.8% 75
Player Punts Yards Long Blkd Avg.
Nick Harris 65 2608 57 1 40.1

Special teams

Player KR KRYards KRAvg KRLong KRTD PR PRYards PRAvg PRLong PRTD
Brandon Bennett 49 1231 25.1 94 0 0 0 0.0 0 0
T. J. Houshmandzadeh 13 288 22.2 44 0 24 117 4.9 34 0

Awards and records

Pro Bowl Selections

Milestones

References

  1. ^ Season statistics and summary at Sports E-Cyclopedia
  2. ^ "2002 Cincinnati Bengals draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 16, 2014.
  3. ^ Corey Dilon, RB at NFL
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