2001 Cincinnati Bengals season
Head coachDick LeBeau
Home fieldPaul Brown Stadium
Results
Record6–10
Division place6th AFC Central
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersRB Corey Dillon

The 2001 Cincinnati Bengals season was the franchise’s 34th year in professional football and its 32nd with the National Football League. In the first full season with Dick LeBeau as head coach, the Bengals abandoned their plans for developing quarterback Akili Smith as their starter by acquiring Jon Kitna from the Seattle Seahawks. The Bengals would win their first two games with Kitna behind center, and sat at 4–3 through the first seven games of the season. However, the Bengals would struggle again, losing their next seven games as Kitna struggled with inconsistency, throwing 22 interceptions while throwing only 12 touchdown passes. The Bengals would win their final two games to close the season with a 6–10 record, their eleventh consecutive season without a winning record. Despite the team’s struggles, All-Pro running back Corey Dillon had another stellar year, rushing for 1,315 yards.[1]

2001 would turn out to be an important year for the team, as players such as Justin Smith, Chad Johnson, Rudi Johnson, and T. J. Houshmandzadeh were drafted, all those players would be important to Cincinnati in later years. One bright spot for the Bengals that year was they defeated the eventual Super Bowl champion New England Patriots in the season opener.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Main article: 2001 NFL Draft
2001 Cincinnati Bengals draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 4 Justin Smith *  Defensive end Missouri
2 36 Chad Johnson *  Wide receiver Oregon State
3 66 Sean Brewer  Tight end San Jose State
4 100 Rudi Johnson *  Running back Auburn
5 135 Victor Leyva  Guard Arizona State
6 168 Riall Johnson  Linebacker Stanford
7 204 T. J. Houshmandzadeh *  Wide receiver Oregon State
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[2]

Personnel

2001 Cincinnati Bengals staff

Front office

  • President – Mike Brown
  • Executive vice president – Katie Blackburn
  • Vice president – John Sawyer
  • Senior vice president of player personnel – Pete Brown
  • Vice president of player personnel – Paul Brown
  • Directors of pro/college personnel – Jim Lippincott, Duke Tobin

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning

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

Roster

2001 Cincinnati Bengals final roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists


Practice squad


Rookies in italics
 53 active, 8 inactive, 4 practice squad

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 September 9 New England Patriots W 23–17 1–0 Paul Brown Stadium 51,521
2 September 23 Baltimore Ravens W 21–10 2–0 Paul Brown Stadium 51,121
3 September 30 at San Diego Chargers L 14–28 2–1 Qualcomm Stadium 56,048
4 October 7 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 7–16 2–2 Heinz Field 62,335
5 October 14 Cleveland Browns W 24–14 3–2 Paul Brown Stadium 64,217
6 October 21 Chicago Bears L 0–24 3–3 Paul Brown Stadium 63,408
7 October 28 at Detroit Lions W 31–27 4–3 Pontiac Silverdome 69,343
8 Bye
9 November 11 at Jacksonville Jaguars L 13–30 4–4 Alltel Stadium 57,161
10 November 18 Tennessee Titans L 7–20 4–5 Paul Brown Stadium 63,865
11 November 25 at Cleveland Browns L 0–18 4–6 Cleveland Browns Stadium 72,918
12 December 2 Tampa Bay Buccaneers L 13–16 (OT) 4–7 Paul Brown Stadium 52,135
13 December 9 Jacksonville Jaguars L 10–14 4–8 Paul Brown Stadium 44,920
14 December 16 at New York Jets L 14–15 4–9 Giants Stadium 77,745
15 December 23 at Baltimore Ravens L 0–16 4–10 PSINet Stadium 68,987
16 December 30 Pittsburgh Steelers W 26–23 5–10 Paul Brown Stadium 63,751
17 January 6 at Tennessee Titans W 23–21 6–10 Adelphia Coliseum 68,798

Game summaries

Week 1: vs. New England Patriots

Week 1: New England Patriots at Cincinnati Bengals – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Patriots 0 10 0717
Bengals 0 10 13023

at Paul Brown Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio

  • Date: September 9
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m. EDT
  • Game weather: Cloudy, 79 °F (26 °C)
  • Game attendance: 51,521
  • Referee: John Smith
  • Box score
Game information

Week 2: vs. Baltimore Ravens

Week 2: Baltimore Ravens at Cincinnati Bengals – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Ravens 3 0 0710
Bengals 0 0 14721

at Paul Brown Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio

  • Date: September 23
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m. EDT
  • Game weather: Partly cloudy, 73 °F (23 °C)
  • Game attendance: 51,121
  • Referee: Ed Hochuli
  • Box score
Game information

Week 3: at San Diego Chargers

Week 3: Cincinnati Bengals at San Diego Chargers – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Bengals 0 7 0714
Chargers 0 7 14728

at Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, California

Week 4: at Pittsburgh Steelers

Week 4: Cincinnati Bengals at Pittsburgh Steelers – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Bengals 0 0 077
Steelers 0 10 0616

at Heinz Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  • Date: October 7
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m. EDT
  • Game weather: Party cloudy, 46 °F (8 °C)
  • Game attendance: 62,335
  • Referee: Larry Nemmers
  • TV announcers (CBS): Bill Macatee and Trevor Matich
  • Box score

Week 5: vs. Cleveland Browns

Week 5: Cleveland Browns at Cincinnati Bengals – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Browns 7 0 0714
Bengals 3 0 101124

at Paul Brown Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio

  • Date: October 14
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m. EDT
  • Game weather: Cloudy, 57 °F (14 °C)
  • Game attendance: 64,217
  • Referee: Mike Carey
  • Box score

Week 6: vs. Chicago Bears

Week 6: Chicago Bears at Cincinnati Bengals – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Bears 3 7 7724
Bengals 0 0 000

at Paul Brown Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio

Game information

Week 7: at Detroit Lions

Week 7: Cincinnati Bengals at Detroit Lions – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Bengals 7 14 3731
Lions 3 10 14027

at Pontiac Silverdome, Detroit, Michigan

  • Date: October 28
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST
  • Game weather: None (played indoors)
  • Game attendance: 69,343
  • Referee: Johnny Grier
  • Box score

Standings

AFC Central
W L T PCT PF PA STK
(1) Pittsburgh Steelers 13 3 0 .813 352 212 W1
(5) Baltimore Ravens 10 6 0 .625 303 265 W1
Cleveland Browns 7 9 0 .438 285 319 L1
Tennessee Titans 7 9 0 .438 336 388 L2
Jacksonville Jaguars 6 10 0 .375 294 286 L2
Cincinnati Bengals 6 10 0 .375 226 309 W2

Team leaders

Passing

Player Att Comp Yds TD INT Rating
Jon Kitna 581 313 3216 12 22 61.1

Rushing

Player Att Yds YPC Long TD
Corey Dillon 340 1315 3.9 96 10

Receiving

Player Rec Yds Avg Long TD
Peter Warrick 70 667 9.5 33 1
Darnay Scott 57 819 14.4 49 2
Corey Dillon 34 228 6.7 17 3

Defensive

Player Tackles Sacks INTs FF FR
Takeo Spikes 109 6.0 1 1 0
Reinard Wilson 37 9.0 0 1 2
Artrell Hawkins 59 0.0 3 2 1
Kevin Kaesviharn 25 0.0 3 0 0

Kicking and punting

Player FGA FGM FG% XPA XPM XP% Points
Neil Rackers 28 17 60.7% 24 23 95.8% 74
Player Punts Yards Long Blkd Avg.
Nick Harris 84 3372 57 1 40.1

Special teams

Player KR KRYards KRAvg KRLong KRTD PR PRYards PRAvg PRLong PRTD
Curtis Keaton 42 891 21.2 64 0 0 0 0.0 0 0
Peter Warrick 0 0 0.0 0 0 18 116 6.4 31 0
T. J. Houshmandzadeh 10 185 18.5 23 0 12 163 13.6 86 0

Awards and records

References

  1. ^ Season statistics and summary at Sports E-Cyclopedia
  2. ^ "2001 Cincinnati Bengals Draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 28, 2014.
  3. ^ "Corey Dillon Stats, News and Video - RB". NFL.com.

External links

Cincinnati Bengals
Cincinnati Bengals seasons
2001 NFL season
Categories