Cincinnati Bengals Record 2006:  8 Wins and 8 Losses

With high expectations for the team in 2006 the season started with a bang as the team rattled off wins in all three of their first games beating Kansas City, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh.  The Pittsburgh win came in Pittsburgh the final score of the game was Bengals 28 and the Steelers 20.  The team struggled losing five out of the next six games.  The team rallied back to win the next three games straight, and began to show signs of the great offense from the season before, but unfortunately the Bengals fell short and lost the final three games of the season which cost them a chance in the playoffs.

All the Bengals had to do was win the last game of the season and the team would have been playoff bound most likely via a wild card playoff birth.  They faced their division rivals and defending Super Bowl champions the Steelers at Paul Brown stadium.   But the season came to a screeching end when the Bengals lost to Pittsburgh 23 to 17 in overtime.  The inconsistent play had left the defending AFC North Division champions with an average 8-8 record to show for their efforts in the 2006 season. 

One of the highlights of the 2006 season was Carson Palmer return to Quarterback for the Bengals despite the serious injury he had suffered the season before.  Carson Palmer started all 16 games in 2006 and set a team record with 4035 passing yards.  On the defensive side of the ball, Defensive End Robert Gathers becomes the first Bengal to reach double digits in defensive sacks since 1992.  Gathers ended the season with 10.5 sacks.

Other individual efforts included:

On November 12, 2006 and November 19th, Chad Johnson reached a milestone and NFL record for the most receiving yards in back-to-back games with 450 total yards.  Johnson had a Bengals-record of 260 receiving yards against the Chargers, and came back with 190 receiving yards against the New Orleans Saints.  Chad Johnson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh also became the first pair of Bengals Wide Receivers to reach 1000 yards receiving in the same season. Houshmandzadeh finished with 1081 receiving yards which was a career high for TJ.

Rudi Johnson came on strong again in 2006 by having five 100 yard rushing games.  This allowed him to pass former Bengals Running Back James Brooks on the all time Bengals Rushing list.  Johnson passed him and moved into the second spot on the all time Bengals rushing list.

Scored 373 points (23.3/g), 8th of 32 in the NFL.
Allowed 331 points (20.7/g), 17th.
Differential of 42 points (2.6/g), 10th.

(Offensive Tackle Willie Anderson was selected for the Pro Bowl)
(Wide Receiver Chad Johnson was selected for the Pro Bowl)
(Quarterback Carson Palmer was selected for the Pro Bowl)