The Cincinnati Bengals had a new head coach as they hosted the Jacksonville Jaguars on October 27, 1996. Off to a 1-6 start, David Shula had been let go and replaced by Bruce Coslet (pictured above), the offensive coordinator who had once coached the New York Jets. The son of the highly-successful Don Shula had been a major disappointment, failing to turn around a team that had not posted a winning record in six years, and the Bengals had recently been prone to blowing leads in the second half. It was hoped that Coslet, known as a motivator in New York, could provide a needed spark.
The opposing Jaguars, a second-year expansion team, came
into the game with a 3-5 record. While Head Coach Tom Coughlin’s club had the
league’s top passing offense, Jacksonville was still a work in progress. QB
Mark Brunell was mobile and a talented passer, but thus far also lacked
consistency and was prone to throwing interceptions, and the running game was
not providing much help.
There were 45,890 fans in attendance at Cinergy Field on
a pleasant day, well under the stadium’s capacity. The Bengals had the ball
first and drove from their 18 to the Jacksonville 30 as QB Jeff Blake completed
passes to RB Eric Bieniemy for 13 yards and WR David Dunn for 26, but came up
empty when they failed to convert a fourth-and-one play. The teams traded punts
for the remainder of the opening period.
As the game headed into the second quarter, the Jaguars
put together a 75-yard drive in seven plays. Mark Brunell threw to WR Andre
Rison for 32 yards, RB James Stewart (pictured at left) had carries of 13 and 12 yards, and
Brunell finished the series off with a 14-yard run for a touchdown. Mike Hollis
added the extra point.
A short series by the Bengals again ended with a punt,
but Cincinnati got the ball back three plays later when Brunell was hit by DE
Jevon Langford as he was passing and LB James Francis intercepted the errant
throw at the Jacksonville 31. It took the home team five plays to capitalize as
Blake connected with TE Tony McGee for 18 yards and WR Carl Pickens for an
11-yard TD. Doug Pelfrey added the game-tying point after. That was it for the
scoring as the teams exchanged punts for the remainder of the half, much to the
displeasure of the home fans.
Following another exchange of punts to start the third
quarter, the Jaguars advanced 73 yards in eight plays. Stewart broke away for a
34-yard run on first down and, keeping the ball on the ground with Stewart and
RB Natrone Means, the visitors reached the Cincinnati 11, from where Brunell
threw to Means for a touchdown. Hollis converted and the Jaguars were back in
front by 14-7 with 2:41 remaining in the period.
The Bengals had the ball as the third quarter concluded,
with Blake throwing to Bieniemy for 13 yards in a third-and-seven situation and
then connecting with WR Darnay Scott for 46 yards to the Jacksonville 10. On
the first play of the final period, Blake tossed a scoring pass to Pickens from
there and Pelfrey’s kick made it 14-14.
The Jaguars had to punt from deep in their own territory
on the next possession as Brunell was sacked twice for losses totaling 19
yards. The Bengals started their series from their 40 and went 60 yards in 11
plays. Blake completed four straight passes at one point, two of them to
Pickens, and ran for 10 yards to convert a third down. The payoff came when Blake
ran an option play and flipped the ball to RB Ki-Jana Carter, who scored a
one-yard touchdown. Pelfrey again converted to put Cincinnati up by seven, although
Blake was shaken up and had to sit out the remainder of the game.
On Jacksonville’s next play, Brunell’s tipped pass was
picked off by FS Bo Orlando, giving the Bengals possession at the Jaguars’ 22. Backup
QB Erik Wilhelm threw to Pickens for five yards and Carter ran four straight
times, the last for a four-yard TD. Pelfrey added the extra point to make it a
28-14 game with 3:32 left to play. The Jaguars managed to drive to one more
touchdown, with Brunell throwing to WR Jimmy Smith from 11 yards out, but they
couldn’t recover the resulting onside kick and the Bengals were able to run out
the clock and win by a final score of 28-21.
Jacksonville led in total yards (338 to 267) and also had
the edge in first downs (19 to 18) although the Bengals had the ball longer
(31:36 to 28:24). The Jaguars also recorded five sacks, to four for Cincinnati,
but they also turned the ball over twice, to none suffered by the Bengals.
Jeff Blake completed 19 of 30 passes for 244 yards and
two touchdowns while giving up no interceptions. Carl Pickens had 6 catches for
51 yards and two TDs and David Dunn gained 66 yards on his three receptions.
Eric Bieniemy pulled in 6 passes for 47 yards in addition to running the ball
five times for eight yards. Ki-Jana Carter (pictured below) filled in for Garrison Hearst, who
sprained his ankle in the second quarter, and topped the Cincinnati runners
with a modest 27 yards on 8 carries, although two were for touchdowns.
For the Jaguars, Mark Brunell was successful on 18 of 31
throws for 215 yards and two TDs, but also with two costly interceptions. He
also ran the ball 7 times for 45 yards and a touchdown. James Stewart gained 80
yards on 14 rushing attempts and Natrone Means contributed 24 yards on seven
rushes as well as a TD on his lone catch. WR Keenan McCardell had five pass
receptions for 52 yards and Andre Rison gained a team-leading 74 yards on his
three catches. On defense, DE Clyde Simmons accounted for 2.5 of the team’s
sacks.
The win signaled a turnaround for the Bengals as they won
their next two games on the way to a 7-2 finish. They ended up breaking even at
8-8 and placing third in the AFC Central. The Jaguars also caught fire, winning
six of their last seven games to go 9-7 and secure a Wild Card playoff slot.
They advanced all the way to the AFC Championship game before falling to the
Patriots.
Unfortunately for Bruce Coslet, the initial success did
not last. The Bengals followed up with a 7-9 record in 1997 and dropped to 3-13
in 1998 and 4-12 ’99. He was dismissed three winless games into the 2000
season, having compiled a 21-39 record in Cincinnati.
