The Bengals had several head coaches and several of their top draft picks did not pan out.

" Another Bengals team had existed in the city and played in three previous American Football Leagues from 1937 to 1942.

This was especially impressive since two of the teams swept by the Bengals ( the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens ) had both made it to the AFC Championship Game the previous season.

Despite the loss, they still had a chance to win their 5th straight AFC West title, tying the Raiders, but they had another bad loss at the Bengals 34 – 20 ending their chances.

The Bengals finished the regular season with a 12-4 record, and had postseason victories over the Buffalo Bills and the San Diego Chargers.

The Bengals also had a good defense that had not given up more than 30 points in any of their regular season or playoff games.

The 49ers had handily beaten the Bengals in a December game played in Cincinnati and consequently were installed as a 2-point favorite.

The Bengals had the first opportunity to score early in the game.

The San Francisco 49ers had led the Cincinnati Bengals 20 – 0 at halftime in Super Bowl XVI.

As 1970 approached, three NFL teams ( the Baltimore Colts, Cleveland Browns, and Pittsburgh Steelers ), agreed to join the ten AFL teams ( the Cincinnati Bengals and Miami Dolphins had joined the original Boston Patriots, Buffalo Bills, Denver Broncos, Houston Oilers, Kansas City Chiefs, New York Jets, Oakland Raiders, and San Diego Chargers ) to form the American Football Conference ( AFC ).

The Reds and the Bengals had previously shared occupancy of Cinergy Field, but by the mid-1990's, they complained that the multi-purpose stadium lacked amenities necessary for small-market professional sports teams to compete and each lobbied for venues of their own.

Brown called his new franchise the Bengals because Cincinnati had a team of that name in the 1930s and he thought it would provide a link to the past.

Together they had five children — including former Alabama coach Mike Shula and former Cincinnati Bengals coach Dave Shula.

With negotiations at a standstill, the Buccaneers traded the following season's first-round draft pick to the Cincinnati Bengals in exchange for Jack Thompson, a backup quarterback who had been unable to unseat Ken Anderson, as an insurance policy should Williams prove impossible to sign, or have trouble recovering from offseason knee surgery.

In week five the Bengals had a chance to take first place in the division with a win against the Kansas City Chiefs.

After eight games the Bengals were 4-4 and in third place in the AFC Central along with being three games out of first place ; and had injuries to second wide receiver Charlie Joiner with a broken collarbone on the first play of week four against the Cleveland Browns ; and their third wide receiver Chip Myers with a hamstring injury in the same game.

Although Anderson had been one of the main reasons for the Bengals ' rise to the top of the division, the national media had a negative view of Anderson, and would continue to do so for much of the remainder of his career.

The following week against the Pittsburgh Steelers Anderson had arguably the finest performance of any Bengals quarterback ever.

Anderson led the Bengals to three come-from-behind victories during the year and had solid numbers.

The Bengals lost Super Bowl XVI 26-21 against the San Francisco 49ers, but Anderson had a solid performance, especially in the second half, despite his team trailing 20-0 at the end of the first half.

Although not officially retired by the Bengals, Anderson's number 14 had been held in reserve and not assigned to any player by the team until Anderson started coaching for division rival Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Bengals went on to win their first ever playoff game by defeating the Buffalo Bills, 28-21, and then defeated San Diego Chargers, 27-7, in a game known as the Freezer Bowl because of the-59 windchill conditions at Riverfront Stadium.

The Bills ' defense dominated the Raiders ' offense, which was without running back Bo Jackson, who suffered a career-ending injury against the Cincinnati Bengals the week before, limiting them to an early field goal and intercepting five passes from quarterback Jay Schroeder.

The Bills became the 9th team to go scoreless in the 1st half, after the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III ; the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowls IV, VIII, IX, and XI ; the Redskins in Super Bowl VII, the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XII ; and the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl XVI.

Among them were Ray Pinney of the 1970s Pittsburgh Steelers, Cedrick Hardman of the 1970s San Francisco 49ers and early 1980s Oakland Raiders, Anthony Carter ( Minnesota Vikings, Detroit Lions ), Arthur Whittington ( Oakland Raiders, Buffalo Bills ), Bobby Hebert ( New Orleans Saints, Atlanta Falcons ), Gary Plummer ( San Diego Chargers, San Francisco 49ers ), Raymond Chester ( Oakland Raiders, Baltimore Colts ), Albert Bentley ( Indianapolis Colts, Pittsburgh Steelers ), Dave Browning ( Oakland Raiders, Los Angeles Raiders, New England Patriots ), Ray Bentley ( Buffalo Bills, Cincinnati Bengals ), Dale Markham ( St. Louis Cardinals, New York Giants, Green Bay Packers ) and Derek Holloway ( Washington Redskins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers ).

Owens has also played for the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals in 2009 and 2010, respectively.

Riverfront Stadium hosted the 1988 AFC Championship, as the Bengals beat the Buffalo Bills 21 – 10 to advance to their second Super Bowl appearance.

During the Bengals ' tenure, they posted a 5-1 record in playoff games played in Riverfront Stadium, with victories over the Buffalo Bills ( twice ), San Diego Chargers, Seattle Seahawks, and Houston Oilers.

Anderson led the Bengals to their first ever football playoff victory over the Buffalo Bills throwing for 192 yards, one touchdown resulting in a 116. 6 passer rating.

The no-huddle offense was pioneered by the Cincinnati Bengals and reached its most famous and complete usage by the Buffalo Bills, nicknamed the " K-Gun ", during the 1990s under head coach Marv Levy and offensive coordinator Ted Marchibroda.

The Buffalo Bills, defeated in the AFC Championship game by the " no-huddle " Bengals, soon adopted this approach.

The Bills responded with a drive into Bengals territory, but safety David Fulcher picked off a desperate fourth down pass from Kelly in the end zone.

The Bills would not lose another game to the Bengals until Week 4 of the 2011 NFL season.

The Bengals won their first playoff game in team history after Bills quarterback Joe Ferguson's fourth-down pass fell incomplete, thus enabling Cincinnati to take over and run out the clock.

Ruud's father, Tom Ruud, played for the Cornhuskers in the early 1970s and later in the National Football League for the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals.

* Buffalo Bills, Cincinnati Bengals, Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, Miami Dolphins, Boston Patriots ( now New England Patriots ), New York Jets, Oakland Raiders, San Diego Chargers, and Houston Oilers ( now Tennessee Titans ) join NFL after merger with American Football League.

* Sam Adams, Football Athlete ( Seattle Seahawks, Baltimore Ravens, Oakland Raiders, Buffalo Bills, Cincinnati Bengals, Denver Broncos ), Class of 1991

After 2002, Matthews returned to his back-up role with the Cincinnati Bengals in 2003 ( no appearances ) and the Buffalo Bills in 2004 and 2005 ( three appearances, no starts ).

He was offered the position by Bills defensive coordinator Hank Bullough, who was the Bengals defensive coordinator when Jauron was a player.

LeBeau has led both Bengals Super Bowl appearances and three Super Bowl appearances with Pittsburgh using the zone blitz.

The three players were Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Boomer Esiason, New York Mets pitcher David Cone and New York Rangers defenseman Ron Greschner.

In his years as the Bengals ' head coach, Brown took the team to the playoffs three times, including in 1970.

After graduating, Smith played professional football with the Cincinnati Bengals for three years.

" In his rookie year the Bengals planned to let Anderson be the back-up to the starting signal caller, Virgil Carter However, a week three injury to Carter during a game against the Green Bay Packers would force Anderson into the starting role.

In week seven facing the Houston Oilers Anderson threw for a then franchise record 352 yards while also adding three touchdowns and an interception but the Bengals would lose 21-34.

In the Bengals ' opening game against the Seattle Seahawks, Anderson was intercepted three times in the first half and the Seahawks built up a 21-0 halftime lead.

After the Bengals ' 48 – 17 pre-season victory over the visiting Green Bay Packers on August 28, 2006, which saw Palmer complete 9 of 14 passes for 140 yards and three touchdowns in just less than two quarters of play in his much-expected debut ( which included an 11-yard run for a first down that culminated in a slide on his surgically repaired left knee ), Palmer reiterated his position that he would be starting in the Bengals ' season opener at Kansas City.

The Bengals dropped to 8-8 the following year, a disappointing season in which they started out 8-5 and then lost their last three games of the season, any one of which could have gotten them into the playoffs with a win.

On November 4, 1973, Jordan intercepted three passes in the first quarter from the Cincinnati Bengals ' Ken Anderson within the span of five minutes, returning one 31 yards for a touchdown.

He was selected in the first round ( 3rd overall ) of the 1999 NFL Draft by the Cincinnati Bengals, the third quarterback in the first three choices, behind Tim Couch ( Cleveland Browns ), and Donovan McNabb ( Philadelphia Eagles ).

Despite this, Cook went on to pass for 1, 854 yards and led the Bengals to wins over the Chiefs and the Oakland Raiders, two of the three best teams in the AFL.

On December 24, 1991, just three years after the Bengals ' Super Bowl appearance, Wyche was fired by owner Mike Brown, who had taken over the team upon the death of his father, club founder Paul Brown, four months earlier.

During that stretch, at 9-4, their last three games were against the Minnesota Vikings, Cincinnati Bengals, and Carolina Panthers, all long since eliminated from playoff contention.

With only one victory out of those three games required to reach the postseason, the Saints gave up a touchdown and two point conversion to lose at home to Minnesota, were unable to stop the 1-13 Bengals ' running game led by fullback Nick Luchey, and lost against Carolina, by only scoring two field goals in the Louisiana Super Dome in a 6-10 loss.

Against the Cincinnati Bengals on October 15, he registered eight tackles ( seven solo ), three sacks including one for a safety, four quarterback hurries and a forced fumble.

He received immediate interest from a handful of teams, including Pittsburgh's three division rivals — the Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens.

He returned to the Bengals and played for them until the end of the 1988 season, catching three passes for forty yards in Super Bowl XXIII, the final game of his career.

He went on to serve as head coach of three teams: the Cleveland Browns, the Cincinnati Bengals and the Green Bay Packers.