The 2012 Cincinnati Bengals season was the team's 45th season as a professional sports franchise and its 43rd season as a member of the National Football League (NFL). This also marked the 22nd season under the leadership of owner and team president Mike Brown and the 10th season under head coach Marvin Lewis. The team improved on its 2011 season, finishing tied with the Baltimore Ravens for the AFC North division title, but lost the tiebreaker to the Ravens. The Bengals, however, made the playoffs as a wild card team, finishing as the 6th seed in the AFC playoffs, but lost to the Houston Texans for a second consecutive season.
The Bengals started their season on Monday Night Football against the Ravens. The first quarter was all Ravens as they put up a 10–0 lead when Justin Tucker kicked a 46-yard field goal followed up by Ray Rice running for a 7-yard TD. The Bengals got on the board in the 2nd quarter when Mike Nugent kicked a 34-yard field goal shortening the lead to 10–3. The Ravens pulled away when Anquan Boldin caught a 34-yard TD pass from Joe Flacco for a 17–3 game. The Bengals wrapped up the first half scoring with BenJarvus Green-Ellis running for a 6-yard TD for a 17–10 game. After the break, the Bengals came within 4 when Nugent nailed a 19-yard field goal for a 17–13 game. However, from that moment out it was all Ravens as Dennis Pitta caught a 10-yard TD pass from Joe Flacco for a 24–13 game followed by Tucker's 40-yard field goal to put them ahead 27–13 and Ed Reed's 40-yard interception return for a TD for a 34–13 game. In the last quarter, they wrapped the game up with Rice running for a 1-yard TD for a 41–13 game and Tucker's 39-yard field goal for a 44–13 final score.
With the loss, the Bengals started their season 0–1, losing their regular season opener for 4 out of the last 5 seasons dating back to 2008.
After a tough loss on Monday Night Football, the Bengals returned home for Week 2 against the Browns. The Bengals were able to get the first points on the board with Adam "Pacman" Jones returning a punt 81 yards for a touchdown for a 7–0 lead. The Browns then shortened their lead to 4 points with Phil Dawson's 50-yard field goal to make the score 7–3. The Bengals then moved ahead by 11 points as Andy Dalton found A. J. Green on a 10-yard touchdown pass for a 14–3 lead, however the Browns again came within 4 as Trent Richardson ran for a touchdown from 32 yards out. The Bengals then moved ahead 17–10 with Mike Nugent's 39-yard field goal before halftime. Coming back, the Bengals increased their lead with Dalton finding Brandon Tate on a 44-yard pass for a 24–10 lead. However, The Browns drew closer as Brandon Weeden found Richardson on a 23-yard pass to shorten the game to 24–17. Then the Bengals moved up in the 4th quarter as Dalton found Andrew Hawkins on a 50-yard touchdown pass for a 31–17 lead but the Browns came within a touchdown after Weeden found Greg Little on a 24-yard pass to make the score 31–24. Mike Nugent then nailed a 37-yard field goal to give the Bengals a 34–24 lead then the Browns wrapped things up as Phil Dawson scored a 25-yard field goal for a final score of 34–27.
Sitting at 1–1, the Bengals traveled to Washington to face the Redskins, with rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III making his home debut. On the first play from scrimmage, Bengals' wide receiver and former college quarterback Mohamed Sanu launched a 73-yard touchdown to AJ Green to give Cincinnati an early touchdown advantage. Bengals third-year quarterback Andy Dalton started his day with a 0-yard interception touchdown by Rob Jackson that tied the game at seven, but soon went on an impressive tear the rest of the game. Dalton rebounded with a 48-yard touchdown to Armon Binns, part of 17 unanswered points by the Bengals that gave them a 24–7 lead late in the first half. Billy Cundiff added a late field goal that made the score 24–10, Cincinnati, at half time. The Redskins made a run at the Bengals in the third quarter, scoring back-to-back touchdowns on a touchdown run by Alfred Morris and a two-yard pass from Griffin to Santana Moss, which tied the game at 24. However, on the first two fourth-quarter drives for Cincinnati, Dalton gave his team the lead back—firing two touchdowns, one to Jermaine Gresham from six yards away, the other to Andrew Hawkins who dashed and weaved his way for a 59-yard score that put Cincinnati once again up 14, 38–24. Robert Griffin III scrambled and dived his way into the end zone with three-and-a-half minutes remaining, but the Redskins' comeback effort fell short as Griffin's hail Mary pass was knocked away on the final play.
The Bengals went home for a divisional game against their longtime rival Steelers. The Steelers came into this stadium 0–3 in road games. Despite the Bengals holding an 11-point lead in the second quarter, it was erased as the Steelers won the game 24–17. The loss dropped the Bengals to 3–4 and 3rd place in the AFC North.
The Bengals returned home following their bye week for a week 9 matchup with the Denver Broncos. They entered the game having lost three straight games following their 3–1 start to the season. Entering the game, Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning had never lost to Cincinnati in his career.[3]
The two teams traded field goals early, with Broncos kicker Matt Prater connecting on a 43-yard field goal and the Bengals Mike Nugent successfully booting a 28-yard attempt. On the Broncos possession following the Bengals field goal, Peyton Manning masterfully moved the Broncos down the field, dissecting the Cincinnati secondary quickly, leading to an eight play, eighty yard drive, highlighted by a forty-five yard strike to receiver Demarious Thomas, and culminated with a thirteen-yard pass to Eric Decker for the score. Following the Broncos touchdown, Denver led 10–3.
The Broncos increased their lead to a score of 17–3 on the opening kickoff of the second half, as receiver Trindon Holliday returned the football 105 yards for the score, dealing a sharp blow to a Bengals team that had previously been sticking close to the Broncos.
The score appeared to motivate the Bengals, as they scored the next seventeen points. Second year receiver AJ Green captured a touchdown reception for the seventh straight game, after quarterback Andy Dalton found him on a 10-yard strike.
Each of the next two Denver possessions were ended by Cincinnati cornerback Terrance Newman intercepting Denver quarterback Peyton Manning. A forty-nine yard Mike Nugent field goal, and a two-yard BenJarvus Green-Ellis touchdown run were the result of the two ensuing Bengal possessions; giving them a 20–17 advantage.
Peyton Manning then engineered back-to-back touchdown drives, separated by Andy Dalton throwing an interception of his own. Because the drives took place in the fourth quarter, Manning was officially credited with his forty-eighth career game-winning drive, surpassing Dan Marino for the NFL record.[4]
The Bengals attempted a late comeback, scoring three points on a Mike Nugent field goal, but were unable to recover an onside kick attempt to give themselves a chance to tie the game.
The Cincinnati Bengals entered their week ten matchup with the New York Giants reeling after four consecutive losses, separated by their week 8 bye week. Following their 3–1 start to the season, the Bengals had lost all momentum and fallen heavily in the AFC standings.
Despite being heavy underdogs,[5] the Bengals dominated the defending Super Bowl champions from start to finish, forcing four turnovers. With the win, they improved to 4–5 and snapped their 4-game losing streak.
The Bengals entered their week eleven matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs sporting a 4–5 record coming off an upset victory over reigning the Super Bowl champions, the New York Giants. The Bengals cruised to an easy victory, not allowing a touchdown on defense. With the win, the Bengals improved to 5–5.
In Carson Palmer's long-awaited return to the Queen City after departing following the 2010 season, the Bengals set the tone from the beginning of the contest, with Geno Atkins slamming a play-action Palmer to the turf on the game's first play from scrimmage. After a BenJarvus Green-Ellis one-yard touchdown run opened the scoring for Cincinnati, quarterback Andy Dalton tossed back-to-back red zone scores to wide receiver Mohamed Sanu to give Cincinnati a 21-point advantage. Kicker Mike Nugent added on to that lead with a 55-yard field goal as time expired in the second quarter to give the Bengals a 24–0 lead going into intermission. Oakland responded with a great third quarter, however; following Sebastian Janikowski's own 55-yarder that put Oakland on the board, Palmer lofted a 20-yard touchdown to Denarius Moore that made the score 24–10, Bengals. After a Kevin Huber punt gave Oakland the ball back and a chance to cut the lead into single digits, Palmer was sacked and stripped by Manny Lawson near midfield, and linebacker Rey Maualuga recovered. It was all Cincinnati after that as Nugent knocked his second field goal of the game to extend Cincinnati's lead to three possessions. Dalton added one more touchdown on the day, finding tight end Jermaine Gresham from seven yards away to make the score 34–10, which stood as the final.
Coming into the game, A. J. Green had a streak of nine consecutive games in which he scored a touchdown. That streak, however, was snapped in this game, although he did have 111 receiving yards on three catches.
Dan Bailey's clutch field goal to beat Cincinnati dropped the Bengals' record to 7–6. It was the second consecutive game in which A. J. Green did not record a touchdown reception; he had in eight straight before that. This would also be Cincinnati's last home loss until week 10 in 2014 against Cleveland.
The Bengals improved to 8–6 by winning in Philadelphia on Thursday Night Football, thus securing their second consecutive non-losing season for the first time since 2003–2006. Cincinnati is now 2–0 at Lincoln Financial Field and hopes to secure a second straight playoff appearance by beating the Steelers (7–7) on the other side of Pennsylvania in Week 16.
With the victory over their hated rival in Western Pennsylvania, the Bengals increased their regular season record to 9–6 and finished 6–2 in road games, clinching a winning season and playoff spot for the third time in the last four seasons and also clinching consecutive winning seasons and playoff berths for the first time since 1981 and 1982 seasons. By improving to 5–7 at Heinz Field, Cincinnati defeated the Steelers for the first time since 2009 when they won the AFC North after going 6–0 against their three rivals. This was the first time since 1988 when the Bengals had a successful two-week road trip in Pennsylvania.
Due to the Ravens clinching the AFC North following a victory over the Giants a few hours later, the Bengals were assigned to one of the two wild card seeds along with the Indianapolis Colts (10–5). With the Colts' victory over the Chiefs that day, the Bengals were locked into the 6th seed since the Colts had a better record than them against common opponents (4–1 vs. 3–2).
After a tough road win over the Steelers, the Bengals returned home for a Week 17 duel against the Ravens. Quarterback Andy Dalton left the game to rest up for the playoffs in the second half after completing 10 passes in 15 attempts for 78 yards and one touchdown. The Bengals were able to snap their 4-game losing streak against the Ravens and finish their season 10–6. And with the Patriots and Broncos' wins and the Texans' loss, the Bengals traveled to Houston to take on the #3 seeded Texans in the playoffs.
The #6 seed Bengals traveled to Houston to take on the #3 seeded Texans in a defensive showdown. However, the Bengals lost in the playoffs for the second straight year while at the same time losing their fifth straight playoff game dating to 1991, ending their season with an overall record of 10–7 and dropped to 0–4 under Marvin Lewis in the playoffs.
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