The 2001 Cincinnati Bengals season was the team'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 QB Akili Smith as their starter, by acquiring Quarterback John 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 QB John 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 mediocre 6-10 record, their 11 straight season without tallying a winning record. Despite the team's struggles, All-Pro RB Corey Dillon had another stellar year, rushing for 1,315 yards.
Famous quotes containing the word season:
“The season developed and matured. Another year’s installment of flowers, leaves, nightingales, thrushes, finches, and such ephemeral creatures, took up their positions where only a year ago others had stood in their place when these were nothing more than germs and inorganic particles. Rays from the sunrise drew forth the buds and stretched them into long stalks, lifted up sap in noiseless streams, opened petals, and sucked out scents in invisible jets and breathings.”
—Thomas Hardy (1840–1928)