The 2009 Cincinnati Bengals season was the 40th season for the team in the National Football League and their 42nd overall. They finished the season at 10–6–0, and sweeping the entire AFC North division, they improved on their 2008 record of 4–11–1, winning the AFC North Division and making the playoffs for the first time since 2005. Their season ended with a 24–14 loss against the New York Jets in the AFC Wild Card Playoff Round.
The head coach was Marvin Lewis, who has coached the team since 2003. He was chosen by the Associated Press as its NFL Coach of the Year following the season. Lewis was recognized for turning around the Bengals in the face of serious off-the-field adversity. First, three players were personally affected by the tsunami that hit American Samoa in late September. Shortly after this disaster, Vikki Zimmer, the wife of defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer, unexpectedly died. Finally, wide receiver Chris Henry, who suffered a season-ending injury in Week 9, died in December from injuries suffered when he fell from the back of a pickup truck during a domestic dispute.
Read more about 2009 Cincinnati Bengals Season: Standings
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)