2002 Cincinnati Bengals

The 2002 Cincinnati Bengals season was the team's 35th year in professional football and its 33rd with the National Football League. With a record of 2–14, however, they were the worst team in football in 2002. The Bengals struggles continued as they dropped their first seven games losing by average of 19 points in each game. The Bengals would take out all their frustrations in Week 8 by slaughtering the expansion Houston Texans on the road 38-38. However, the good feeling in the win would not last long as the Bengals continued on to become the laughing stock of the NFL losing their next six games to fall to 1-13. In their final game at home the Bengals would stun the New Orleans Saints 20-13 to earn their second win on the season, but their would be no saving the Bengals from setting a new franchise record for losses as they finished the season with a 27-9 loss to the Buffalo Bills on the road to finish with a league worst 2-14 record. This resulted in the Bengals owner Mike Brown firing Dick LeBeau and replacing him with offensive assistant Marvin Lewis. By being the worst team in 2002, they earned the first pick in the 2003 NFL Draft, which they would use to draft Heisman Trophy winning QB Carson Palmer out of USC, and releasing embattled QB Akili Smith.