After going 1–3 in pre-season, the Bengals started their season off with a win against division rival Cleveland Browns, en route to a 9–7 record—their best outing since 2009.

The franchise received a Wild Card spot in the 2011–12 NFL playoffs where it lost in the opening round to the Houston Texans.

[6] Also The Bengals fired Offensive Coordinator Bob Bratkowski and replaced him with Jay Gruden Following the end of 2010 season, the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the owners of all 32 NFL teams and the players was set to expire on March 3, 2011.

[8] A new CBA was not reached, and the owners locked out the players from team facilities and shut down league operations.

[12] On July 25, 2011, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and NFLPA President DeMaurice Smith signed a new, 10-year CBA, and the lockout officially ended.

[14] In his last season at Georgia, Green missed the first four games, but he finished with a team-high 57 receptions for 848 receiving yards and 9 touchdowns.

[17] In the third round, the Bengals selected defensive lineman (DL) Dontay Moch of University of Nevada.

[19] The Bengals' next pick was another player from Georgia University; it selected offensive lineman (OL) Clint Boling in the fourth round.

Boling was a 3-time All-SEC pick and, during his college tenure, was a versatile lineman who can play tackle or guard.

[31] Other notable roster changes during training camp include cutting DE Antwan Odom because of his injury,[32] and CB Johnathan Joseph was picked up from free agency by the Houston Texans.

[35] On the first day of practice, LB Roddrick Muckelro ruptured his Achilles' tendon, which caused him to miss the entire season.

[36] Dalton played well enough in training camp for Marvin Lewis to nominate him to be the starter for the opening pre-season game.

[37] Former Bengals QB Boomer Esiason criticized this move claiming, "If they force-feed [Dalton] and put him in games right away, he will get killed.

[39] The first offensive play for the Bengals resulted in a sack from DL Ndamukong Suh, and the pass was intercepted by CB Chris Houston.

"[43] In pre-season week 3, the Bengals played their first home game of the season, and won 24–13 against the Carolina Panthers.

[45] On September 3, 2011, the Bengals' organization released 27 roster spots, in order to make room for the limit of 53 players.

[46] It also acquired WR Brandon Tate, OL Mike McGlynn, and TE Mickey Shuler from waivers.

[55] Green was one of four players from the Bengals to be nominated to the 2012 Pro Bowl, who became the first rookie WR to accomplish this feat since 2003.

[1] Entering the 2011 season, sportswriter Andy Benoit of The New York Times and five analysts for ESPN predicted the team to finish last.

[35][61] The Bengals finished the regular season with a 9–7 record, which was good enough for the team to win a Wild Card spot in the playoffs.

[64] In the final quarter, the Bengals scored two touchdowns, including the longest play of the game: a 44-yard reception to Green.

[70] Dalton's passer rating of 107.0 was a franchise best by a rookie, and WR Jerome Simpson had a career-high 136 receiving yards.

[76] It took until 3 minutes left in the third quarter for another score, when 49ers' kicker David Akers tied the game with a field goal.

[76] The Bengals' final possession ended when 49ers' Reggie Smith intercepted Dalton's pass with 1:45 left in the game.

"[77] October 2, 2011 at Paul Brown Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio (Blacked Out) After two losses, the Bengals played the Buffalo Bills at home with 41,142 people in attendance.

[78] The Bills' running back Fred Jackson scored a 2-yard rushing touchdown for the team to be up 17–3 going into half time.

[78] On the Bengals' final possession of the game, on third-down-and-three-yards-to-go, Dalton scrambled and attempted to make the first down.

The Seahawks tallied 411 total yards, mostly through the air, behind backup quarterback Tarvaris Jackson, but were kept out of the end zone until midway through the fourth quarter.

December 24, 2011 at Paul Brown Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio The Bengals took a 20–0 halftime lead on the strength of Andy Dalton touchdown passes to Jermaine Gresham and Jerome Simpson, as well as two Mike Nugent field goals.

January 1, 2012 at Paul Brown Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio In their final regular season game of the year, the Bengals played against the Ravens for a second time.