DeDe Dorsey was placed on injured reserve and Chris Perry was the starter. Benson's season began in a loss to the Dallas Cowboys, rushing 10 times for 30 yards. He became the starting back for the Bengals in Week 7 against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Benson rushed 14 times for 52 yards in his first career start as a Bengal, and ran over Steelers safety Troy Polamalu, giving the Pro Bowler a concussion. In the following 35–6 loss to the Houston Texans, he totaled 49 yards on 13 carries and had two receptions for 20 yards. The Bengals picked up their first victory of the season in a 21–19 game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, with Benson carrying 24 times for 104 yards and a touchdown. Benson hit his stride in the Bengals' three-game winning streak at the end of the season, gashing the Washington Redskins in week 15 with 161 yards from scrimmage, including 88 yards receiving (79 of which came on a screen pass). In week 16, Benson dominated the Cleveland Browns, rushing for 171 yards. In the final game of the season against the Kansas City Chiefs, Benson had 111 yards on 25 carries. In the twelve games he was active during the 2008 season, Benson had 932 yards from scrimmage: 747 rushing and 185 receiving. A free agent after the 2008 season, Benson visited with the Houston Texans before signing a two-year, $7-million contract with the Bengals on March 3, 2009. Entering week 8 of the 2009 season, Benson had 164 carries for an NFL best 720 yards (4.4 per carry average). In week 5, he became the first 100-yard rusher against the Baltimore Ravens in 40 games, when he rushed for 120 yards and a touchdown. In week 7, Benson faced his former team, the Chicago Bears, and rushed for a career-high 189 yards and a touchdown. Benson went on to record his first 1,000-yard rushing season and he set a Bengals franchise record with six games with over 100 rushing yards. He finished the season as the NFL's 8th leading rusher with 1,251 yards, despite playing only 13 games. He then set a Bengals postseason record with 169 rushing yards in their 24–14 loss to the New York Jets. The Bengals declined to resign Benson in 2012. Coach Marvin Lewis later recounted how he explained the decision to Benson: "'Ced, it's not that I didn't think you could do that on the football field, it was the other [stuff] that I got tired of.