Cincinnati Bengals NFL Playoff Woes Have One Thing In Common

First of all, it’s important to point this out.  It is extremely difficult to make the NFL playoffs.  Some really good coaches over the years have only managed to do it a few times despite strong track records.  So for that, Marvin Lewis deserves a ton of credit for getting the Cincinnati Bengals to January six times.

Winning in the playoffs is, of course, even harder though.

Nobody now understands that better than Lewis who has still yet to taste postseason victory in six tries.  Some will call it bad luck.  Some will call it inadequate play from the quarterback position, but the fact remains that the Bengals haven’t won a playoff game since the early 1990s and have given Lewis every opportunity to change that.

Not only has he failed, but he has failed spectacularly.  In those six games dating back to 2005, the Bengals have lost by an average of 14 points.  Cincinnati has never scored more than 17 points in a playoff game during Lewis’ tenure.  That is about as inescapable a stat as there is for any head coach.

So why hasn’t he been fired?  Sources seem to indicate that ownership trusts in what he is doing and there is a belief that without him the team wouldn’t even be close to playoff contention like they are every year.  It really isn’t possible to prove something like that.  What is proven based on years of experience is that Lewis can’t get the Cincinnati Bengals going in the playoffs despite a number of solid rosters at his disposal.

On most teams that would be grounds for dismissal.