In each of the last three seasons, the Bengals have had a chance to end the team’s long stretch without a playoff victory and they have failed each time.
They will get their next chance to change the franchise’s fortunes against the Colts on Sunday and coach Marvin Lewis wants them to be focused on that matchup rather than the 24 years without a playoff win. On Wednesday, Lewis explained what he told his players to do when they’re asked about all the losing.
“I told them not to answer your questions, and just tell you, ‘that’s not me.’ It’s got nothing to do with them. You know what I mean? There you go. That team, last year’s team, it’s a different team, different people, different circumstances, so what we have to do in order to win games is not turn the ball over and you have to play good on defense. It’s pretty simple,” Lewis said, via the Cincinnati Enquirer. “Well, I’m just tired of answering the dumb question, you know? All right? Excuse me, not a dumb question -- I’m tired of answering the very important question that I know is going to be asked time and time again.”
Lewis went on to say that there’s no way to answer the question before stepping on the field Sunday and he’s correct. The questions may not be important, but they’re topical for a coach and team that hasn’t figured out how to progress over the last three years and winning will be a much better way to make them stop than pretending to ignore the elephant in the locker room.
