National Football League

Bengals trying to push pathetic playoff past behind them

Published Dec. 31, 2014 7:08 p.m. ET

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CINCINNATI -- Marvin Lewis has had his share of vocal snafus this year. He caught himself Wednesday. Kind of. Not quite before allowing his true feelings about being asked and asked and asked about the Bengals' past futility in the postseason, but he did catch himself.

Before the reporter could get his full question about dealing with the constant questioning out of his mouth, Lewis cut him off.

"I told (the players) not to answer your questions, and just tell you it's not (them)," said Lewis in a pointed tone. "It's got nothing to do with them. You know what I mean? There you go. That team was last year's team. It's a different team, different people, different circumstances. What we have to do in order to win the games, you have to not turn the ball over, and you have to play good on defense. Pretty simple."

When the reporter continued, Lewis was even more revealing.

"Well, I'm tired of answering the dumb question, all right? Excuse me, not a dumb question," said Lewis. This is the point where he caught himself, drawing laughter from the assembled media and himself.

"I'm tired of answering the very important question that I knew was going to be asked. It's a very relevant question."

The fact is until the Bengals change their M.O. they're going to get these questions. They get their next chance Sunday at Indianapolis when they face the Colts at 1 p.m. in an AFC Wild Card game at Lucas Oil Stadium.

"We have to wait until Sunday to answer it again," said Lewis. "You have to wait until Sunday to do it."

Lewis is taking the team to the playoffs for the sixth time in his 12 seasons, including the fourth season in a row. The franchise had been to the postseason seven times previous to Lewis' hiring in 2003. But the Bengals are 0-5 in the playoffs under Lewis. Although they've held leads in each of those games at some point, they've been outscored by a combined 132-64. They are minus-11 in turnover margin, having created just one takeaway.

Last season was supposed to be the year it all ended. The Bengals had won the AFC North title and were hosting San Diego in the first round. They had beaten the Chargers on the West Coast a month previous to the playoffs, so there was plenty of confidence going into the game.

San Diego outscored the Bengals 20-0 in the second half to end Cincinnati's season, 27-10.

Quarterback Andy Dalton has been the recipient of much of the criticism for the last three losses, and while he certainly hasn't played well and deserves his share of blame, he's not alone. Wide receiver A.J. Green has just 12 catches for 161 yards and no touchdowns in the three games. The defense has been gashed for 542 yards on the ground the last three playoff games and for 857 yards in the five postseason games under Lewis.

These are all stats that have been updated the past few seasons. The good part for the Bengals is that they keep reaching the playoffs. They've established a new standard of expectation for the franchise. They just haven't risen beyond that expectation.

"I think every opportunity every year is different and every team is different," said left tackle Andrew Whitworth. "It means a lot to the guys that have been here year in and year out that you keep making the playoffs but each situation is totally different. This team is much different from last year's team."

Right tackle Eric Winston joined the Bengals on Dec. 2 after Andre Smith was lost for the season with a torn triceps. He has started the last two games. He was a starter for Houston in 2011 when the Bengals played the Texans in a wild-card game. The Bengals had leads of 7-0 and 10-7 in the first half before Houston defensive end J.J. Watt made the play of the game by leaping to intercept a Dalton pass at the line of scrimmage and returning it 29 yards for a touchdown that gave the Texans a 17-10 halftime lead.

Houston went on to a 31-10 victory.

"The little cliche of football terms -- turnovers, converting third downs. If you can stay on the field, keep moving the chains and get those big momentum swings," said Winston about the difference between winning and losing in the postseason. "I remember that game, Cincinnati controlled the game for most of the first half and then J.J. jumped up and caught the pass. Obviously you need those big plays to be on your side, you want the big momentum swings but at the end of the day a turnover is a turnover. That's what really propelled us into the second half. We're going to have to control those. We can't turn the ball over early, especially if we're moving the ball. We're going to have to protect it and get up early. I think that's the big thing, especially for us. If you can play from in front I think we're going to be a very effective team."

Winston has been around the Bengals for four weeks. That's long enough to get a good vibe of how the team has been approaching this shot at the postseason.

"When I first got here I didn't hear one thing about the playoffs. I don't think they're worried about it," said Winston. "I think they're hungry to go out there and get a win in the playoffs because that's what we work for, not because of some sort of history or some sort of past that's been going on. You spend all of that time in the offseason and then you go into camp and you go into the season to get this opportunity. That's what they're looking to do more so than trying to throw monkeys off your back or whatever else."

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