MKRob Sports

Coach Marvin Lewis apologized for failing to get the Cincinnati Bengals a playoff win.

The Bengals have gone 19 years without a playoff victory, dropping their latest chance on Saturday. A 24-14 loss to the New York Jets at Paul Brown Stadium put a downcast ending on a season that included numerous breakthroughs on their way to the AFC North title.

Lewis has led them to both of their playoff games since 1991—they also went in 2005 as division champs and lost at home in the opening round.

“I do need to apologize that I haven’t gotten us over the hump, and I haven’t gotten us beyond where we’ve been,” Lewis said Monday at his end-of-the-season news conference. “That’s my job and my focus to get us beyond that. And we’ll get started on that very quickly.”

The Bengals went 6-0 in division games for the first time in their history, using a new philosophy on offense. Instead of letting Carson Palmer(notes) throw a lot, they turned to a run-first offense that worked in tandem with a stingy, young defense.

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