Bengals coach Marvin Lewis has lost all three playoff games as a head coach. His fourth opportunity comes Saturday against Houston. (AP Images)


With a string of firings this week, the Bengals' Marvin Lewis becoame the second-most tenured coach in the NFL behind Bill Belichick.

But when it comes to the postseason, Lewis and Belichick part company. In the world of what have you done for me lately in the Not For Long league, Lewis has lasted 10 years despite never won a playoff game. 

His Bengals' teams are 0-3, losing in 2005, 2009 and 2011. 

As he approaches the fourth try Saturday at Houston, Lewis can't hide his feelings. The fact his team has yet to win a playoff game, gnaws at the architect of the 2000 Super Bowl champion Ravens' defense.

“That would be the first one,” Lewis said. “You do this in order to win a championship. You can’t win a championship until you win a playoff game.”
 
This will be the Bengals' third playoff appearance in four years, so the days of considering postseason play as progress are gone. Meaning, the bar has been raised significantly in Cincinnati.

“No doubt,” Lewis said.

Even as early as February, Lewis admitted his frustration with not having won a postseason game in 10 years. The Bengals hold the league's active record for most years since a playoff victory (21). That streak ranks ninth in the history of the NFL dating to 1933.

“That’s frankly where I'm disappointed,” Lewis said at the NFL Combine. “I haven’t gotten us to the championship game. We’ve won the division twice, but we haven’t won a playoff game. I was hoping we could get beyond that (in 2011) and have the opportunity to keep going.”

There are nine coaches who have been in the league at least five seasons. Five have won a Super Bowl (Mike Tomlin, Mike McCarthy, Belichick, Sean Payton, Tom Coughlin). Another has been to the conference championship game (John Harbaugh). Houston's Gary Kubiak earned his first playoff victory last year. Only Lewis and Atlanta's Mike Smith have never won a playoff game.

The pressure begins to mount because when the playoff wins don't come in the NFL, the ax typically does.

“Nobody wants to fall off that cliff,” Lewis said. “It’s a fall, whenever it comes.”

Follow Paul Dehner Jr. for Bengals updates on Twitter at @CBSBengals.