Bengals’ Marvin Lewis Likely To Return In 2017

The Bengals will almost assuredly miss the postseason for the first time since the 2010 campaign, but head coach Marvin Lewis is still likely to return next year. Lewis said he will once again serve as Cincinnati’s coach in 2017 “if asked,” according to Paul Daugherty of the Cincinnati Enquirer, and the club’s ownership is overwhelmingly likely to welcome him back, per Enquirer scribes Paul Dehner Jr. and Jim Owczarski on today’s Bengals Beat Podcast.Marvin Lewis (Vertical)

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Cincinnati inked Lewis to a one-year extension this spring, locking him up through 2017. Lewis, who has been coaching the Bengals since 2003, is the second longest-tenured head coach in the NFL, behind Bill Belichick in New England. During his 13+ seasons with the team, Lewis has led Cincinnati to a 115-99-3 regular-season record and has earned a playoff spot seven times. However, the Bengals have yet to win a postseason game under Lewis, going 0-7 in those contests.

Despite the lack of playoff success, the likely return of Lewis shouldn’t come as a surprise, especially given that Cincinnati preaches continuity above all else. Under owner/GM Mike Brown, the Bengals aren’t a team that makes reactionary decisions, and because Lewis exerts a strong influence on personnel decisions, his status as head coach is especially secure.

The Bengals haven’t officially been eliminated from the 2017 postseason, but their odds are extremely slim: FiveThirtyEight gives Cincinnati less than a one percent chance of making its way into the tournament.

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