After 16 Seasons, Bengals Pull Plug on Marvin Lewis As Coach

Better late than never, or all good things come to an end?

Marvin Lewis, the longest-tenured coach in the NFL behind Bill Belichick in New England, is out as coach of the Cincinnati Bengals after 16 seasons.

Consistently mediocre with Lewis at the helm, the Bengals made the playoffs seven times with him on the sidelines and lost every time in the first game. He owns the distinction of having the most playoff losses without a win by any coach in NFL history.

To Lewis’ credit, the Bengals had not made the playoffs since 1990 before he was able to guide them there in 2005.

In his 16 years, Lewis compiled a record of 131-122-3 and was named Coach of the Year in 2009 when the Bengals won the AFC North with a 10-6 record.

Despite a winning percentage barely above .500, Lewis is the winningest coach in Cincinnati’s history.

The Bengals, who sustained a number of key injuries, went 6-10 this year and failed to qualify for the playoffs for the third straight season.

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Evan Bleier

Evan is a senior editor with InsideHook who earned a master’s degree in journalism from NYU and has called Brooklyn home since 2006. A fan of Boston sports, Nashville hot chicken and Kentucky bourbon, Evan has had his work published in publications including “Maxim,” Bleacher Report and “The Daily Mail.”