Bengals fire coach Marvin Lewis after 16th season

The Associated Press
Monday, Dec. 31, 2018 10:48 a.m. | Monday, Dec. 31, 2018 10:48 a.m.

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Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (7) greets Cincinnati Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis after an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 30, 2018, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Don Wright)

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Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, left, greets Cincinnati Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis after an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 30, 2018, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Don Wright)

CINCINNATI — The Bengals have fired coach Marvin Lewis, ending a 16-year stay in Cincinnati that included a record five straight playoff appearances without so much as one win.

The move Monday ends the second-longest head coaching tenure in the league. New England’s Bill Belichick is wrapping up his 19th season with another postseason berth. He’s won five Super Bowls and made eight appearances in the title game.

Lewis leaves Cincinnati with an 0-7 mark in the postseason, the worst mark by an NFL coach. The Bengals haven’t won a playoff game since the 1990 season, tied with Washington for the fifth-longest futility in league history.

A third straight losing season punctuated by plummeting attendance prompted change-resistant owner Mike Brown to finally cut ties with Lewis.

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