Cincinnati Bengals Self-Destruct in Another First-Round Playoff Loss

In the National Football League, teams are expected to win...else, the management, especially the head coach, gets fired and replaced.  At least that's how it usually works.  Take "my" Miami Dolphins over the past seven years.  In that span, they haven't enjoyed even one winning season, much less reached the playoffs.  And coaches have come and gone, as they should have.  It's been disappointing to me, especially considering their long history of success in the previous century.  Yet in spite of my problems with the Fins, the letdown I feel about them must pale compared to what Cincinnati Bengals fans must be going through right now...

Cincinnati has made the playoffs in the last seven years...certainly they've done a lot better than Miami in that regard.  And so they've retained their head coach Marvin Lewis throughout the period.  But the Bengals haven't won a single playoff game, going out in the first round for seven straight years.  But just a couple of hours ago, it looked as if they were going to end their playoff woes, having coming from 15 points down to Pittsburgh in the fourth quarter and taking a 16-15 lead with less than two minutes to go.  And then victory seemed sealed when the Bengals intercepted the ball, now with the chance to run out the clock deep in Steeler territory.  But on their first offensive play, they fumbled the ball right back to Pittsburgh.  The Steelers drove downfield but were still about 15 yards from field goal range.  Then, on an incomplete pass, a Bengal defender ran his helmet into that of the Pittsburgh receiver, putting the Steelers into marginal field goal range.  And then, during the ensuing arguments, another defender earned another personal foul penalty, giving Pittsburgh, who had run out of time-outs with only 18 seconds left, an easy field goal...and they won 18-16.  Throughout the last few seconds, Coach Lewis might as well not have been there, just standing there watching his players self-destruct in front of him.  I know that Cincinnati has enjoyed more success than Miami has, but some of Cincinnati's players seem completely out of control...and the head coach has to bear a great degree of responsibility for their behavior.  I'm just glad that I'm not a big Cincinnati fan...I tend to root for Baltimore when it comes down to their AFC North Division.  I doubt Lewis will remain their head coach after this debacle...