Poll: NFL head coach rankings: Marvin Lewis right in the middle

When ranking every head coach in the NFL, Marvin Lewis is usually ranked right around the middle of all 32 coaches. That's because his 90-90 record (including playoffs) is what everyone looks at. Frankly, the way he's revitalized the once dormant Bengals franchise is very commendable.

Despite this, The Sporting News ranks him 18th out of 32 NFL coaches.

Nobody in the NFL needs to win a playoff game, just one, more than Lewis, who chugs into Season 12 in Cincinnati. Yet he’s long overdue credit for raising the bar of expectations in a place where there were none for more than a decade, when they were a punchline. That being said, one-and-done isn’t good enough anymore.

Lewis ranks third among AFC North coaches, with Mike Tomlin (5th) and John Harbaugh (7th) both ranked significantly ahead of him.

To be fair to Lewis, his Bengals were 6-2 against Bill Belichick, Rex Ryan, Chuck Pagano, Mike McCarthy,  Harbaugh and Tomlin in 2013, all of who were ranked ahead of him. Those coaches' teams also combined to go 55-40-1 last year with three of them winning their divisions.

It's not as though Lewis' teams are incapable of beating elite teams. They just don't win in the playoffs.