Examining the Bengals’ franchise records held by Marvin Lewis

Marvin Lewis has been in Cincinnati for over a decade, and he’s seen a lot of memorable franchise records broken.

Lewis has also set several records of his own that probably aren’t going to be surpassed especially since he has at least one more season left in the Queen City. It begins with the 240 career regular-season games Lewis has coached in with the Bengals. Only two other coaches in Bengals history have even coached 100-plus games; Sam Wyche (127) and Paul Brown (112).

The most notable record Lewis holds is the all-time wins in Bengals history by one coach. Lewis currently has 125 victories entering the 2018 NFL season. It’s hard to see any coach ever coming to Cincinnati and surpassing that mark.

A lot of those wins came during the five-straight playoff seasons in which Lewis’ Bengals averaged 10.4 wins per season, though the Bengals have dipped recently with back-to-back losing seasons. Even so, Lewis still has more winning seasons (7) than losing seasons (5). He also has three 8-8 seasons.

The next closest coach on the all-time wins list is Wyche with 66 career wins, then Brown at 55. Yes, Lewis has more career wins than Brown and Wyche combined.

Then there’s the fact Lewis has coached an increible 15 straight seasons with the Bengals. He’s entering his 16th season in Cincinnati, which would actually be as many as Brown (8) and Wyche (8) combined for.

Then there’s one more record Lewis has above all Bengals coaches, though it’s not exactly a great one. Lewis has coached in seven playoff games, more than any coach before him. Wyche isn’t far behind with five, followed by Forrest Gregg at four.

That’s the good news. The bad news is those seven playoff trips have yet to result in a win. Lewis is actually one of seven Bengals coaches who’ve never won a playoff game, a list that includes Paul Brown (0-3). Only Wyche and Gregg have tasted playoff victory.

While there’s certainly a lot of of frustration with Lewis’ lack of postseason success, he has consistently kept the Bengals relevant throughout his career, not to mention his career is leaps and bounds ahead of what this franchise was in the 90s and early 2000s.

It would really help validate Lewis’ tenure with the Bengals if he’s able to win a playoff game before his coaching career ends. Let’s hope that comes next season.

Be sure to read Josh Kirkendall’s piece on Bengals coaches from back in 2015.