Consistency is a religion for Marvin Lewis.

As a former defensive coordinator, the Bengals head coach doesn't think one big hit erases one missed tackle. Lewis also has no real affinity for boasting.  "We don't want to come up and make one play and jump around and beat my chest," Lewis said in the wake of Pittsburgh's 24-13 win over Cincinnati this past Sunday. "Let's have 60 plays of that. ... Let's get that started, and let's have some fun with that."

Facing a capable Buffalo team Sunday with Marshawn Lynch at running back, the Bengals can ill afford more missed tackles like those against Pittsburgh.  The Bengals had trouble wrapping up 6-foot-5, 241-pound Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. But in one instance, linebacker Landon Johnson also couldn't bring down Pittsburgh backup fullback Carey Davis, who turned a 6-yard loss into a 5-yard gain.  "Part of it is mental, but also in practice, we have a tackling circuit that we do," said Johnson, who leads the Bengals with 51 tackles. "It's more of a mind-set. You've got to want to be better tacklers."

'Playoffs possible'

The 2-5 Bengals have played teams with a combined 30-21 mark in the season's first seven games. Their last nine foes are a combined 26-39. The last four — St. Louis, San Francisco, Cleveland and Miami — are a combined 6-24.  "The playoffs are possible," Lewis said. "The playoffs are there, OK. The playoffs are not out of reach. But we don't need to worry about the playoffs. We need to worry about win No. 3 in Buffalo this week."

Since 1990, only three 2-5 teams have made the postseason — the '90 Saints, the '95 Lions and the 2002 Jets.  'Moral victory' Five times this season, Bengals kicker Shayne Graham has kicked field goals of 24 yards or shorter. That means Cincinnati has driven well inside the opponent's 10-yard line but settled for 3 points. Two of those field goals came in the past two games on fourth-and-1 at the two-yard-line.

"The ultimate goal is to keep them out of the end zone," Bengals safety Chinedum Ndukwe said of a defender's mentality about a short kick. "If they kick a field goal, they didn't get into the end zone. If there are moral victories in a football game, I guess that would be one of them."

Dayton Daily News

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