There are some coaches who are “money in the bank” coming off a bye week. Give them an extra week of preparation, and there is no way they lose. As for Marvin Lewis, who was hired by the Cincinnati Bengals in 2003, the game after the bye week has been anything but a certainty.
With the Bengals coming off their bye week in Week 6, and now preparing for the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 7, I went back and logged every game after the bye week under Lewis to see if there were any trends.
What I found was, there were no trends.
Take a look:
2003 - W vs. BAL
2004 - L @ CLE
2005 - L vs. IND
2006 - L @ TB
2007 - L @ KC
2008 - T vs. PHI
2009 - W vs. BAL
2010 - L @ ATL
2011 - W @ SEA
2012 - L vs. DEN
2013 - W @ SD
2014 - L @ NE
2015 - W @ PIT
2016 - L @ NYG
Overall Record: 5-8-1
As you can see, under Lewis, the Bengals have lost more than they’ve won, but there truly aren’t any trends regarding their successes, or failures, on the road or at home after the week off.
So, with that said, if you were hoping the Steelers catching the Bengals after the bye week would be a good thing, you might want to think again. Also, if you were afraid the Steelers catching the Bengals after the bye week would be a bad thing, you might want to think again.
This contest will come down to which defense will be able to stifle the opposition. The Bengals have done a tremendous job vs. Antonio Brown in recent history, but the Steelers defensive front seven could dominate the Bengals’ offensive line when the two AFC North foes meet on Sunday.
The matchups will be discussed leading up to kickoff, but the Bengals coming off a bye week is nothing more than a mixed bag of goods. You never really know what you are going to get.