
Another playoff loss does not necessarily mean that Cincinnati Bengals coach Marvin Lewis will lose his job.
The Bengals are not planning to make a coaching change, ESPN reported Sunday, after the team’s latest playoff failure — an 18-16 heartbreaking loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in an AFC wild-card game on Saturday night in Cincinnati.
Lewis is the first coach in NFL history with an 0-7 postseason record. The 57-year-old Lewis has held the job since 2003 and has a 112-94 record during the regular season but has never won a playoff game. The Bengals’ last postseason win came 25 years ago — the longest drought for any NFL team.
The Bengals frittered away a late lead against the Steelers after linebacker Vontaze Burfict and cornerback Adam Jones were whistled for penalties in the final minute that put Pittsburgh in position to kick the winning field goal.
The Bengals, the AFC North champions, finished the regular season with a 12-4 record. They played Saturday’s game without starting quarterback Andy Dalton (broken thumb).
—Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict is expected to receive league discipline for his vicious hit to the head that gave Steelers receiver Antonio Brown a concussion.
Burfict’s status as a repeat offender could lead to a suspension.
Burfict, whose sack of Ben Roethlisberger sent the quarterback to the locker room during the third quarter, lowered his shoulder as Brown landed. Burfict was flagged for a personal foul.
In the first meeting between the teams this season, nearly $140,000 in fines were handed out, half of which were levied to Burfict.
Burfict was fined for three different penalties he committed the last time he played the Steelers, one low hit on Roethlisberger and two unnecessary roughness calls.
In 2014, Burfict was fined $25,000 for twisting the ankles of Carolina Panthers players. In 2013, Burfict was fined $31,000 after one game and $21,000 after another for multiple violations, including two separate hits to the head and neck area of opposing players.
—Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said Sunday that his right shoulder is sore and termed his status for next Sunday’s playoff game against the Denver Broncos as day-to-day.
Roethlisberger, who spoke briefly to reporters, said he had an MRI but did not know the results. He is still uncertain how severe the injury is and won’t have a clear picture of the damage until he meets with doctors later in the week.
Roethlisberger was injured in the second half when he was sacked by Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict. Roethlisberger landed on his right shoulder.
The team initially believed Roethlisberger suffered a sprained AC joint in his right shoulder.
Roethlisberger left the field after his injury, but returned to the sidelined and sat out the Steelers’ next few offensive possessions. He re-entered the game with 1:23 remaining in the fourth quarter and led the Steelers on a nine-play, 74-yard drive — aided by the two 15-yard penalties on the Bengals — that ended with Chris Boswell 35-yard field goal to win the game.
—The status of Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Jeremy Maclin for next Saturday’s playoff game against the New England Patriots is day-to-day after an MRI revealed he suffered a high ankle sprain on Saturday.
Maclin was taken off the field on a cart after being injured in the third quarter of the Chiefs’ 30-0 victory over the Houston Texans.
Speculation immediately after the injury was that Macklin sustained a tear of his ACL. Had that initial diagnosis been correct, Maclin’s season would be over. However, the MRI showed no significant damage to Maclin’s knee, so there is at least a chance Maclin could play next weekend.
—Texans defensive end J.J. Watt is scheduled to undergo groin surgery Tuesday after being forced from Saturday’s AFC wild-card playoff game against the Chiefs.
Watt has battled lingering groin discomfort for weeks and with 7:28 left in the third quarter, he finally succumbed. Locked in a battle with Chiefs left tackle Eric Fisher, Watt collapsed and remained on the field until Texans’ trainers escorted him to the sideline.
Watt finished the 30-0 blowout loss with just one tackle and no sacks. Watt, who recorded 17 1/2 sacks despite the painful injury this season, was still feeling the after-effects of the game on Sunday.
—Chiefs offensive coordinator Doug Pederson intervewed with the Philadelphia Eagles about their head coaching vacancy.
Eagles chairman and CEO Jeffrey Lurie, executive vice president of football operations Howie Roseman and team president Don Smolenski reportedly were in Kansas City to meet with Pederson Sunday morning.
Pederson, 47, is considered a top candidate for the Eagles’ job. Pederson has spent the last three seasons as the Chiefs’ offensive coordinator on head coach Andy Reid’s staff. Pederson spent four seasons as an offensive assistant under Reid in Philadelphia from 2009 to 2012. Pederson then followed Reid to Kansas City. Pederson also spent 10 years as a backup quarterback in the NFL, including the 1999 season in Philadelphia.
—The San Francisco 49ers and Cleveland Browns interviewed Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson for their head coaching openings, according to reports.
Niners owner Jed York was in Cincinnati to interview Jackson.
Despite a report that Jackson is the frontrunner for the 49ers’ job, it is not a foregone conclusion he is headed to San Francisco, a source told Cleveland.com.
Jackson, the former head coach of the Oakland Raiders, went into interviews Sunday with the Browns and 49ers with an open mind, and he is equally interested in both jobs, the source told Cleveland.com.
The Browns also planned to interview Carolina Panthers defensive coordinator Sean McDermott on Sunday.
—The Buffalo Bills signed general manager Doug Whaley to a contract extension after finishing the 2015 season with an 8-8 record and missing the playoffs for the 16th consecutive year.
Bills co-owner Kim Pegula posted the news on her Twitter account. She included a picture of Whaley signing a contract with her husband and co-owner, Terry, and team president Russ Brandon looking on.
No terms were announced, but NFL.com reported that it is a multiyear extension. Whaley, coach Rex Ryan and other team officials were with the Pegulas at their home in Florida during the weekend for postseason meetings.
—The Detroit Lions hired longtime NFL executive Ernie Accorsi as a special advisor to team president Rod Wood.
Accorsi, 74, helped the Lions in their national search for a general manager that landed them Bob Quinn, who was the New England Patriots’ director of pro scouting, on Friday.