Lewis frustrated with Bengals third-down defense

Marvin Lewis was vocally frustrated with his team’s third down defense after the team’s 30-12 loss to the Chiefs last weekend.

"There's no way for us to simulate that (in practice), the pushing and shoving, and all the wear and tear in your legs, the physical part of that," Lewis said. "No way to mimic that. I wish we could script it that way again so I can get their wind. That's good for those guys to have to play that way."

The Bengals were 16th in third-down defense a season ago, but gave up 50 percent of the third downs against Kansas City. It resulted in Chiefs scoring drives of 70, 46 and 75 yards.

Kansas City had 410 yards of offense.

"We allowed drives to continue with the third-down conversions," Lewis said after Saturday's game. "That was the difference with our first team in there, the first 15 minutes of the game.”

If the Bengals are going to rebound from a 6-9-1 campaign to return to the postseason, they’ll need the defense to look better than it has the first two weeks.

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