Where does Cincinnati go from here? Will the franchise do what it usually does and stand still?

Before Sunday’s game, ESPN reported Broncos coach Vance Joseph, if let go in Denver, could be a candidate to be Cincinnati’s next defensive coordinator, or even head coach depending on what Lewis decides to do in the offseason. That’s right, the Bengals reportedly are letting the coach decide his future.

Lewis is 131-121-3 as Bengals coach with a 0-7 record in the postseason since taking over in 2003. His third straight losing season goes contrary to the “Seize the Dey” marketing campaign the organization rolled out this year.

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“We just didn’t make some critical plays in critical moments,” Lewis said after the loss to the Browns in a four-question press conference.

Cleveland did make those plays and completed a significant season sweep of its rival. The last time the Bengals were swept by the Browns was in 2002, part of a 2-14 season that preceded Lewis’ arrival in 2003. Lewis entered the 2018 season with a 22-8 record against Cleveland, too. This is a clear shift in the in-state dynamic. 

There were some side-shows Sunday, naturally. Vontaze Burfict (concussion) left the game and waved off a trainer’s arm while walking off the field. Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield stared down Hue Jackson, the former Cleveland coach who was hired as the special assistant to Lewis on Nov. 13. It wasn’t quite the same debacle as the last meeting, when the Browns beat the Bengals 35-20 at Paul Brown Stadium on Nov. 25 and the Jackson-Mayfield talk spilled into the next week.

But it was typical of a Lewis loss.

“We had an opportunity there at the end of the football game to have a chance to get back and have a go at it at the end,” said Lewis, whose team fell behind 26-3 before backup quarterback Jeff Driskell made it a game in the fourth quarter. “We gave up a couple of completions, particularly on third down, which ended setting up plays, which ended up being the difference.”

That’s becoming a familiar chorus, which leads back to the choice.

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Lewis can stay and bring on Joseph, or whoever else, to help fix a defense that has allowed 25.1 points per game since Teryl Austin was fired after a 51-14 loss to New Orleans on Nov. 11. Or Cincinnati can do what it should have done last season: Press the reset button.

If the Bengals need any further convincing, then they can look at their AFC neighbors. To the west is Indianapolis, where Frank Reich was hired, Andrew Luck was revived and the Colts found themselves in the AFC playoff hunt. To the east is Buffalo, which is coming off a playoff appearance and building around first-round quarterback Josh Allen.

But the best example is still their neighbors to the north, right up I-71. Baker Mayfield and Myles Garrett, the last two No. 1 overall picks in the NFL Draft, have resurrected a franchise that had been on life support for 20 years.

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Bengals owner Mike Brown turns 84 in 2019, and his daughter Katie Blackburn remains the executive vice president of the franchise. Andy Dalton has two years left on his contract as the leader of an offense that now features Joe Mixon, A.J. Green and Tyler Boyd. The defense needs work.

The question that has lingered since Pittsburgh beat Cincinnati in the 2015-16 AFC wild-card game — a soul-crushing game for the Bengals — will have to be answered after this year’s Week 17 matchup against the Steelers, which could drop Lewis to 1-5 in the division and drop the team to double-digit losses for the first time since 2010.

If Lewis is deciding his fate, then it’s a good bet he returns for another season in 2019. If that happens, then it’s an even better bet that Cincinnati will not gain ground on Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Cleveland.

If that continues, then Cincinnati will never truly “Seize the Dey.”