Marvin Lewis opened his postgame press conference following a 24-20 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers reciting some of the same themes that have bedeviled his Cincinnati Bengals all season long: lack of second-half scoring, inopportune lapses on defense, not finishing a close game.

But when asked about the responsibility of all of that, along with a of a 5-8-1 mark that clinches the first losing record and non-playoff season for the franchise since 2010, Lewis kept it simple:

“I’m always responsible whenever we don’t win. It’s always my job.

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“It is hard because I feel like I’ve not found the right buttons, push people, et cetera, to get us where we need to be. And I always take credit for that. I’m never going to blame somebody else. It’s my job to figure it out why we don’t get it to where it needs to be. We’ve been short.”

In the locker room, his players were hearing none of that.

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“As a player, it’s all on us,” Bengals corner Adam Jones said. “Coaches coach and players play. Marvin can’t go out and guard Antonio Brown. He can’t tackle Le’Veon Bell. He can put us in great position to make plays, and there wasn’t one point today were we not in great position. So you can’t put that on Marvin.”

Down the line of lockers from Jones, who had two holding penalties and a pass interference called on him in the loss, also shook off any notion that Lewis or the Bengals coaches were at fault for a game - and a season - that slid off the tracks.

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“Not on the coaches. It’s always on the players,” Kirkpatrick said. “They do a great job of weekly preparation, getting us in the best situations. I tip my hat off to Marvin. I felt like he did a great job getting us a great game plan this week. It’s our job to go out there and execute. I put myself in front. I got calls on me, and I fell short. At the end of the day, there’s no excuses. I’m going to take it like a man.”

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When asked if he felt Lewis didn’t quite get through to the team, quarterback Andy Dalton and tight end Tyler Eifert laid the team’s struggles solely on the issues on game day, between the white lines.

“I know these guys,” Eifert said. “We put the work in. We work hard and we play hard. There’s no question about that. It’s just a matter of execution and we just didn’t have that enough throughout the year.”

Doc's barstool conversation with Marvin Lewis