CINCINNATI -- Marvin Lewis is in no hurry to label the Baltimore Ravens busts following their 0-2 start.
The Cincinnati Bengals head coach also isn't in a hurry to consider his team's Sunday afternoon tilt in the Charm City a make-or-break game for his hosts.
"They are not desperate," Lewis said Wednesday. "It's a long football season. They'll be ready to play whether we were both 2-0, we're both 0-2 or both 1-1. It's going to be the same football game it was going to be."
But the simple fact is, the teams are currently trending in completely opposite directions. While the Ravens are searching for their first win of the season, the Bengals have already logged two, thanks to a blowout on the road at Oakland in Week 1 and a five-point victory over San Diego in Week 2.
Also fact? This ominous note from ESPN Stats & Information: since 1990, only three teams have made the playoffs after starting 0-3. Baltimore doesn't want to run the risk of waiting all year to find out if it can be the fourth.
Comparatively speaking, the Bengals are on a high they hope to sustain a while longer as they look to string together enough wins to pull away from the rest of the AFC North. Buoyed by a likely raucous M&T Bank Stadium in their home opener, the Ravens are hoping this game can reverse their early-season misfortunes.
Even if it doesn't, veteran Bengals offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth won't be breathing easy Sunday night. He, too, isn't buying the hype that Baltimore enters this game with feelings of desperation.
"That's a great storyline, but the truth and the reality is, NFL football seasons are long," Whitworth said. "Say we win and go 3-0 and they go 0-3 and then we lose our next nine and they win the next nine, the storyline, it's not any good.
"The truth is, every week is a challenge and you better treat every week like the playoffs or like it's your last in this league or you could get on a bad streak fast. For us, we keep hearing about what their mentality is going to be, but our mentality this year was to go to the Super Bowl, and that means stepping on anybody we've got to step on along the way. Our jaw's got to be set on that we're going to Baltimore to win. We're not worried about how they feel like playing, or what their attitude is or really what's on their mind. We're worried about what's on ours."
According to Whitworth, the Bengals' minds are focused on their own desperation for season-long success -- not the Ravens'.