Upon further review ...

... Marvin Lewis said this afternoon that he would kick the field goal again.

Trailing 14-3 late in the second quarter, the Bengals were fourth-and-1 from the Steelers 2-yard line. Lewis initially was going to run a play. Then he called timeout and asked for a measurement. Then he sent Shayne Graham in to kick a 20-yard field, pulling the Bengals to within 14-6. Then the Steelers scored a touchdown at the end of a 67-yard line to go up 21-6 at the half.

The Steelers won 24-13.

"I still feel we're going to possess the ball three more times, by taking the points," Lewis said. "We have an opportunity to stop them, get the ball back before halftime then have the ball coming out in the third quarter. So I'm probably going to still kick the field goal at that point with where we were in the game. It was a good yard that way. I have to go with how I'm getting information. We weren't sure, we had a little bit of rundown on the play clock because they didn't get the ball spotted exactly right away. If you look at the tape, once I called timeout, it was a little bit further. But again, I have to go with what is there. It's easy to look back on it now, particularly after they score a touchdown, and think that makes a difference. ... It was important to get points."

So on fourth-and-1 you'd do it again, same way?

"Yes."

On Sunday, in his post-game news conference, Lewis mentioned the decision in his opening statement -- before he could be asked about it by a reporter -- and said: "In hindsight, we should have gone for it on fourth down rather than take the points. I didn't anticipate them driving down and getting a touchdown before halftime. Since we got the ball in the second half, I thought it was important to put up points at that point in the football game. Looking back on it, if we had scored a touchdown, it might have been more significant. But that is the decision I made based on that. We dug ourselves such a hole in the first half."

INJURIES: Lewis said defensive tackle John Thornton had a stinger, was "better today," and "we'll see Wednesday" how he is for the game Sunday at Buffalo.

Safety Herana-Daze Jones, a major special teams contributor, injured his shoulder and is being examined today. And tailback Kenny Watson suffered a concussion, which "subsided today," and Watson is undergoing normal procedures.

Lewis did not anticipate that right tackle Willie Anderson would play Sunday at Buffalo but would have a better chance to play the following week at Baltimore.

PLAYOFFS: The Bengals are 2-5 and have an uphill climb to make the playoffs. Are the playoffs still the goal for the team?

"We can’t worry. The playoffs are possible. The playoffs are there. The playoffs are not out of reach," Lewis said. "But we don’t need to worry about them. We need to worry about win number three in Buffalo this week. That’s what’s important. This is the game that counts. We don’t need to look ahead. If we take care of ourselves, we’ll be fine. And at this point, we can still do that. Let’s take care of what we have to take care of, and do our jobs."