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CINCINNATI -- The Bengals are missing out on the playoffs for the first time in six years because they couldnt close out games -- does that sound familiar?The trend started with their most recent playoff appearance.They reached the postseason for a club-record fifth season in a row and then blew a lead over Pittsburgh in the closing minute at Paul Brown Stadium last January.Their 18-16 loss -- set up by a fumble and two personal fouls -- left them still without a playoff victory since the 1990 season.The sixth-longest such drought continues now that the Bengals (5-8-1) have been eliminated from the race by a 24-20 loss to the Steelers at Paul Brown Stadium on Sunday, when they blew a lead in the fourth quarter again.All season long, its as if they had a hangover from the playoffs, unable to do whats needed to pull out a close game at the end.Thats been our Achilles heel all season -- not finishing in the fourth quarter, running back Jeremy Hill said.During their NFL-record five straight opening-round losses in the playoffs, the Bengals kept coming up short at the end of close games. That trend has been even more pronounced during this regular season. Their final flame-out was the season in a microcosm.Down 20-9 at halftime, the Steelers held the Bengals to 38 total yards in the second half and did just enough on offense -- aided by numerous Bengals penalties -- to close it out.Somethings missing for Cincinnati in the clutch moments.I dont have the answers, but we have to find a way to finish these close games, tight end Tyler Eifert said.The coaching and the roster will come under scrutiny in the offseason. Coach Marvin Lewis is under contract through 2017. He got a one-year extension after last seasons playoff meltdown left him with the worst postseason coaching record in NFL history at 0-7.The offense has struggled under first-year coordinator Ken Zampese, especially in the second half of games. Cincinnati has scored only 51 points in the fourth quarter this season, an average of 3.6 that is the worst in the NFL. The winless Cleveland Browns are second-to-last.In the past six games, the Bengals have managed three field goals and a safety in the fourth quarter while going 2-4 and getting eliminated from contention.The loss to Pittsburgh on Sunday was especially telling. The Steelers defense clamped down in the second half, and the Bengals werent able to figure out a way to move the ball.Also, the defense got shoved around, allowing Pittsburgh to hold onto the ball for the final 5:53 with a 13-play drive.They came in after halftime and made some adjustments and they stopped us, receiver Brandon LaFell said. Every time we needed to get a first down, we couldnt pick it up.The offensive line struggled much of the season -- Andy Dalton was among the league leaders in getting sacked -- and the starting defense was among the oldest in the league.We failed in a bunch of ways that hurt us, Lewis said on Monday. We didnt protect the quarterback early on well enough. We gave up explosive plays on defense early in the season. All of those things we can look back to as to why we are where we are. We never got it all the way turned around enough.Game notesThe Bengals play at Houston (8-6) on Saturday night, a place where theyve had some of their worst playoff moments. They lost playoff games in Houston to end their 2011 and 2012 seasons. The Texans came to Paul Brown Stadium last season and won 10-6, ending the Bengals 8-0 start. ... Lewis said theres a chance that WR A.J. Green could play. He has missed the past four games with a strained right hamstring. ... Lewis wont give his young players additional time with the Bengals out of contention. My thought is to win these next two football games with the best players we can put out there to play, Lewis said. Thats what we owe to everybody. This isnt junior high school.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFLCheap Vapormax Flyknit Ireland . 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It said, Polishing the trophy, good memories, play well.And two years on from her breakout victory in the 2014 Ricoh Womens British Open, thats exactly what Martin did. She striped 13 of 14 fairways, landed all 18 greens in regulation, made four birdies and no bogeys and posted 4-under-par 68.Waking early on Friday morning, the 33-year-old Florida resident didnt take her foot off the gas. Conditions were a little tougher, as reflected in the stats: She missed three fairways, three greens, made two bogeys, but she atoned in style with six birdies.The net result was another 68 and a tournament total of 8-under 136, good for sixth heading into the weekend. Its safe to say she likes England, right?It seems so! she laughed after her second round, before revealing that her success her two years ago at Royal Birkdale prompted an investigation into her family tree. Ive got ancestry here. Ive been doing some research on that, and Ive definitely got some English genes. Maybe its helping me out.This weeks performance doesnt quite match her 36-hole position two years ago -- when she found herself three clear of the field -- but it is a departure from the norm in that it is only the second time she has found herself inside the top six at the halfway stage since that Friday evening in mid-July 2014.If England is the constant, the course conditions are not.Its definitely a departure from links, Martin said. Parts of it remind me of the Pacific Northwest, but there are some linksy styles in there, some of the fescues, some of the bunkering. I suppose really I just love it in England.She can also deal with wind. And although Woburn on Friday morning was calmer than the very blustery Birkdale of 2014, there were moments when the wind scuttled down the tree-lined fairways, often times accompanied by squalls of rain.There was a little bit of drama in the last couple holes, Martin admitted. Wind definitely picked up. The par-5 15th was playing pretty long. I had a 9-wood, which is essentially my 4-iron, for my third shot into the flag and made a nice birdie putt. That was playing strong into the wind and we were getting wet.Its one thing to find the climate causing havoc, but on the next hole the galleries decided to throw a spanner in the works.The wind was howling on the 16th tee, she explained, and a couple just ran across the fairway.American golfers are most times smitten by the golfing nous and discernment of British spectators, but this pair seemed oblivious to their surroundings.So Im under the umbrella, its raining sideways, and really blustery. I tried to get all set underneath the umbrella and then go. Took my practice swing with the tee down, look up and this couple are walking in the fairways. Its like, No, not right now. I had to clean my driver off and restart. Anyways, didnt hit a good drive there.dddddddddddd. I had to punch out and then I hit a 7-iron in and made a 4-footer. So that was a great save.When she converted a huge birdie putt on the 18th she was able to reflect on recent improvements that are allowing her to not only clinch par and drain birdies but also make the most of her long-term form from tee to green.Ive been putting really well since working with Jamie Mulligan down in Long Beach [California], Martin said. Ive known him since college [UCLA] and got reunited with him. Weve done a lot of good work, a lot of procedure stuff. The breakthrough has come this week after a real consistent year ballstriking.What fascinates with Martin and her second crack at this title is that, as with two years ago, the course setup plays into her hands. At Birkdale she mastered the art of utilizing the contours of the course. In doing so she turned her short hitting into an advantage rather than handicap. Woburn is a much softer course, but the preponderance of doglegs and the short setup is forcing players to hit to the same areas from the tee box. For many, the limited distances they are hitting from the tee is a restraint and a hindrance, like being tied to a leash. For the arrow-straight Martin, it makes no difference.Martin hits her drives an average of 239 yards, 43 yards down on Lexi Thompson who leads the averages. But 2016 is the fifth year in succession Martin has topped the driving accuracy stats.In competing against opponents with bigger ammunition, she is only continuing a theme, because Martin has proved time and time again that if progress proves difficult, shell find a way.She didnt learn her golf in a country club, she was taught Hogans five basics in a cage her dad built in the driveway. Her dad took her to play a course one time when she was young and the pro said no. Her dad said, Watch her hit. The pro did so and waved her on with an apology.Later she didnt start her career on the LPGA, but on the Symetra Tour. Nor did she graduate quickly from the minor tour; it took her seven seasons. All the while money was tight, but she persevered.I guess I had three criteria to keep playing, she said after the victory in 2014. I thought if I still woke up and I was happy in the morning, if I was still contributing to the womens game and growing it, and, three, if I was paying my own bills. Those were my three things.She learned that nothing good comes easy.Since the glory of Birkdale, Martin has made the top 10 just four times on the LPGA, but you dont sense that she will be fazed by a return to the spotlight. Those lessons are unlikely to be forgotten.Im playing the best I can; well see what happens Sunday, she said, and then added with a glint in her eye: A pair of jugs would be great, but Im not getting ahead of myself. ' ' '