CINCINNATI — Apparently, the lesson the New England Patriots taught the Cincinnati Bengals was not limited to three long, difficult hours Sunday night.

Cincinnati head coach Marvin Lewis took a page out of Patriots head coach Bill Belichick’s press conference playbook Monday afternoon following the Bengals 43-17 humbling in Foxborough, Mass.

Lewis never said “We’re on to Carolina,” but he did pick a catchphrase and stuck with it the way Belichick did last week by answering five consecutive questions with “We’re on to Cincinnati.”

For Lewis, the go-to response was “We have to get better,” which he uttered nine times in his 10 minutes at the microphone.

After saying New England didn’t do anything Cincinnati wasn’t expecting, Lewis was asked if the struggles on defense were more of a lack of communication.

“We’ve just got to do our jobs better,” he said.

That was followed with a question about whether the inability to stop the run was a problem with gap issues or the Patriots offensive line dictating how they wanted to play.

“Well, we’ve got to do a better job,” Lewis answered.

The next question dealt with New England’s tempo and how the Bengals can use that as a learning experience.

“We worked hard on their tempo, but we’ve got to do a better job,” Lewis repeated before offering some anti-Belichick levity.

“You guys expect me to say more, but you know it’s not going to happen,” he said with a laugh. “We lost the football game. We’ve got to go back to work. That’s what it is. We’ve got to chisel down and go.”

The Bengals are still in first place in the AFC North Division, one-half game ahead of Baltimore (3-2). They will play host to NFC South-leading Carolina (3-2) at 1 p.m. Sunday.

NOTES, QUOTES

–Brandon Tate brought five kickoffs out of the end zone from at least five yards deep Sunday and only reached the 20 once in addition to losing a third-quarter fumble that the Patriots returned for a touchdown to stretch their lead to 34-10.

But when asked about Tate, who not only was facing his former team but also celebrating his 27th birthday, Lewis offered some surprising words.

“He made good decisions on returns,” Lewis said. “He’s coached very well on when we want him to bring the ball out and when not to, based on the hang and so forth in the situation.

“He actually made pretty good decisions last night. Brandon’s not blocking the guys. We’ve got to get the guys blocked as well. But he’s got to hold on to the ball. At the end of the day, we can’t have a fumble.”

On his first return, Tate fielded the ball six yards deep and returned it to the Cincinnati 25. But on the four others he only got to the 9, 19, 11 and 18.

–Kicker Mike Nugent came up short on a 52-yard field-goal attempt on the Bengals’ opening drive of the game, marking his fifth miss in 13 attempts this year.

But Lewis blamed the miss on a suddenly stiff wind and said he is not re-evaluating the position.

“I’m fine with Mike,” Lewis said. “Mike had a good hit. That ball got knocked down. It was incredible how it got knocked down right there. When you guys start looking at your tape, you’ll see (Kevin) Huber give him a high-five because he knows it’s a good hit, but it got knocked down. It was just one of those Ripley’s gusts of wind that came up and knocked the ball down right at the end.”

The last time Nugent had more than five misses in an entire season was 2007, when he went 29 of 39 for the New York Jets in his third season in the league.

–The 221 rushing yards the Bengals gave up were their most since allowing 221 in a meaningless game against Baltimore in the 2011 season finale. And the 505 yards of total offense were the most the team has surrendered since giving up 531 in a 51-45 loss at Cleveland in 2007.

REPORT CARD VS. PATRIOTS

PASSING OFFENSE: D — That ‘D’ doesn’t stand for Dalton, who played fairly well considering the ugly final score. But his receivers repeatedly let him down with drops and fumbles.

RUSHING OFFENSE: C — The Bengals averaged a season-high 4.4 yards per rush, but the running game was a nonfactor when the Patriots stormed out to the big lead.

PASS DEFENSE: D+ — There was no semblance of a pass rush and the Bengals compounded that problem by repeatedly leaving the middle of the field wide open, which Patriots quarterback Tom Brady gladly exploited with 11 completions to tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Tim Wright for 185 yards and two touchdowns

RUSH DEFENSE: F — Giving up 220 yards is bad enough, but they allowed it against a supposedly struggling, makeshift New England offensive line that was blasting huge holes while backs Stevan Ridley and Shane Vereen broke multiple tackles

SPECIAL TEAMS: C- — The coverage units were strong and Adam Jones had a clutch 47-yard punt return that looked for a second like it would be a momentum changer, but kick returner Brandon Tate offset any positives with a brutal night.

COACHING: D — It’s hard to fathom how an undefeated team could look so unprepared, and coming off a bye week no less. The Bengals appeared timid and tired rather than rested and ready.