Cincinnati Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis has admitted that Sunday's game against the Baltimore Ravens is important to his team's season.

Lewis said that even though the Ravens have struggled this year compared to last season, playing divisional rivals will require his players to maintain their full focus.

"This is an important football game," he told the club's official website. "It's a division game and it's on the road. This is a football team that's physical, put together well, but obviously not having the season they've intended to have.

"We know we've got to be ready to play. This [weekend off] that we've been able to look at ourselves and evaluate ourselves has been good. And I wish we were doing it with a little better circumstances in the last game, but we didn't."

The Bengals have won six and lost three of their nine games so far this season.