I’ve lived in Cincinnati, Ohio since 2001 shortly after I graduated high school (Meadowdale HS in Dayton) I did a short trek down I-75 south to go to school at the University of Cincinnati and I haven’t left sense. I start out the story with that piece of information just to give you some background on where I’m coming from. I also want to add that since I live in Cincinnati, I want them to win because the quality of life in the city is a lot better when the Bengals are playing good, if you live in the area pay attention throughout any season to see the social temperature.
Marvin Lewis was hired as the Bengals head coach in 2003 and still is the coach to this day. Lewis is heading into his 15th year as Cincinnati’s head coach and he has turned around a franchise that was a laughing stock in the 90’s, so we have to give him credit for that. Besides Bill Belichick, Lewis is the longest tenured head coach in the NFL, which is a hell of an accomplishment in the climate of NFL on a yearly basis. Normally coaches can’t stick around two or three years let alone over a decade without some consistent success. He has a career record of 118-103-3 (wins, losses and ties) in the regular season, with 4 AFC North titles, but the elephant in the room is the 0-7 record in the playoffs. They haven’t won a playoff game during his tenure and as a franchise since 1991 so it is easy to say you guys are doing great, but when it counts you are going to fold.
The Bengals seemed to have jumped that hurdle in January of 2016 against their hated rivals the Pittsburgh Steelers, but after a couple of penalties by Adam “PacMan” Jones and Vontaze Burfict that went down the drain after the Steelers nailed a game winning field goal.
To tie everything together we all know marriage is like a rollercoaster at Kings Island and you have to roll with the ups and the downs, but being 0-7 in the playoffs is tough to overlook especially with being in Cincinnati for the time that he has, if you flip the coin to Belichick he has won five super bowls during his 16 going on 17th year(s) in New England (cheater or not) and played in seven of the final games.
This current roster has a stockpile of talent, but is Lewis the man to get them over the hump? That is the million dollar question. We all know Lewis has an eye for talent and good assistant coaches (Mike Zimmer, Hue Jackson and Jay Gruden are head coaches), but have you ever seen anybody have this much of a safety net without performing in the playoffs? I personally can’t recall any coach besides Jeff Fisher (lol) getting second chance after second chance and Marvin is better than Jeff, but that is for another day.
Bengals fans know Mike Brown is cheap, even non Bengals fans know that, so if Marvin can get his team a playoff win this year he will be safe, but if his teams makes the playoffs and doesn’t win he probably will head on permanent vacation, but who knows these are my thoughts on the situation. Marvin, isn’t Tony Dungy, but is kind of in the same situation the great Dungy was in with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 90’s/00’s only difference is Dungy won a few playoff games (he finally got his Super Bowl win with the Indianapolis Colts).
Let us know your thoughts about Marvin Lewis Bengals fans, we want to hear you?
