The 2016 NFL, AFC Wild Card Playoff match between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cincinnati Bengals was one of the most painful games for Bengals fans. Two bitter rivals fighting to advance to the next round in the playoffs with the ultimate goal of making it to the Super Bowl. After a long game the Bengals are winning 16-15 with 1:42 left on the clock, the Steelers have the ball on their own 14 yard line. The Steelers throw an interception to star linebacker, Vontaze Burfict. At this point all Bengals fan love Vontaze, he just won them the game, right? Wrong, next play Bengals running back, Jeremy Hill fumbles the ball giving the ball back to the Steelers. After a couple plays, Ben Roethlisberger, “Big Ben” leads the Steelers down to the 50 yard line. As long as the Bengals don’t give up 20 yards in 22 seconds the game is over, but a hit on a defenseless receiver by Burfict gives the Bengals a 15 yard penalty along with another unsportsmanlike conduct penalty by Adam “Pacman” Jones which was another 15 yards giving up 30 yards. Vontaze Burfict, Bengals fans hero 5 minutes ago just lost them the game as the next play the Steelers kick a 35 yard field goal and steal an 18-16 victory over the Bengals.

Bengals head coach, Marvin Lewis is someone many Bengals fans are quick to blame for the lack of playoff wins and no, they are not wrong. Lewis has coached the Bengals for 15 seasons, currently coaching his 16th season. In these 15 seasons he has led the Bengals to 7 playoffs, his playoff record is 0-7. This is the worst playoff record by any current NFL head coach. It is time the Bengals get themselves a new leader.

Lack Of Playoff Success

Photo by, Nathan Rupert

Marvin Lewis is not a bad head coach but he’s no Bill Belichick either. Yes he has made the Bengals an actual competitor in the regular season. Yes he did improve the Bengals record Drastically. According to a Fox Sports article by Chris Chase, “Starting in 1992 after the departure of Sam Wyche and ending in 2003 with the arrival of Lewis, here’s how things went for the Bengals: 5-11, 3-13, 3-13, 7-9, 8-8, 7-9, 3-13, 4-12, 4-12, 6-10, 2-14.” That is 11 years without a single winning record, only one season with an even record. 176 games with a winning percentage of .295. After Lewis came in the Bengals have had 7 season with a winning record, not to bad. Although that isn’t bad those 7 seasons never meant anything. Yes, the records before Lewis are very bad but, what good does having a good record in the regular season do, ff they can not win a single playoff game. All that does is make it harder for the Bengals to get draft picks to help the team. They are not going to be able to get the valuable assets they need like an offensive line, when they make the playoffs but do not win. The goal for a football team is not only to make the playoffs but win the championship and Lewis hasn’t even come close to that in his 15 seasons with the team.

No Discipline

Marvin Lewis is a defense of minded coach. Yes, That is not a bad thing, defense wins games like the 2013 Baltimore Ravens who had won the Super Bowl with a defensive minded team. The only problem with Lewis’ coaching style is the lack of discipline he has for team especially his defense. The games that mean the most are the ones the Bengals are not prepared for. In an article titled Marvin Lewis is either really clueless or a bad liar author Jason Marcum says, “This was an embarrassment, and anyone who watched it could see the Bengals were disinterested, unfocused and ready for the season to be over. But don’t tell Marvin Lewis that. He thinks the Bengals had plenty of effort, but they just didn’t execute.” This current season the Bengals played their rivals, the Steelers and once again the Bengals were not prepared and lost in the last seconds of the game. The very next week they played the best team in the league, in this game they proceed to get destroyed. This game is arguably the most important game the Bengals will have all season. The Bengals came in looked sloppy, unprepared, and bored.[perfectpullquote align=”left” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]The Bengals came in looked sloppy, unprepared and bored.[/perfectpullquote] By now it is obvious Lewis does nothing to prepare his team. It is very surprising the valuable assets they have like, A.J Green, Tyler Eifert, and, Joe Mixon do not want to abandon their team as fast as possible.

Are The Bengals Having a Good Year This Year?

This season the Bengals Started 4-1 and that one loss easily could have been a win if they had assets like, Vontaze Burfict, Joe Mixon and Preston Brown. Yes starting out 4-1 is very good but two weeks later and now they are 4-3. The Bengals also beat the Ravens another one of our conference rivals. This year has gone to a great start and it is very likely they make the Playoffs.  Yes they did lose to one of the best teams in the league, the Chiefs, and barely lost to the Steelers. Although 4-3 is not bad, the Bengals lost the two biggest games of the season, something the Bengals do every year. The odds of the Bengals losing the first game in the playoffs assuming they make it, are very high. The reason they may lose those games is, the fact that Marvin Lewis does not coach his team! Every team needs to make halftime adjustments to be successful, guess which coach does not do that very well. Yes, Marvin Lewis, he never makes halftime adjustments, if it was working before he believes it will continue to work. That is not how football works, the other team will make adjustments and then they come back to win the game. This is exactly what almost happened in the Bengals most recent game against Tampa Bay. The Bengals had a commanding lead going into halftime, but during that second half they only scored 10 points while Tampa Bay scored 25. Although the Bengals won with a last second field goal, it was a very poor game and a perfect example of what happens when no halftime adjustments are made.

History of Drafting Troubled Players

Photo by, Nathan Rupert via Flickr

Marvin Lewis likes to draft the players that seem to have off-field problems. Players like Vontaze Burfict and Adam Jones are both high level performers but have also received multiple bans from drug use and illegal hits on-field. According to the article Bengals LB Vontaze Burfict fined $112,000 for hits vs. Steelers, ESPN news sources state, “Burfict has been fined more than $415,000 during his NFL career. The latest sanction is the 11th time he has been fined in his seven NFL seasons.” Those fines only include his illegal hits on field, they do not include the fines for drug use and violence off field. Since Burfict’s first year in 2012 he has missed 22 games due to suspensions. The most recent draft pick, Joe Mixon was “deemed untouchable by many teams in the 2017 draft due to his well publicized case in which he was captured on film brutally punching a woman.” says, Luke Drage in his article 5 Reasons Bengals should fire Marvin Lewis Yes Mixon and Burfict are great players but, if not controlled they cost us games just like the 2016 AFC Wild Card Playoff game. Some people like drafting these players since they have talent to be great players. The only problem with that is, talent means nothing when they are suspended or losing us games because they can not control themselves.

Conclusion

A lot of Bengal fans wonder what is next for their team after Marvin Lewis. He is close to retiring but who will take his place? At this point in time it looks like former offensive coordinator Hue Jackson is who Lewis wants to have take his spot. This does not mean he will be but, it would not be surprising. If this were to happen, the future for Bengals fans looks bleak. If they want any sort of success in the future the Bengals need to get rid of Marvin Lewis now. It is clear he has not, will not and, can not lead this team.

Featured Image by, Keith Allison