It is time for the Bengals to move on from Marvin Lewis. Lewis has been the Bengals’ head coach since 2003 and has an overall record of 115-100-3, which accounts for a win percentage of 53.4%. His best season came last year, where his team went 12-4, yet fell to the Steelers in their first playoff matchup. Lewis has followed his most successful season with a 3-6-1 record so far this year. It is not to say the Bengals have a lack of talent and Lewis is working with nothing, but quite the opposite actually. Lewis has amassed this record with the likes of AJ Green, Jeremy Hill, Giovani Bernard, and Andy Dalton on the offensive side, while the defensive side has Vontaze Burfict, Geno Atkins, Adam Jones, George Iloka, as well as many more. Based on talent only, the Bengals should be at least a playoff team, if not a team that contends for an AFC championship.
Marvin Lewis has hampered this team to be one that has just three wins in ten games, no less, three wins against teams that included the Jets, Dolphins, which were not as strong as they are now, and the Browns. The start of Lewis’ struggles might be his command of their running back situation. He has tried something similar to a “running back by committee” approach with Hill and Bernard, yet even when one excels he feels committed to the other one. Now, with Bernard out for the rest of the season, Lewis will no longer be able to mess this situation up. However, one should not overlook how Lewis mishandled this situation as it is a representation of his inability to coach with the talent of his team.
The greatest knock on Lewis throughout his career has been how he has never won a playoff game as the head coach of the Bengals. Again, this is something that one cannot ignore when considering the future of Lewis as the Bengals’ head coach. Even if he does win in the regular season, like last year, he has proved that he is not capable of winning in the playoffs, as shown by his seven opportunities. Marvin Lewis is not giving the Bengals their greatest chance at winning, in both the regular season and the playoffs, and the organization should find someone who will give them a better chance at winning with this talented roster.
