It’s Time for Cincinnati Bengals to Part Ways with Marvin Lewis

By Casey Drottar @cdrottar19 on January 4, 2015

One of the common definitions for the term “insanity” is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting a different result. It’s starting to appear as though a solid example of this is the Cincinnati Bengals.

Cincinnati became the third casualty of this year’s NFL Wild Card weekend, falling to the Indianapolis Colts by a score of 26-10 this afternoon. Though it didn’t exactly involve a token meltdown from Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton, the loss brought Cincinnati’s year to what many thought was a premature end. The Bengals put forth a successful regular season, but in the end it didn’t matter, as they were defeated in the first round of the playoffs.

Every single word of the aforementioned sentence could be used, verbatim, to open Cincinnati’s season postmortem for the past four years. It’s been their M.O. for quite some time now. The Bengals look impressive and, at some points, unstoppable throughout the regular season. Then, the team makes their way to the postseason, only to get bounced before anyone can blink an eye.

For four straight years, the Bengals have clinched a playoff berth. And in each and every one of the past four years, Cincinnati ended up as nothing but a one-and-done franchise.

This constant mirage of false hope has certainly pushed the fan base to the brink. Many Bengals fans are fed up with a team who consistently gives the impression that this year is the year they finally win a playoff game, only to fall flat right out of the gate. Take one quick look at Cincinnati social media and you’re sure to find plenty of calls for the team to fire head coach Marvin Lewis, who’s been with the club since 2003, but has yet to win a postseason game.

The Bengals coach has certainly done his part towards erasing the “Bungles” era fans had to endure during the 90’s. At the same time, he doesn’t appear to be able to achieve the ever-elusive playoff victory. This is why, after yet another promising season was flushed down the drain, it’s time for the Bengals to move on from Lewis.

It’s completely understandable for some to see the above statement and immediately label it as rash — possibly even crazy. Good coaches are incredibly hard to find in this league, so when you have one who’s been as consistently successful as Lewis, it’s tough to part ways with him. Four straight years in the playoffs is quite a feat, it really is. Many teams in the NFL would kill for this kind of success.

The problem, though, is nothing is coming from this at all. At the end of the day, the victories Lewis and his team net during October and November don’t amount to anything if they can’t bring one home in the postseason.

Do the Bengals take pride in what’s essentially become earning the opportunity to lose one more game than other teams do? Is anyone bragging about just getting the right to show up to the playoffs?

Again, though, it’s such a tricky situation. You really can’t label Lewis as an ineffective coach in the grand scheme of things. If Cincinnati chose to sever ties with him, there’s always a chance they make the wrong hire to replace him. And I highly doubt any Bengals fans want things to go back to the way they were when the team was blowing high draft picks left and right while on their way towards becoming the laughing stock of the NFL.

But, Lewis has now been with Cincinnati for 12 years. In this time, he’s 0-6 in the playoffs. A coach shouldn’t make the postseason as often as he has and still have the same amount of wins as you or I do.

Sure, his teams have been able to put forth a winning record more often than not. However, a postseason berth is not the ultimate measure of success. Nobody hands out rings for teams just because they made the playoffs. No parades are thrown for a club who gets to the postseason this frequently without actually winning.

Consider the company Lewis is currently with when it comes to how long he’s been in Cincinnati. At the moment, Lewis is the second-longest tenured coach in the NFL, having been with his team just one year longer than New York Giants coach Tom Coughlin. The only coach who’s been with his team longer is Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots. Combining stats from each coach’s time with their respective clubs, you’ll find five Super Bowl rings and 26 playoff wins. Not a single one of these belongs to Lewis.

This stat should be alarming to any and all Lewis supporters. Someone shouldn’t be a head coach for this long with no postseason success to show for it.

Again, it’s certainly not the easiest call to make. I expect many to see calling for Lewis’ job as crazy talk, and I’m sure there are quite a few people who can make a case towards keeping him in Cincinnati, too. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if Lewis was back on the Bengals’ sideline next year.

At the end of the day, though, this team needs a culture change, and moving on from Lewis would be the biggest way to achieve this. The Bengals are a very talented team, but they’re still unable to do anything but lose in the opening weekend of the postseason.

Stability and consistency are important keys to team success. No team takes pride in having to fire head coaches. However, there comes a time when every front office has to look at the man running their team – in this case, someone who can win plenty of games except when it matters most – and truly consider whether or not keeping him around is the best move to make.

The Bengals have been loyal to Lewis for a long time now, longer than many would’ve expected. Unfortunately, it appears loyalty towards Lewis isn’t going result in much beyond the Bengals getting to play 17 games instead of the usual 16. Cincinnati needs to make a change, and this should involve parting ways with their head coach.

Casey Drottar is a Featured Columnist for www.Rantsports.com. Follow him on Twitter or “Like” him on Facebook