Last night’s loss was bad enough for the Cincinnati Bengals, both for the loss itself and the way in which it happened. A complete psychological meltdown ended what looked like a promising season for a team desperate to shake the playoff losses. For that reason alone, last night was pretty terrible.
But that loss for the Bengals was even worse than you think. Not only did they basically give the game away, but the team now has more questions to answer and no answers to the questions they wanted.
The problem is that this year was supposed to be the year the team finally sees what Marvin Lewis and Andy Dalton are capable of. What they did, namely make the playoffs and win a game, was going to go a long way in figuring out what to do with them both. Either they were going to win and prove to the franchise they need to stay, or they’d flame out again and the Bengals could move on from them both.
Now, the Bengals have many “what if” scenarios they have to answer. On the one hand, A.J. McCarron looked like a passer the team could win with. Maybe he’s the guy who should be the starter for the future? But then again, Dalton had his best year ever. Do you give him another chance? Would he have done any better against Pittsburgh?
What about Lewis? On the one hand, look at what he did with McCarron — they almost won a playoff game with him. Does that buy him another year? I mean, he was without Dalton in the biggest game of the season, so does that factor in? But on the other hand, the Bengals played with such a lack of discipline and focus right in crunch time, right when it matters most. Doesn’t that reflect on Lewis, the way they basically gave the game away?
The season started with two questions: What to do with Lewis and what to do with Dalton. With the way this whole season played out, the Bengals still have those questions to answer along with a bunch of new ones. The most visible failure of their season was losing last night, but the real failure of their season is how they have no clearer idea of how to move into the future.
The Bengals are still a good team, so it’s not like they’re bound for a huge regression next year. But when you have a team that was so close to contending, every decision you make becomes that much more critical. They’ve got some extraordinarily tough questions to answer, and I don’t envy the folks who have to make them one bit.
