The Cincinnati Bengals missed the playoffs for the first time in six years.
It was not going to be an easy year for Marvin Lewis after watching two offensive weapons in Marvin Jones and Mohamed Sanu bolt out of Ohio. But the year spiraled out of control and A.J. Green’s season-ending injury became the nail on the coffin.
2016 charted the third worst season for Marvin Lewis as a head coach. Overall he has had great success, posting an 118-103-3 record over the course of 14 years. He is the second-longest tenured coach in the league, trailing only Bill Belichick with New England.
After five straight first-round exits and a disastrous record of 0-7 in the postseason, he stayed right on the fence for so long. Make a deep run in the postseason and he can be counted on as the coach. Have a disastrous season and miss the playoffs, and it’s time to move on. The latter unfortunately occurred.
Asking for a new head coach does not require a massive rebuild. Andy Dalton is still a franchise quarterback that can deliver with the right pieces around him. And there are some great pieces in A.J. Green, Tyler Eifert, Jeremy Hill and Giovanni Bernard.
The defense is still sound, ranking No. 8 in points allowed at 19.7 points per game. Whether or not Pacman Jones returns after his most recent debacle can affect the defense but the core is still intact and is enough to balance the offense for a postseason run.
The best of Marvin Lewis is behind him when the Bengals started the 2015 season 8-0, before finishing at 12-4. A top 10 offense and a top 10 defense and everyone began to write them in as the AFC representative.
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But Andy Dalton went down and A.J. McCarron had to take over. It all ended with a first round exit.
Boasting arguably the best receiving core in A.J. Green, Mohamed Sanu, and Marvin Jones, Andy Dalton’s injury in 2015 makes Cincinnati feel cursed.
Marvin Lewis is a great head coach but the Bengals need a change of pace and a breath of fresh air. The roster is here and rearing to go, all they need is some rejuvenation on the side lines. With plenty of new head coach possibilities, Cincinnati would arguably rank as the best landing spot for any rookie coach.
Injuries, suspensions, and horrible penalties make great excuses for why they are stuck in football purgatory, but excuses do not win games. Marvin Lewis is a well-respected head coach with plenty of success, but the Bengals need to move on to remove the stagnant approach this organization developed.