5 Reasons Bengals should fire Marvin Lewis

3. A lack of Discipline on Defense

Mike Brown has been an incredibly loyal owner, but maybe it’s time to look elsewhere and find someone who can progress this team to the next stage.

Sure, Andy Dalton isn’t an ideal quarterback to lead a franchise to a championship. But he can be serviceable enough given the offensive weapons he has as well as a strong defense. Brad Johnson and Trent Dilfer were not considerably better, if at all, than the former TCU QB so it can be done.

Lewis’ defensive prowess enabled the Dilfer led Ravens to win a Super Bowl. He has had ample talent on his favoured side of the field to produce a team that should have won a handful of playoff games.

Yet it has sometimes been the defense, and its lack of composure, that has cost them wins. Never more so than in the infamous 2015 playoff loss at home to the Steelers. A group with whom Lewis’ teams have engaged in a plethora of grudge matchups.

Leading 16-15 with 1:36 to play, Jeremy Hill lost a fumble and the ensuing Pittsburgh drive encompassed all that is wrong with Lewis’ Bengals.

Big Ben, and his injured shoulder, worked up to the Cincinnati 47 yard line with 22 seconds on the clock. Then, all hell broke loose on an incomplete pass targeting Antonio Brown.

Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict came flying in on the All-Pro wideout well after the ball had sailed over his head, delivering a cynical and highly dangerous helmet to helmet hit. The Bengals were pinned with a 15 yard penalty for unnecessary roughness.

But, that wasn’t the end of it. Adam Jones was then also penalised for unsportsmanlike conduct. Moving the ball up another 15 yards and giving Chris Boswell a much simpler 35-yard field goal attempt. He duly chipped over, giving Pittsburgh an unlikely win.

This was a game for the taking and the lack of discipline on the defense choked it away.