5 Reasons Bengals should fire Marvin Lewis

4. A History of signing Trouble players

Both Burfict and Jones have been high level performers. But they have also both received multiple bans for issues ranging from drugs and violence to alcohol and dangerous hits on the field.

Jones has missed nearly two full seasons of his career in suspensions whilst Burfict has paid the NFL almost $1million for various discrepancies.

Lewis has a history of putting his arms around troubled players like this pair and, more recently, former Oklahoma back Joe Mixon.

Mixon was deemed untouchable by many teams in the 2017 draft due to his well publicized case in which he was captured on film brutally punching a woman.

Yet it was no surprise that Lewis, and the Bengals, were team to accept him despite his off the field issues.

And, whilst Lewis is clearly trying to be a positive influence on these troubled men, old habits die-hard and he has paid for his trust in them on many occasions. That ill-fated loss to the Steelers is the most high-profile meltdown of the sort.

Burfict in particular has gained a reputation around the league as a dirty player and he seemingly does not learn from his mistakes or attempt to curb his over exuberant aggression.

The former Arizona State linebacker has led the league twice in unnecessary roughness penalties in his five years as a pro. This is despite missing 22 games in that time span. He is currently serving a three game ban for an illegal hit made in the preseason game against Kansas City.

It begs the question of how much control Lewis really has over his team in big moments. These doubts are further exacerbated when you delve into the stat books. The Bengals have been in the league’s top five for unnecessary roughness penalties for three straight seasons.

The defense plays tough and that is almost always a positive thing. But Lewis’ team often take things too far and when they aren’t winning, it leaves a lot wanting.