Marvin Lewis is entering his 14th season as the head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals, and to Lewis’ credit, he has turned around a once down and out franchise. But for the Bengals fans, they’ve become a bitter postseason disappointment. Now Jason Cole of Bleacher Report has reported that Lewis’ time with the Bengals might be running out, especially with his contract up at the end of the year.
Marvin Lewis Faces The Hot Seat
When Lewis was hired to be Cincinnati’s head coach back in 2003, he was taking over an NFL franchise that was coming off a 2-14 season. In fact, times were so bad for the Bengals that they hadn’t had a winning season since 1990. During that span, the Bengals finished last in their respective division six times.
In the 13 years that Lewis has been the head coach, he has been able to completely reverse the misfortunes of the Bengals, restoring their respectability. This includes seven winning seasons to go along with seven postseason appearances, and four division titles. With a record of 112-92-2, Lewis has become the Bengals all-time leader in wins as a head coach.
When it comes to the Bengals postseason play, however, Lewis’ teams either fold or find ways to simply fail. Perhaps you can look to blame injuries on players like All-Pro wide receiver A.J. Green or tight end Jermaine Gresham for some of their playoff failures. You could even blame Lewis’ first playoff loss in 2006 on quarterback Carson Palmer‘s injury. But the results remain the same, seven poor performances in seven playoff games.
For a Bengals team that is stacked with talent, it is only logical for the head coach to be held accountable for the teams shortcomings. Maybe for some, a change at quarterback is an option that could be explored. Quarterback Andy Dalton is 0-4 in postseason play after all, throwing for only 873 yards with one touchdown and six interceptions. So a certain amount of criticism for Dalton’s inability to produce in the playoffs is justified as well.
Prior to the 2014 season, Dalton signed a six-year, $96 million deal, but only $17 million of his contract is guaranteed, so moving on from the former TCU quarterback is certainly a possibility, but highly unlikely.
While the Bengals fans wait for their first playoff win under Marvin Lewis, it’s hard to believe that he’ll be back after this upcoming season if he’s unable to coach this team to a serious playoff run.
