Don Banks on SI.com calls out Marvin Lewis

[damiancasey]

• Uh, now what, Marvin Lewis? Now what do you do or say to your 1-4 team that has lost four in a row -- and also lost its way -- in the wake of that 27-20 defeat at Kansas City? Lewis tried screaming at his guys two weeks ago, calling out some "selfish'' players in his own locker room after Cincinnati's 34-13 embarrassment at home against New England. And last week's bye seemingly brought no solutions to what ails the Bengals.

It must now be asked: When will some of the heat start reaching Lewis, whose talented Bengals appear in position to miss the playoffs for the fourth time in his five-year Cincinnati tenure? Without a doubt, Lewis made Cincinnati football relevant again after those ugly 12 non-winning seasons the Bengals endured from 1991 to 2002. But Cincinnati has significantly underachieved the past two seasons, and Lewis can't stay immune to the pressure that faces every other NFL head coach who finds himself in such a losing situation.

[BengalszoneBilly]

• Uh, now what, Marvin Lewis? Now what do you do or say to your 1-4 team that has lost four in a row -- and also lost its way -- in the wake of that 27-20 defeat at Kansas City? Lewis tried screaming at his guys two weeks ago, calling out some "selfish'' players in his own locker room after Cincinnati's 34-13 embarrassment at home against New England. And last week's bye seemingly brought no solutions to what ails the Bengals.

It must now be asked: When will some of the heat start reaching Lewis, whose talented Bengals appear in position to miss the playoffs for the fourth time in his five-year Cincinnati tenure? Without a doubt, Lewis made Cincinnati football relevant again after those ugly 12 non-winning seasons the Bengals endured from 1991 to 2002. But Cincinnati has significantly underachieved the past two seasons, and Lewis can't stay immune to the pressure that faces every other NFL head coach who finds himself in such a losing situation.

I honestly think Marvin Lewis is just in over his head. He makes a better defensive coordinator than he will a head coach. What ever gimmicks he used with success early on, have now become tiresome and ineffective. Unless a miracle happens, I say his days as Cincinnati's head coach are numbered!

[walzav29]

You're forgetting that we're dealing with Mike Brown. Marvin isn't going anywhere. He needs a GM. A guy who knows not to give extensions to guys with Bad Knees, and malcontents. The team thought they were close. They aren't.

[Bengals1]

I honestly think Marvin Lewis is just in over his head. He makes a better defensive coordinator than he will a head coach. What ever gimmicks he used with success early on, have now become tiresome and ineffective. Unless a miracle happens, I say his days as Cincinnati's head coach are numbered!

They should be but I'll bet they're not! If SoP stuck with Shula till his contract ended he'll stick by Marvin at least till his ends which I believe is 2010 or so.

Marvin seems to be in the mold of Dick Leblow, a fine DC who should have stayed at that level but was promoted beyond his talent. No doubt in my mind if/when Marvin Lewis is let go or not retained he heads to somewhere like San Diego or Pheonix and becomes a great DC and helps that team to a Super Bowl while we flounder around at the bottom of the AFC North for another decade with some one like Tom Coughlin at the helm.

[walzav29]

I think Marvin can do the job, but not with the bengals. Something is not right with the management of this team.

[James_Brooks21]

I think Marvin can do the job, but not with the bengals. Something is not right with the management of this team.

The management is not out there missing tackles and getting burned, the mangement is not out there getting DUI's and giving underage girls drinks. Marvin has more say so on the everyday operations then any coach ever has. GM my tail Marvin is a professional coach he should be able to judge talent, when we signed Willie and Levi I didn't see not one of you guys complaining now in hindsight you try to play the politician role and say what a bad decision it was. Do you think that if Marvin would have expressed that those guys were beat up and not worth signing back that the Bengals would have signed them? Management is not the one who are going out picking these coordinators for Marvin he's picking them. Marvin is not head coach material just like Lebeau, for the Bengals to come out looking that bad after a bye week is terrible.

[Green 66]

I think Marvin can do the job, but not with the bengals. Something is not right with the management of this team.

You mean like Mike Brown? I still contend that the true nature of this team will not change until he is no longer in anyway in control of this team. I believe that he is why the defense will never be as high a priority when it comes to FA and keeping talent.

Mike Green

Waynesville Ohio

[Riagogogoindanati]

I agree with some of the rest of you.

Yeah, it was great getting new blood in here as a HC. Someone with defensive wizardry like Marvin. Too bad some of our top priority draft picks ended up being washouts and disappointments (God Speed Pollack) and we've resigned guys (Levi, Big Willy, even Smith) that we knew would not be able to produce for the long run. It all comes down to the Front Ofiice and the owner. Even though it has been on the backburner in my mind and maybe I've had on my Bengals Striped goggles, I have always known that if this team does put something together and wins a division title, we will never make it to the SB because of the one common denominator in Cincinnati=============================MIKE BROWN.

Mikey has smoke screened us again. The ultimate business man.............now there is a waiting list for season tickets. G-E-N-I-U-S.

[The PatternMaster]

Can someone remind me how many games Don Shula..err Banks has won as an NFL head coach, the exact same number as myself..

Someone tell Banks to STFU!!!

Being a successful coach in the NFL isn't the easiest thing in the world ya know and Marvin has had success in the past and will have success in the future, with this team.

Why does Banks have a hard on for Marvin, why does he want to see the guy get fired. What does Banks know of what has gone on with this team, it's like he looked at the standings and typed up some bs article. Don Banks = Major Douchebag

[oldschooler]

The Bengals have lost 3 of their 4 games by a TD or less.

In all 2 of those games, they failed to convert on 3rd down,

they failed to stop the other team from converting on 3rd down,

and they had more turnovers than they forced in all 3 games.

2 of their losses have been in what are 2 of the toughest places

to win in the NFL (Seattle and KC). 3 of their 4 loses have been

on the road. None of the teams they have played have a losing

record.

All of this happened without Willie playing an entire game, without Levi

playing at the level we are accustom to, without Rudi, without Henry,

without Chris Perry, without Jeanty, without Brooks, without Tab Pery,

without a lot of players we drafted and were counting on.

This team has been in every game til the bitter end, except one.

That game was against the Patriots, and in that game, the Bengals

held the Patriots to their lowest point total of the season so far,

and did it with one healthy LB. The Patriots made the Cowboys

and their vaunted "Defensive Guru" Head coach look worse than

the Bengals.

Out of the 8 players that were inactive against the Chiefs, 7 were injured.

The only inactive player that wasn`t injured was Jeff Rowe (Tull).

This team simply needs healthy bodies. I know people are tired of

hearing it. But when it`s the truth, it`s the truth.

The Bengals have had 26 guys on their roster who are or

were injured in the last 5 weeks at some point.

That`s not even counting the suspended players.

I guarantee that if some media darling had a team

that was decimated by injuries and suspensions, that

the media would beat it into our heads that that`s why they

are "underachieving".

[HairOnFire]

This team simply needs healthy bodies. I know people are tired of

hearing it. But when it`s the truth, it`s the truth.

The truth is an orphan, and it has no place here.