Fansided

Bengals should fire Marvin Lewis

By Matt Verderame

Dec 7, 2014; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis during warmups prior to the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Paul Brown Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 7, 2014; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis during warmups prior to the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Paul Brown Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

After losing on Saturday night, the Cincinnati Bengals should fire Marvin Lewis.

It’s time to move on for the Cincinnati Bengals. Despite going 12-4 and making the postseason for the fifth straight season, the Bengals went one-and-done in the postseason. But that is not why the team should fire head coach Marvin Lewis.

Cincinnati held a 16-15 lead in the final two minutes against the Pittsburgh Steelers and had the ball before watching running back Jeremy Hill fumble. In the dying seconds, Pittsburgh moved into Cincinnati territory and then the horror unfolded. Bengals inside linebacker Vontaze Burfict took a cheap shot to the head of receiver Antonio Brown, earning a 15-yard penalty. If that was not enough – the penalty put Pittsburgh in field goal range – corner Adam Jones then made contact with an official, drawing another personal foul.

All of the chaos set up for the Steelers’ Chris Boswell to knock through the game-winning field goal. It leaves Pittsburgh to take on the Denver Broncos and Cincinnati to listen one more time about how it has not won a playoff game since 1991. But this was just different, and it calls for some serious changes.

Lewis and his staff were trying to control Burfict throughout the night. He was taking all kinds of borderline shots at players before finally going way over the line on a hit that cost the Bengals their season. Jones completely lost his cool and took the clinching penalty.

The Bengals were totally out of control, and Lewis needs to be held responsible. Lewis has gotten the Bengals to the playoffs on seven occasions, but he has lost in the first game each time. Cincinnati needs to take the next step with one of the best rosters in the league, and Lewis is not the man to get the job done.

Lewis knew that his team was getting out of control, and he still could not stop it. Could you envision this type of problem with the New England Patriots or Arizona Cardinals? Those teams are coached by men who have the complete and total respect for their head coach. In Cincinnati, Saturday night made it very clear that the inmates are running the asylum.

At this point, the Bengals need to find a new voice in the locker room and perhaps do a bit of shuffling on this roster. It’s time to move on from Lewis and shake up a team that consistently has the same issues when the lights are brightest.

Home/Cincinnati Bengals