NFL Winners and Losers, Marvin Lewis stays, but change is needed
NFL Winners and Losers: Marvin Lewis stays, but change is needed
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the initial reaction for many on Saturday night was that the Cincinnati Bengals needed to fire coach Marvin Lewis.
The moment passed. Firing Lewis didn't make sense and it wasn't realistic. Lewis has taken the Bengals to five straight playoff appearances. Kids, you might not know this but Cincinnati was once the laughingstock of the NFL, the worst franchise in the sport. Lewis changed that. He hasn't broken through in the playoffs, but any notion that he hasn't been a good coach is ridiculous. And this season he and the Bengals were really unlucky
They were cruising along at 10-2 and then quarterback Andy Dalton, an MVP candidate, broke his thumb. The Bengals lost three of their last five, including an 18-16 playoff loss to the Steelers on Saturday night. It's reasonable to assume they'd have won on Saturday night with Dalton, or maybe have had a first-round bye had Dalton never broken his thumb. It's hard to fire a coach who is 52-27-1 the last five years because he lost a playoff game without his quarterback. And the Bengals won't. ESPN's Adam Schefter reported there are no plans to hire Lewis
That's smart
All that said, Lewis needs to change some things. The Bengals' patience isn't going to last forever
The culture needs to change. it seemed all of Saturday night like the Bengals were going to melt down, and eventually they did. It wasn't a surprise when it happened. During a heated game between two rivals, CBS sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson said linebacker Vontaze Burfict was out of control and the coaches were trying to calm him down. As she was saying that, the cameras were showing Burfict back on the field.
Lewis shouldn't have necessarily benched Burfict. He took over the game in the second half like few linebackers can. But was it a shock when Burfict boiled over with a bad penalty, the head shot on Antonio Brown, that cost the Bengals the game? Was it a big surprise that Burfict, Jeremy Hill and Adam Jones — three of the biggest character risks the Bengals have taken on in the Lewis era — were the players who let the Bengals down the most in the end? If Lewis can't find a way to trust players like those in key moments, maybe they need to go
Not all of the Bengals play on the edge. But it doesn't help the perception of their team when some key players implode like they did. Lewis' regular-season record has been very good, and it's a great reason that it would be crazy to fire him now, but an 0-7 playoff record can't be ignored either
Lewis is going to have to change. The Bengals can't put themselves in another position like they were in Saturday, completely self destructing and blowing a playoff game they had in hand. If Lewis doesn't set a bit of a different tone and the Bengals aren't mentally tougher in the playoffs next time around, eventually it won't be such a surprise if Lewis got fired
Here are the rest of the winners and losers from the NFL's wild-card weekend
WINNERS
Mike Zimmer: Zimmer started his news conference after Sunday's 10-9 loss by talking about his team's fight, and its heart
"I've probably never been more proud of a football team than I am of this team," Zimmer said
The disappointment was obvious and understandable. But Zimmer is the right coach to hammer home a message to his team, after the gloom of a terrible loss passes: There are better days ahead
The Vikings were not supposed to be in that spot this season, with Blair Walsh lining up for a chip shot field goal to beat the Seattle Seahawks. This was a young team and they're ahead of schedule. A division title was a wonderful surprise. Green Bay Packers fans will argue but the Vikings should go into next season feeling that the NFC North goes through them. That's a huge step for a franchise that had been well behind the Packers for a few years
