12-14-2017, 11:23 AM
8. Cincinnati Bengals
Being entrusted with the Bengals job is like becoming the night watchman at a low-budget museum. As long as you don't screw up horrifically, you'll be able to keep the job for about as long as you want. Heck, even if you do an awful job, you're probably going to get some time. Marvin Lewis has had the job for 14 years without a playoff victory, of course, but think about the guys before him. Bruce Coslet made it into a fifth year with a 21-39 record. He replaced David Shula, who made it nearly five years himself with a 19-52 mark. Cincinnati moves at a glacial pace.
The flip side, of course, is that it's difficult to really do a great job as the Bengals' steward. You won't be investing much in free agency, where disappointing recent low-cost signings like A.J. Hawk and Kevin Minter won't be encouraging owner Mike Brown to open up his checkbook. Questionable decisions, perhaps driven by a modest budget, have seen the Bengals shed talented players at wide receiver (Marvin Jones and Mohamed Sanu) and along the offensive line (Andrew Whitworth and Kevin Zeitler) in consecutive offseasons.
It's fair to note that six awful quarters have the Bengals here -- if Cincinnati had held onto its lead against the Steelers and shown up on Sunday against the Bears, it would be 7-6 and in the thick of the AFC wild-card race on a four-game winning streak. Lewis might be negotiating an extension.
At 5-8, though, it feels like we've exhausted the possibilities with this Bengals team. There are plenty of big names on defense, but Cincinnati is 19th in defensive DVOA, thanks in part to playing the league's easiest slate of offenses. The Andy Dalton breakout from 2015 looks more and more like an outlier, even if his level of play has risen slightly from his 2011-2014 beginnings. Do you want to take this job knowing that you may not have any other quarterback options besides Dalton and AJ McCarron?
http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/21759278/ranking-best-nfl-potential-head-coach-openings-2018
Being entrusted with the Bengals job is like becoming the night watchman at a low-budget museum. As long as you don't screw up horrifically, you'll be able to keep the job for about as long as you want. Heck, even if you do an awful job, you're probably going to get some time. Marvin Lewis has had the job for 14 years without a playoff victory, of course, but think about the guys before him. Bruce Coslet made it into a fifth year with a 21-39 record. He replaced David Shula, who made it nearly five years himself with a 19-52 mark. Cincinnati moves at a glacial pace.
The flip side, of course, is that it's difficult to really do a great job as the Bengals' steward. You won't be investing much in free agency, where disappointing recent low-cost signings like A.J. Hawk and Kevin Minter won't be encouraging owner Mike Brown to open up his checkbook. Questionable decisions, perhaps driven by a modest budget, have seen the Bengals shed talented players at wide receiver (Marvin Jones and Mohamed Sanu) and along the offensive line (Andrew Whitworth and Kevin Zeitler) in consecutive offseasons.
It's fair to note that six awful quarters have the Bengals here -- if Cincinnati had held onto its lead against the Steelers and shown up on Sunday against the Bears, it would be 7-6 and in the thick of the AFC wild-card race on a four-game winning streak. Lewis might be negotiating an extension.
At 5-8, though, it feels like we've exhausted the possibilities with this Bengals team. There are plenty of big names on defense, but Cincinnati is 19th in defensive DVOA, thanks in part to playing the league's easiest slate of offenses. The Andy Dalton breakout from 2015 looks more and more like an outlier, even if his level of play has risen slightly from his 2011-2014 beginnings. Do you want to take this job knowing that you may not have any other quarterback options besides Dalton and AJ McCarron?
http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/21759278/ranking-best-nfl-potential-head-coach-openings-2018
