01-02-2019, 11:47 AM
(01-02-2019, 11:07 AM)Big Boss Wrote: Removing hindsight from the equation completely, I'd have still hired him.
The problem with Marvin Lewis has nothing to do with his initial hire. It has to do with the fact that Mike Brown held onto him way too long. I am forever grateful to Marvin for those first five years he was here. He reshaped the culture, he got this team winning again in a relatively short amount of time, and he made the Cincinnati Bengals more respectable. But he overstayed his welcome, and that's why things ultimately soured.
That's a great point. The best course of action may very well have been for Marvin to elevate the team from a debacle of its own making, then letting someone else try to take them the rest of the way. That could arguably have been done in 2008, following just one playoff berth in his first 5 seasons. Considering the talent on the team's horizon (not to mention the possibility of retaining Carson Palmer), who knows what this team could have accomplished. Even with Marvin continuing on into the Dalton era, the epic wild card choke job against San Diego in the 2013 season would have marked a logical time to move on as well.
