By Conrad Clowers
Herald Contributor
You can see it on his face. He looks weary and tired. You can tell it in the inflection in his voice at press conferences. They say all good things come to an end. But some would even debate whether Marvin Lewis’ coaching tenure of the Bengals had been good or not.
The only person as we speak that knows if Marvin Lewis will be back in 2018 is Mike Brown. Brown, who owns the Bengals, holds all the cards. Brown operates to the beat of his own drum. He always has. He could care a less about pubic opinion or what the popular decision is. He has always operated on his terms and only his.
At the end of the day, Marvin Lewis is slightly better then an average coach during the season. This is what his record says he is. He has coached the Bengals to 121 wins and 116 losses. In the playoffs he is one of the worst coaches in history. That’s statistically. Not even subjective. Lewis has coached seven playoff games with seven losses. At present, Lewis is coaching without a contract for the future. The Bengals are presently 3-6 and going nowhere fast.
Several years ago, Lewis was in the same situation. He was coming off an underachieving season. Just when everyone thought Lewis’ bags were packed and he was ready to head off into the sunset, Brown comes with a new contract. Lewis accepts. The Lewis era continues.
This time the feel is different. The window of opportunity with young talent is now older and looks to be closing, if not closed. Exciting offenses that defined the Marvin Lewis era are now long gone. The Bengals sport one of the worst offenses in the NFL. The team has seven games left to play in the 2017 season.
This past week the Bengals managed to lose a winnable game at Tennessee 24-20. Lack of execution at critical times solidified the loss. For the second straight week a Bengal superstar was kicked out of the game. Last week it was A.J Green. This week the culprit was a person who has been no stranger to suspensions. Vontaze Burfict made contact with an official giving the Bengal linebacker a one-way ticket to an early shower.
Only Lewis knows if he wants to be here next season. The Bengals 15th year coach has seven more games to make his case and prove Cincinnati can be a winner this season and in future years to come under his leadership.
It would appear the sun is starting to set on Lewis’ employment. He will need to complete a Hail Mary 60-yard touchdown if he’s going to be successful. With two receivers versus six defensive backs, it’s not likely. The end may be near.