I know this might be unpopular, but I don’t blame Mike Brown.
Ever since he took over for his legendary father, Paul Brown, in 1991, fans have directed their criticism at him.
The most common phrase that NFL fans shout when referring to Mike Brown (left) is, “As long as Mike Brown is in charge, the Bengals will remain losers.”
Then the common thought is, “Although, Mike Brown is a terrible owner, he is a great businessman. He fills the seats.”
I think we need to end this broken record.
Times are not good, to say the least, but this year’s team looks solid on paper. I know people didn’t like the re-signing of Chris Henry. Some may also dislike the releases of Willie Anderson, Rudi Johnson and Dethla O’Neal, but to the owner’s credit all three were grossly overpaid. I know they were overpaid with contracts that the owner is responsible for drawing up, but at the same time, in professional sports, not to mention football, players are signed to outrageous contracts all the time. No one could predict that Rudi would lose his power and Anderson would lose his ability to stay healthy. If you argue that it was obvious that age would come into play, that is just another silly repeated saying.
It frustrates me when people claim that Mike Brown is a great businessman. Recently, Forbes listed the team’s value at $941 million, ranking them No. 21 on the list and No. 24 in revenue, placing the Bengals in the upper-half of the league in reliance on revenue-sharing. Basically that means, the Cincinnati Bengals rely on others to pay the contracts of their players, so thank goodness for the salary cap (for now).
Again, fans believe Mike Brown is a great businessman because the club has sold out every game this season. The frequent sellouts are because of the team he assembled in 2005 (and still really has) and not because he did anything else out of the ordinary.
I know disproving Mike Brown as a good businessman doesn’t help his case for the terrible state of the team. However, the intended point was to show that we, the fans, keep repeating the same garbage, which actually has nothing to do with the problem.
The problem is Marvin Lewis.
When Lewis was first hired, he was given a great draft class that Dick LeBeau and his staff brought in 2001. In that year, the Bengals drafted defensive end Justin Smith, wide receiver Chad Johnson, running back Rudi Johnson and WR T.J. Houshmanzadeh. The following year, LeBeau selected offensive left tackle Levi Jones. Then in Lewis’ first draft he had the No. 1 overall pick and did the obvious by selecting Carson Palmer in 2003.
With a solid young core in place, an enthusiastic Lewis took his first head coaching job and ran with it. He inspired a less talented team than the one he currently has to an 8-8 record. Eventually his talented young stars improved and in 2005 the Bengals won the AFC North title.
Since then, Lewis has lost that drive to succeed. Currently, he seems distant from his team. Rarely does he talk to anyone on the sidelines or say anything at all in his headset. He just blankly stars at the football field and doesn’t show any signs of life until the Bengals turn the ball over - once that happens, he claps and repeats, “Lets go!”
Even in the preseason, Lewis distanced himself from his team while on the sidelines. In key situations this regular season, he has also spent much of his time on the sidelines with his headset around his neck, not even listening to the plays being called in by his coordinators.
Personally, I feel the quarterback Carson Palmer and linebacker Dhani Jones are calling the majority of the plays in the second half this season. After the coaches’ gameplans fail, the players seem to be taking over.
All in all, the players that Mike Brown used to make up the roster is not the problem. I honestly believe that they have the ability to win the division, but they need to be handled the right way and the owner does not interfere with that. Especially Mike Brown, trust me I have sat directly next to him at a practice.
I blame Lewis, who has obviously lost that fire he once had.
I know Brown is technically responsible for hiring and firing Lewis (rumor has it that Lewis was Katie Blackburn’s choice), but the fact of the matter is, the team is full of talent and has many hard working players in place, but aren’t winning.
The blame has to go on Lewis, so let’s lose him, I am willing to wait until the end of season, but I don’t want to see this unenthusiastic coach back in 2009.
9 comments ↓
I agree…we need some new coaching blood. Too bad we won’t be able to use our great draft position to get a new coach. :)
Great post…
You’re exactly right, on paper this should be a good team. I honestly believe game planning is the issue. A fade rout to a tight end on a must needed two point conversion?….come on!
You are dumb, bring in bill cower, moses, whomever..results will be the same, you are shockingly clueless and obvsiously not followed the cincinnati bengals at all.
You are exactly right. Marvin’s terrible coaching has finally caught up to him. He was lucky to have the players he did when he got here. Anyone would have picked Carson #1 but since then, tell me what he has brought to the table. If we thought so highly of Jerome Simpson to pick him in the Second Round of the draft over DeSean Jackson, then why isn’t he playing? Look at what Jackson has provided for Philly. Its just bad player management and bad coaching, period. Too bad Mike Brown will keep Marvin on board through his contract in 2010. Two more years of sub .500 ball or worse. Maybe Ocho Cinco was right all along….
Hey Sean, has the shock wore off, yet?
I am not quite sure what your point was, mine was to blame the coach and you open by saying, ‘you are dumb, bring in bill cower’ which is spelled wrong. It is Bill Cowher.
Also, an ellipsis has three (…) periods and is used to condense quotes, so I don’t know if you said something intelligent and decided to take it out by using..
Also, I have ‘obviously’ followed the Cincinnati Bengals for a long time, again not sure what you mean by that, but who dey brother.
Since I have followed the Bengals for as long as I have I don’t want the team to hire Cowher, the next thing you know you will be saying that we should not re-sign T.J. Houshmandzadeh and trade for Hines Ward. Shocking!
Great post! All last year I watched Lewis on the sideline and observed the same non-interest that you mention. I think he lost the team even before the blow-up on national TV with Chad….I have no idea who’s available, but Cincinnati needs some spark or Mike Brown should sell the franchise to some other city so we can go back to being Brown fans.
I am surprised that so many agree with you sir, and I agree as well. Your readers are obviously intelligent and in touch with the situation. Like you, I have met Mr. Brown and I know no one wants to win more than him. I think Matt is correct in saying that he will be the Bengals coach until 2010, unless HE decides to resign, as a result of Mr. Brown’s loyalty. (Yes, Marvin is the only coach hired by Mike Brown that has taken this team to the playoffs). I agree that the blame for the 2008 debacle falls squarely on Marvin’s shoulders. On one hand I agree that Marvin needs to be fired, but on the other hand there’s something to be said for continuity. The example I have is Tom Coughlin in New York. EVERYONE wanted him out last year after the 0-2 start and now he is gunning for his second straight Super Bowl victory. I don’t agree with the move to let Willie go though. He deserved better. Let’s win a freaking game with Fitzy this weekend. (By the way have you seen Fitzy’s team photo? He is one odd looking dude.)
Mike Brown needs to step up to the plate and do the right thing. In business…if you don’t get the job done, you don’t have a job. Marvin needs to go at or before the end of the season. Mike Brown should do the right thing…FIRE MARVIN. If not, he might not be quite as successful in filling the stadium seats in 2009. With the economy in the tank who wants to shell out more money for yet another forgetable season? Keeping Marvin on until 2010 might just put the Bengals in the red.
I am disgusted with Chris Perry and I can’t understand why we keep wasting first and second downs on this dude…he couldn’t even catch a perfectly thrown pass to him that would have been a first down and kept the drive alive. Let’s put him in moth balls and let Ceric Benson go for it.
The season is over as far as I’m concerned and I’m very doubtful that I’ll waste my time going to anymore games. Eli, that means you’ve got an extra ticket. Find someone to go with you.
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