Bengals, Lewis Reach New Deal

Tell me if you can logically follow this...

The Cincinnati Bengals and Marvin Lewis announced today that Lewis will stay on as the head coach of the Bengals. Lewis will now become the longest tenured coach in Bengals history, passing Paul Brown. Yes, that Paul Brown. For the record, the Bengals were 4-12 in 2010 after going 10-6 in 2009.

Does that makes sense? Well, on the surface, no. It doesn't make sense. But if any Bengals fans wants to solely lay blame at Lewis' feet for posting losing records in six of his eight seasons, they must understand the way things run in Cincy with Mike Brown at the helm.

Not only is Brown the owner, he's also the general manager. Yes, he is "another Jerry Jones"...minus the buttload of cash spent. Ah, the cash. Granted, Jones appears to have money to burn.

If you listen to and read believe everything, that's where Lewis and Brown have butt heads. Lewis wants a organization run similar to that of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens. He was in Baltimore when the Ravens won it all. And everyone knows of the reputation the Steelers have as an organization. That will take some extra funds to do. An indoor facility is also considered a point of possible contention. Both involve extra funds.


Brown addressed that at today's media gathering. Brown stated he wants one, but not as bad as Lewis. Brown also admitted that an indoor practice facility is the all the rage leaguewide. No pun intended here, but you do have to "keep up with the Joneses" in order to attract free agents.

There are other issues that Brown and Lewis were questioned about. The most commonly asked was regarding the coaching situation. Another was the scouting. Another was personnel. Brown addressed the scouting aspect by saying the Bengals rank 11th overall as far as drafting players that are still in the league. Really that's not all bad.

The coaching staff. Neither Brown nor Lewis would directly address individuals that could be affected by any displacement. Can't blame them there. Both Brown and Lewis will address the changes with the coaches currently on board. Moves? I do look for at least one to be made.

Personnel. Brown stated that Lewis has as much control over player personnel decision than only two or three other head coaches. That's a point that could be debated. Largely debated.

The fix? Almost too easy.

1. Define the type of offensive team you want to be and stick with it. Either which way you want to go, get an offensive coordinator than can run that type of offense. In other words, Bob Bratkowski must go. He tried to be a "run first" guy last year and the offense was great at running but well beyond stagnant with the pass. This year, with the acquisition of T.O., they were gearing more toward the pass and struggled at times with the rush. Outside of T.O., it failed. Yes, I said outside of T.O.

2. Purge the roster of the massive egos. I know I just gave Owens a pat on the back, but he won't be back unless Brown and Lewis want him back. If T.O. is back (which I severely doubt), Ochocinco won't. There's a chance Chad won't be back either. The Bengals still have a nice stable of young receivers beginning with Andre Caldwell and Jordan Shipley. Not household names, but they play.

3. Quarterback. This might be the easiest thing to fix. It does not involve cutting Carson Palmer. Despite struggling since having his knee wrecked, Palmer has not been close to what he once was. That being said, Palmer does have some tread on his tires. He is not done. He needs the right weapons, not just any weapon, and I still believe (maybe blindly) that Palmer will be fine.

4. Personnel. This was addressed today...kind of. I have an idea. Why not bring in an NFL guy to help in these matters? Would that be so bad? There are people out there that specialize in this area. I know Brown wants the GM tag, keep it. Just bring in someone that has NFL front office experience with a reputable franchise. Someone that can help the building process. Someone that has done this.

It won't be easy and the process may take more than one season. Can Bengals fans go through another season like 2010?