Billick: Marvin Lewis And Mike Brown Have A "Shared Vision"

But Mikey finally trusts someone else with the decision making on this team, and I believe it is going to pay off big time. I say thank you to Marvin for sticking it out and showing patience. I think he is finally going to have HIS team on the field. So excited for the draft and for the future of this team.

Is one of the Reasons, I think the Bengals target a Trent Richardson or Doug Martin over any of the other RB’s that are being discussed. Both these guys are workout freaks and as Marvin likes to describe them bring there “lunch pales” to work kind of guys. They are not afraid to do all the little things involved in the running game like BLOCKING and catch passes, instead of just running the ball.

I hope Marvin is getting more control – it sure looks that way after the last year

20 Years of Mike Brown doesn’t wash away quite that easy – another strong FA and draft would convince me. They have the money to spend in FA, and the picks in the draft to do it.

however, his coaching and game time decisions haven’t been great. His clock management skills haven’t been great. I’d rather have him in the FO (which readers have been clamoring for) but I think we need a better in game coach.

Lewis lost Odel Thurman and David Pollack. Then Palmer went down.
These three could have made all the difference.
Tough luck for everyone.

I have liked Marvin from day one and more importantly Mike has and the players have. Marvin always seems to be rebuilding because of circumstances beyond his control and if he can get some stability and keep healthy players, well who knows. Mike Brown gets a bad rap most of the time but you have to realize that He can do what he wants and Mike has stuck to his conservative business principals and has provided well for his family and I think he is a little stubborn but that may not be a bad thing. I know other people have done less with more. Why Cincinatti got that reputation is in the past and players may be starting to see it. Win or lose It seems they are swinging away.

Boston lost 60 games. Then Boston drafts Bird. Boston wins 60 games the next year.
Are there two guys who can turn the Bengals around?
Only Decastro and Mark Barron.

MB: “Okay, let’s find out what we have in common. I don’t know, um…do you hate it when lowly people ask questions? I mean the fans, the media, people like that.”

ML: “God, yes. That’s always horrible. It’s hilarious that they think they actually know something. I’m the expert, they should just shut up and listen to me. I mean, I’m an incredible clock-manager, I’ve won all these playoff games…”

MB: “…”

ML: “…well, okay, I didn’t technically win them, but I should’ve. It wasn’t my fault, it was just fluky stuff. Those fluky 38-10 games that either team could’ve won.”

MB: “For my part, I’m a successful businessman. I’ve taken extremely minimal financial risks, and by my calculations, those risks should have resulted in zero winning seasons. But we got three! You can’t multiply by zero, but if you think about it, that’s at least a few million times better than I projected. Huge, huge success.”

ML: “We’re both really cautious, that’s part of our shared vision. I’d like to punt on third down. Gruden will be all, ‘Hey, let’s run to the outside!’ And I say, ‘Whoa, easy there, you anarchist! Run up the middle!’ I still have nightmares from how much we had to throw it. Run up the middle, run up the middle. Blue-collar. Lunchpail. Bellcow. Do your job.” (Marvin dissolves into giggles, repeating various cliches)

MB: “We both like the same type of players, too.”

ML: “Well…”

MB: “Offensive superstars are what sell tickets, so we have to get a lot of them.”

ML: "Right, and some of those superstars are projects. Physical freaks that…don’t exactly know how to play their position at the NFL level. I love coaching those guys up, especially on defense.

(Mike hears the word “defense,” starts to zone out)

ML: “If they don’t know football, it means that I won’t have to un-teach a lot of stuff. And then I can program them with Marvinisms.”

MB: “If I let you draft another hulking, can’t-cover safety, will you let me draft a flashy wide receiver?”

ML: “We actually need those, this year, so yes. And I like that you don’t trust young people.”

MB: “I’m not letting them take over until they prove they can be as successful as I am.”

ML: “And I don’t let rookies play unless I absolutely have to. I’d rather rely on a savvy vet like Chris Crocker or Nate Livings.”

MB: “Wow, we have even more in common than I thought.”

ML: “I like playing people away from their usual positions, too. Clint Boling is a natural LG, let’s play him at RG! Let’s have Rey play SLB for a few years! We thought about moving Dunlap to DT, we’ve never known what exactly to do with Collins or Rivers…Gresham is a great receiving TE, let’s have him block a lot!”

MB: “Wait, usual positions? How is that something we have in common?”

ML: “Well, I’m a great talent evaluator that’s currently a head coach, and you’re a too-big-to-fail businessman that’s trying to figure out how to deal with this whole ‘competition’ thing. If I were just a talent evaluator, and you were just a businessman, we’d probably be safer…but I think it’s great that we’re trying to stretch our limits.”

MB: “Bah, it’s press conference time. We need to go defend our unassailable records to the peons, once again. Smithers! To me!”

Katie Blackburn: “I…am not Smithers.”

I totally support Marvin Lewis. Taking a team to the playoffs twice in the last 3 years despite all of the issues (both on and off the field) is no easy task, and given the team mike brown has built for him over the past 2 seasons (did I really just say that?) I think he’ll be able to really do great work with them in the very near future. I just think it’s funny that his jersey in the Bengals pro shop not only depicts the year he took over, but his playoff record as head coach.