State of the Jungle: Marvin Lewis should be fired

It’s finally time.

Prior to the 2016 season, even the most cynical of Bengals fans probably didn’t envision a 3-6-1 start. Despite Cincinnati’s offseason losses of many key players and coaches, the Bengals still boasted a squad with a capable quarterback, a solid one-two punch at running back, elite players at both the wide receiver and tight end position and several playmakers on defense.

Yet despite the talent on both sides of the ball, the Bengals’ 2016 season has been nothing short of an utter disappointment and has come as a major shock to many fans. In the “State of the Jungle” on Facebook, I discuss what has gone wrong for the Bengals, the status of the team’s coaching staff (Marvin Lewis in particular) and what changes need to be made moving forward.

Changes need to be made. Marvin Lewis needs to resign as head coach, both for the sake of the Bengals and his own sake. Lewis is a capable enough a coach to turn around another team (and potentially win a playoff game) with a fresh start. A Lewis-Jaguars partnership makes all too much sense, as the Jaguars have an underachieving defense, a talented, yet raw quarterback and talented players on both sides of the ball.

And for the Bengals’ sake, a Lewis resignation or firing makes all too much sense, because the team has hit its perceived ceiling under the coach’s tenure. It’s hard to imagine this team turning things around this year, and it’s just as difficult to determine whether this year is a fluke or a sign of significant regression. Why keep Lewis around if there’s any chance of it being the latter? And there’s a significant chance of it being the latter.

Changes need to be made. I’ll discuss particular coaching fits later this week, but for now, I’ll leave you with this: replacing Lewis with another veteran coach who isn’t very adaptive to change (Tom Coughlin immediately comes to mind) doesn’t seem like it would be an improvement or any kind of change worth firing Lewis for.