Media reactions and analysis to the Bengals bringing back Marvin Lewis as head coach

The Bengals had one of the more confusing moves to start out the 2018 offseason after they decided to re-sign Marvin Lewis for two more years.

This followed two losing seasons after five straight season to the playoffs without a single victory. It is easy to say the media had a field day with it. It is pretty much as brutal as you would expect.

The move created more questions than answers for USA Today:

The Bengals resolved their biggest offseason question when they gave coach Marvin Lewis a two-year extension through 2019 on Tuesday, providing him yet another chance — a 16th, actually — to try to get a playoff win.

There are a lot of issues to work through before they can even think in those terms.

Who’s coordinating?

What about the O-line?

Dalton’s Backup

What to do about Burfict?

The Fans: Attendance dropped significantly at Paul Brown Stadium, which was half-empty for the final game. The Bengals aren’t going to sell tickets until fans are convinced that significant changes are on the way. How do the Bengals get them back while bringing back Lewis?

They are right. There are a ton of questions left to be answered this offseason, and now we will have to see if Lewis and Mike Brown stay the same course. If they do I think I have a pretty good idea what will happen to the last uncertainty.

Then there is everyone’s favorite obnoxious analyst. Stephen A. Smith made his thoughts about Lewis known before the decision came down Tuesday, and they didn’t change after the coach was brought back.

Lewis’ record speaks for itself, and Brown’s decision to re-sign him for two years feels a lot like a betrayal between what little trust we have as fans left in Brown. It is especially hard to swallow this decision without any real substance of change behind it.

At least in 2010, they changed coordinators in an attempt to bring a new look to this team. That doesn’t appear to be happening this time as the team has already announced they are bringing Bill Lazor back, and Paul Guenther will have a choice of whether he wants to return or not.

Other outlets viewed it more of a joke, and it is hard to argue. We all thought we had survived the worst, but somehow here we are gearing up for two more years.

One interesting question posed in this video was “hod do Bengals fans do it?” The honest answer I find myself giving now is I don’t even know. It is rough to have the Bengals talked about like the Browns.

Good Morning Football tried to use a cell phone analogy to support why Lewis was retained, but it quickly gets turned on its head.

In another instance they show a slight support for keeping Lewis. They state how this is a veteran team, and this is gearing up to be the last stand.

My only argument with the last stand approach is that is what last year was supposed to be. Lewis was coaching for his job without a contract extension, and they came into the season laying an 0-3 egg. That was a hole they were never able to climb out of.

What happens if the Bengals start off 0-3 next season? Do we get to see Lewis get canned instead of a sacrificial coordinator like Ken Zampese last year? What happens if the Bengals miss the playoffs by a good margin again next year? If they aren’t playing meaningful football in December? Does he still get another last stand the year after that?