Lewis, hired in 2003, has the second longest head coaching streak with one team of all the active coaches in the NFL, only Bill Belichick has been remained with one team longer.
The Bengals have been one of the most impressive organizations for nearly a decade. Coach Lewis has a record, in the regular season, of 113-94-2; In the playoffs, he has yet to get a win carrying the record of 0-7. Before Marvin Lewis arrived, the Bengals were one of the leagues worst organizations for half of a decade or so. The Bengals had a record of 16-48 between 1999-2002, prior to hiring Lewis. In his first few seasons; 2003-206, the team had a record of 35-29. It's been a very interesting career that coach Lewis has had in Cincinnati. I've witnessed the attitude of Bengals fans change in the city drastically, and it's been for the better. The organization and team went from one of the worst in the league to being, now, one of the most well-ran in the league.
But when we look around the league, we can look and see that Lewis has a trusted system that he's built over the years. Over the past four seasons, he has put out three coordinators into head coaching positions - Hue Jackson, Mike Zimmer and Jay Gruden - it's hard to ignore that. I think the way that fans really feel about Marvin Lewis stems from what he's done in the regular season not being able to translate in the playoffs. Bengals fans and the city of Cincinnati haven't seen a playoff win since 1990. I believe that a lot of Bengals fans think that Lewis can get the team any further than he already has, and that's an early exit from the playoffs, with the Bengals being 0-7 with him as the head coach.
One thing that the Bengals have been successful at during the Marvin Lewis era has been developing and drafting talent. There have been quit a few players to sign with the Bengals and "revive" their career or become more successful than they did on a previous team. A few examples are guys like: John Kitna, Adam "Pacman" Jones, Tank Johnson and Reggie Nelson just to name a few.
The Bengals are currently 1-2 through the first three weeks of the 2016-17 season, currently in third place in the AFC north, only the Browns (0-3) have a worse record in the division. The Bengals have made the playoffs for five consecutive years now, hoping to make it six this season. But, in order to achieve that, the Bengals have to overcome early season struggles and get back on a winning path.
The Bengals will have a challenge in front of them this Thursday night, as they play the Miami Dolphins (1-2) who are looking to turn around their season as well. This game will tell a lot about which direction the Bengals season will go, it's statistically unlikely the Bengals will make the playoffs if they lose in the game against the Dolphins and go 1-3. However, this could be the game the Bengals need to get back into the early playoff conversation.
Can the Bengals turn things around? or will the Bengals end their playoff streak at five consecutive years?
You can watch the Bengals-Dolphins game on NFL Network, Thursday at 8:25 PM ET.
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