Bengals

As you know, the Bengals lost a first-round playoff game again this year.  This makes three in a row and 0-5 for Marvin Lewis.  Everyone has their theory on what is wrong.  Of course, I have one, too.  I think the Bengals become too cautious in play calling during playoff games.  You have the best wide out in football and you don’t throw to him.  Also, they are too predictable on what plays they run in certain situations.  It has been reported that opposing teams call out Bengal plays before they even line up.  What does this mean?  The Bengals are so predictable in certain situations that the defense does not even have to guess what is coming.  If they throw on first down and do not complete it, they will run on the second down.  If this isn’t bad enough, the Bengals never seem ready to play in games that mean a lot on their schedule.  Take, for example, the sleep-walking first half against Pittsburgh and the underwhelming effort at the beginning of the San Diego game.  Unfortunately, this is repeated year after year in these important games.  That is when you have to take a look at the makeup of your coaching staff.  I don’t advocate constantly firing coaches, but this has now been going on too many years in a row.  Mike Brown does not like change, so he does not push and Marvin Lewis doesn’t seem to be a rah! rah! guy.  Some times you just might have to bend a few ears or burn a few britches to light a fire under your team.  I like Marvin’s demeanor on the field, but I wonder if he and his staff do enough in the locker room before a game and during half time.  Something is obviously not working!