By starting off 0-4 in 2008, Marvin Lewis's record as a head coach has now sunk to 42-42. With 12 more games left to play, he could legitimately wind up at 42-54. That would give him a winning percentage of .4375.

Take a cue from Tiger Johnson and Bruce Coslet, Marvin. Resign now while you're ahead, um... I mean... while you're even. The debacle this year can't be worth the misery. You have the rest of your life to lead.

Actually, he's now one game below .500 when you include the playoff loss (which you should). My bet is that he'll never see a whiff of .500 again in his career.

"They will be fine when the real games start. No they don't look good, but who cares, it is preseason." - murf's 'insider' analysis of the 2008 Bengals

"Actually, he's now one game below .500 when you include the playoff loss (which you should)."

You're right. My bad. He sank below .500 for the first time since some point in the 2004 season. I think it's a real shame. He has his faults, but he would be much more successful if he coached for a real NFL franchise.

Sad thing is, an NFL HC, no matter how bad a GM/Owner is, you will always find someone eager to come in and pump up the fans by says key words to the media like being making everyone accountable or being aggressive etc..

Wanted to share some upbeat opinions from bengals.com

"If you look at it, other than today, our bengals have lost three relatively close games to teams who have yet to lose a game. So even though it may seem we are far from winning the division, I think it may take one solid offseason for us to be a super bowl contender. I see us winning 4-5 games this year because of the brutal schedule we face with the Eagles, Cowboys, Jaguars, Steelers and Jets still to go. That should land us a top 5 pick in the draft and if we are to become a REAL contender here's what the offseason should look like."

http://boards.bengals.com/showthread.php?t=30378

"I think it may take one solid offseason for us to be a super bowl contender." (Bengals.com poster)

Groan! Here is the same guy next week after the Bungles lose 54-3, Fitzpatrick gets intercepted 22 times, and Perry manages another 50 fumbles:

"Hey gang, the Bengals won the coin toss. There's plenty to build on here! We're so close!"

^^ LOL!  After the game, one man said, "Well, the weather was nice."

The guy with him paused and said, "Yep, the weather was nice."

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_iZ8M5vSmU
http://www.petfinder.com/

In a place like Los Angeles they'd have run Mike Brown out of town.

Anywhere but here or detroit he would of been out after last season...

"2007-2008 NL Central Champs"
"Back to Back World Series Champs 1907-1908"

You can blame Marvin and Mike all you want.
It comes down to the players!

This team has talent in most spots on the field.
This team has 3 major problems that need to be fixed.

The play calling.....I use to defend Brat all of the time.
Either he forgot how to be creative or Marvin is a bullheaded fool that wants to be a running team and can't be, and his forcing Brat to be so boring.
2nd and inches from the Browns 30.....and you run the ball?
Lost yards on top of it.

It is boring and the entire stadiium knows what you are running.

Oline---
guycheck is simply thw worst center I have ever seen in my entire life.
Levi sucks, not sure if he is not healthy enough to play or simply lost it that quick, but he is not a very good tackle anymore.

Linebackers----
Always a step behind on coverage.
Playing well vs the run, but on 3rd down, seem to be behind.


I think the defense has played well enough to win, it is the line on offense that is killing this team right now.
they simply can't move the football b/c the line is so bad.
We counted 4 plays in a row where the center was be blown back.
When coats is in the backfield, he never hits the correct guy.

The o-line is the problem.


“…man is not free unless government is limited. There's a clear cause and effect here that is as neat and predictable as a law of physics: As government expands, liberty contracts.”

I fail to see how the horrible O-line isn't Mike Brown's fault.....

Oh wait. I can hear it already: "you fuchers wanted to keep Willie!! (despite no evidence to support this claim save for maybe 1 or 2 people) I told you all we should have kept Steinbach!! (even though we all agreed with you at the time and that is Mike Brown's fault)"

This bull$#!+ "it all comes down to the players" argument doesn't cut it after 18 years, murf. It all comes down to a $#!++y organization that breaks players' wills and that no one wants to play for (would you?).

BMN

When you F up at your job, I blame you.

When you F up at your job for 18 years, I blame your boss.

Case in point.

There's a restaurant that my gf & I love in my hometown. One day she visited it and got horrible service. She complained to the supervisor. The supervisor, having observed this waiter having screwed up before, fired the waiter on the spot and apologized. Upon our next visit to the restaurant, and the supervisor spoke with us personally and we received a dessert as gratis. We still go to the restaurant and get great food and great service.

Translation: boss saw problem, boss corrected problem, boss went to the customer and said "that employee no longer works here, I value your service and will prove it by immediately bringing in new people who will perform the way they are supposed to."

Quite remarkable that I would have such a positive impression of the restaurant. Would you eat at this establishment, murf, or would you stay at the same $#!++y restaurant, berating the staff but telling the owner "well, if I stop coming, you'll close the restaurant down..........."

BMN

I think its pointless to try and convince murf that Mike Brown is to blame. Just like with a multitude of other issues he holds an entrenched position reinforced by strong personal biases and raw emotion. He was born a sheep and he'll die one. My only question is why he would choose to post at a message board dedicated to hating on a man he loves.

"They will be fine when the real games start. No they don't look good, but who cares, it is preseason." - murf's 'insider' analysis of the 2008 Bengals

Murf is Mikey's Press Secretary. The pay is free tickets and Viagra. It's a living ...I guess?

No, you are missing the point once again........

Yes, Mike gets part of the blame, and I have said that Stienbach was the worst mistake this team has ever made, and that falls on Marvin and mikey.

Other than that, the playrs are not playing.
Why are you blaming Mike for Chad Johnson and TJ skiping training camp and the entire preseason?
Why are you blaming someone in the front office for a center getting knocked on his azz every play?
When does the blame ever reach the players that are failing on the field?
Fitzpatrick, a back up qb, a highly paid back up qb, that some fo you clowns wanted instead of Palmer...lol....failed yesterday.
The O-line failed for the 4th straight week.
That has nothing to do with the front office.
Please don't toss out the Willy bullsh1t either, he was done 2 years ago, and seldom played last year when the same line only gave up 17 sacks the entire year.

I think Mike is a bad GM, but he is not losing the games right now.
How many probowlers are on the roster?
How many of them are playing like an elite player?

Perry lost the ball in a cirtical spot in the game, that had nothing to do with Mike Brown.
Fans being at the game had nothing to do with the team playing like they don't give a sh!t.

It comes down to the players....Man for Man, no excuses, they are not doing thier jobs that they are getting paid a pathetic amount of money to do.

I am not defending Mike Brown, I simply placing the failures of this team, right now, in the hands of the criminals, the players, not the GM.

If you want to blame non players for thefailures of th eplayers, it starts with Marvin Lewis....



“…man is not free unless government is limited. There's a clear cause and effect here that is as neat and predictable as a law of physics: As government expands, liberty contracts.”

Murf,

But you didnt blame the players, you blamed coaching and management.

You blamed:

1. bratkowski (thank god you finally see the light - this yahoo has been terrible for years).

2. the center - well guess who chose the center? Maybe Coach Alexander who went to his alma mater? I dont blame Guycheck for sucking. I blame the Bengals for drafting him.

3. The O-line. How can you not blame the coaches for failing to coach and make these guys learn adjustments, pick up blitzes and schemes?

"The American Cancer Society says uninsured patients are 60 percent more likely to die within five years of their diagnosis."

murf, it goes back to the culture of defeat I've been harping on for YEARS and yet you refuse to acknowledge my point (likely because you know I'm 100% correct and heaven forfend you admit to being wrong about something).

First off, you're holding some players responsible for not playing to a level they aren't capable of reaching to begin with. When you have a clearly $#!++y player...management should have picked a better player.

Second of all, other players with the capability of playing better goes back to Marvin....and Marvin still being employed goes back to Mikey. Mike hired him, Mike facilitates him, etc.

Third, when will you EVER learn?: NO player will EVER play to their capabilities or beyond when Mike Brown is in charge! EVER! Get it through your thick skull! These players are in Siberia, they KNOW they're in Siberia and yet you're standing there saying "it's mostly Ghuacic's fault we lost this week because he hasn't figured out how to not suck." Instead of getting on the wagon and saying "look, maybe if there wasn't a total fu(k+@rd in charge, these players would hustle more."

I've sometimes defended you in arguments on the board, but your complete and utter idiocy and refusal to own up to evidence when it's thrown right under your nose gets to be exceedingly frustrating.

Culture of defeat, murf, culture of defeat. Stop trying to convince us, yourself and the rest of the universe that this team's ever going to get out of it with the Clown in charge. It won't happen.

Still waiting for you to owe up to the idiocy of your 11-5 prediction. To admit you were completely WRONG about the preseason. I'm still waiting for you get out from under Mike Brown's desk but I suppose I'm waiting for a lot of things.......

BMN

None on here can or should claim they really are an expert at deciding if the Bungle players are really putting forth an effort in a given year.

But after 18 or so years of this Mike-hole malaise, no one should discount the possibility that the players are giving it all they've got some of those years. It would be totally unreasonable to suggest that the Bungs' have had two decades of bad luck by fielding good players who don't play hard.

No, it's much more reasonable to assume the obvious: There is no competitive talent on this team. To suggest otherwise makes one a subliminal Mike-hole lover. Sort or reminds me of gay-bashing GOP congressmen who get picked up cruising in parks, bathrooms and youth chat rooms.

All that aside, who is bitter? To watch the Mike-hole arrogance fail, year in and year out, is hilarious.

And to listen to, or read about, the convuluted excuses made by Mike-hole's closet fans is just as hilarious.

"No, it's much more reasonable to assume the obvious: There is no competitive talent on this team. To suggest otherwise makes one a subliminal Mike-hole lover."

Hook, I would flip it around and say that you are the one letting Mike Brown off the hook. (And for once, the pun is not intended.) There are myriad things wrong with the Bungle franchise. The front office is under-staffed. The coaching staff is under-staffed. The medical staff is under-staffed. If there are any other staffs on the team, then, well, they're under-staffed too! And we can be sure that all those folks operate with far fewer resources than their counterparts on other teams.

Come on, we know this is a Paleolithic franchise that's mired in the old ways. By focusing solely on the "lack of talent", you're giving short shrift to all the other problems. Because, for crying out loud, the losing is caused by a whole lot of EVERYTHING. Please don't make it sound like Mike Brown only has a few little kinks in his armor. That's exactly what the Brown apologists want you to think. "Oh, that poor saintly Mike Brown. He's not the one out there missing those blocks and tackles. He didn't throw those interceptions or shank those field goals. He didn't blow that pass coverage or make those fumbles..."

Oh, barf! It all comes down to MB, but it's a cumulative thing. The talent could be better, but so could the player development, and the player services, and the staffing, and the equipment, and the facilities, and... Well, you get the idea.


-psychostats

murf is right about one thing: failing to re-sign steinbach was an epic f..up.

otherwise, make no mistake that mike brown has totally shipwrecked this organization. here's why: BAD DRAFTING & NEVER A PLAN.

example: no pass rush for what, the 18th straight season. if the bungles had put even a moderate amount of pressure on lame derek anderson yesterday, they probably win. who's just sick of it? frostee rucker, j. fanene, over-paid r. geathers, l. odom, just-in-time smith, et al. poor drafting - no pass rush..sad linebacking.

the teams that win, year after year, do one or both of these: run the ball effectively or put pressure on the opposing QB.

when an organization fails to draft decently, develop players or choice wisely with free agents, a head coach eventually dangles. to marvin's credit, he's held this train-wreck together..until now.

the residue of this pathetic organization (again, mike's fault) will be the crumbling of marvin's influence. three weeks from now, the bungles will be 0-7 or with a miracle, 1-6. and then or before....marvin will lose the ship. chad will of course act out, no one will be able to run the ball consistently, a crushing injury is probable (counting carson), the defense will shut down and blow outs will ensue, levi will get benched (for being the below average NFL OT that he truly is), special teams screw ups will occur, the defense will really get bad and let up 35+ point games and then luckily win a couple of meaningless games to end the year at 4-12 and 5-11...

if you already own COA's & tickets, don't beat yourselves up....stop buying concessions at PBS. this is how you hurt mike brown, the NFL owner who takes your money and repays your loyalty by serving you chopped steak when you ordered the filet.

GO TO TINA'S, bring a flask or take a pill (we understand, a buzz helps). just stop buying those $7 beers, nasty pig-bowel dogs and burned donato's pizza appetizer rip offs that the brown family lives off (and laughs about).

TAKE CONTROL AND APPLY THE HURT. VENGEANCE!