Losing in Cincinnati: It's the Bengal Way

The Cincinnati Bengals are a proud organization.

Never mind only one playoff appearance in the last 17 seasons, the lack of Super Bowl trophies, and the history of recurring mediocrity. Paul Brown Stadium has sold out 36 straight times.  That should be good enough, right?

Of course it is, according to team owner Mike Brown.

As long as the cash hits the bank, what else matters? Winning?  Who cares about winning? Since when is that important?

Forget about Marvin Lewis' inability to prepare his football team; his time management blunders; his conservative play-calling; his horrific bend-but-don't-break defense, and his lack of control over the team.

Paul Brown Stadium has sold out 36 straight games, remember?

The problems begin at the top, and, believe it or not, they end at the top, too. Well, actually, the problems are never ending, but I digress.

Mike Brown is the cheapest owner of any big-time organization.  Period.  If one did not know differently, he would think Brown is still living in the pre-free agency NFL.

Maybe he is.

One must admit—Brown has spent some money. Unfortunately, he has spent it in all the wrong places.

The Bengals' owner dumped an excessive amount of money into defensive ends Justin Smith and Robert Geathers, who combined for a whopping 5.5 sacks. Not bad for a fourth overall draft pick and the man labeled "Adalius Thomas" by his coaches. They certainly deserved the combined $23 million the two banked this past season.

Much more money went into the starting offensive tackles, Willie Anderson and Levi Jones.  The Bengals dished out a four-year contract for the aging Anderson, which may have to be terminated this off-season.  As for Jones, the left tackle was benched this season by Head Coach Marvin Lewis, even though he was ready to play after injury.

Once again, the Bengals put their money to good use.

The problems will not be fixed for a long time. Most fans will be lucky to see the team make the playoffs again during their lifetimes.

Bengals Nation just has to read the writing on the wall.

Bengals fans, in their desperation for today's Bengals to be better than their Nineties' counterparts, have come to accept a mediocre organization that throws a sad excuse of a football team on the field each Sunday.

There have been no halftime walkouts like in Detroit.  The starting quarterback has never stopped speaking to the general manager, ala Brett Favre.

Oh, wait. It would be impossible for quarterback Carson Palmer to not speak to the Bengals' general manager because the organization does not have one.

Mike Brown will tell you they do not need one. Lewis can prepare the team, make all the personnel moves and do all the scouting.

Unfortunately, Lewis cannot coach, let alone pull triple-duty. Having no general manager is rough enough, but the Bengals' woes grow deeper.

The Bengals have the smallest scouting department of any NFL organization with six. Yes, six. Not sixteen, or sixty. Six. Too bad it is not five so we could hold up the number of team scouts on one hand.

"I think we're efficient. I don't apologize for that. [Other teams] can do what they do. We do what we do," says owner Mike Brown.

No one can argue that. We do what we do, and what we do sucks.

Clearly the team is reaping the benefits of "we do what we do." Marvin Lewis apparently agrees because, in every post game interview, he says, "We just got to keep doing what we're doing."

Obviously, he is right, because what we do is working. Lewis is living off of one break in the losing system—one breakdown in the system in which the team actually won three more games than they were supposed to. The playoff season in 2005 was a product of luck.

The 2005 schedule was easy. That season, the Bengals played four games against the worst division in football, the NFC North. The Baltimore Ravens were having a down year, and the Cleveland Browns were the Cleveland Browns.

Winning and Cincinnati do not belong together in the same sentence, let alone the same breath. The bottom line is:  things will never change under the Brown regime.

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