The Cincinnati Bengals: Rome is burning and it has been since 1991

The Cincinnati Bengals, for the third straight game, gave up over 500 yards in total offense, which makes this Bengals defense the only defense in the NFL to accomplish this.

They have managed to turn a potential division-winning season into yet another disappointment. Who is to blame?

Mike Brown

The Bengals last playoff win came at the end of the 1990 season, which, by my count, is 27 years! The only constant during that period of time has been the owner Mike Brown.

Brown has been an owner who, through the years, has shown that he doesn’t care about the fans nor his players. Can you name another team that wouldn’t have retired Anthony Munoz’s number?

Brown drafted quarterback David Klingler when most in the organization thought it was a stupid move. It turned out that it was an awful pick. He then turned down the entire Saints’ draft class in 1999 because he wanted Akili Smith. Most in the organization was against it and once again Brown was wrong.

He held onto Dave Shula as head coach for way too long then he followed that mistake up by hiring Bruce Coslet and later, Dick LeBeau.

In 1997, Boomer Esiason actually gave Bengals fans something to cheer about when he came in a little over halfway through the season and played well. At the end of the year, Esiason wanted to continue playing but Brown thought that Esiason should retire to pursue a broadcasting career!

Then he made the move to select Marvin Lewis as the Head Coach of the Bengals because his kids thought that he would be the best man for the job. Brown actually went with the kids instead of taking the man he wanted which was Tom Coughlin. Coughlin then went to the Giants and won two Super Bowls! Lewis was hired in 2003 and the Bengals did improve, but as always, there was a catch. The catch was they could never win a playoff game. Since then, they have never played like a disciplined team, which points to a coaching problem.

Mike Brown has put up and encouraged drafting problem players. He has put up with guys like Chad Johnson making asses out of themselves and the organization. Most importantly, the he has put up with not winning a playoff game since he took over.

Marvin Lewis

Lewis came here with a nice pedigree but he has failed to change the culture of this team. He coaches not to lose games instead of coaching to win games. He challenges plays that should never be challenged, he foolishly blows through timeouts, and then today, he leaves Joe Mixon in the game to run the ball down 51-14!

Lewis looks bored and disinterested on the sideline. He just looks flat out lost! The time for a coaching change was probably almost a decade ago, but Mike Brown loves a ‘yes-man’ and that is what Lewis is. This situation is similar to the one in Dallas with Jerry Jones and Jason Garrett. The problem is, when Lewis finally is gone, Mike Brown and his kids will choose the next coach, so chances are, nothing will change then either.

Cincinnati Bengals fans

I am sorry, but a real Bengals fan is negative because unless you are under 12 years old, you have become fed up with this entire act! I have been a Bengals fan since birth in 1968 and I watch games just waiting for something bad to happen because I know it will!

For the fans that run around screaming “Who-Dey!”, please SHUT UP! You are just making us all look stupid!

I know a lot of you go just to get drunk at a tailgate party, maybe scream obscenities at other teams fans and maybe get into a couple fights, but please stop it! Stop going to games and supporting this owner! If you live in Hamilton County, Ohio, you are already paying for the Stadium, so why give Brown more of your hard-earned money?

For all the fans out there that say “you aren’t a real fan when you complain”, I say if you are okay with what you see and continue to spend your money on the crap-show we see every week, maybe you are not a real fan!

Wait!, if we beat Baltimore next week we can still make the playoffs!

Yeah, so? Can they win a playoff game? No. Will they have a chance to win the Super Bowl? ARE YOU KIDDING? Please stop holding out hope in a situation that has been hopeless for years!

I am still a Bengals fan and I still watch every game, which yes, is an indictment on my stupidity, but in my defense, I watch emotionless and am just waiting to see what extraordinary circumstances are going to cost the team the game. I have not spent a dime on this team since 2013 and I will never again.

Andy Dalton is not the problem

The problem is Mike Brown and a coaching staff that would not be fit to coach at a decent high school. Putting Jeff Driskel in will not make the offensive line look good. They will still be a bunch of guys who can’t get out of their own way.

Benching Dalton will not all of the sudden make Vontaze Burfict get in shape. He will still be a big fat baby that, three years ago, was a great player, but as long as he is here, he will never be again. Like Pickens, Dillon, Palmer, and all the great players before him, he has been “Bengalized”!

All hope is gone for this franchise and it’s a shame because when Paul Brown owned it, they were competitive and even made two Super Bowl appearances. I went to every game in 1988 and I saw no fights at the stadium.

“The Jungle” was loud and the fans and the players loved each other. Before games, a National Anthem singer was not needed because at The Jungle, 60,000 fans sang the Anthem.

Cincinnati was once a special place to watch a football game and it has turned into an embarrassment! Rome is burning and there is nothing that can be done about it!