In what amounted to a surprise for possibly only certain sports journalists, Marvin Lewis was given a two-year contract extension as the head coach of the Bengals.
Despite talk that Lewis would be terminated or quit, he was back after apparently clearing the air with Bengals owner Mike Brown. Lewis said in a press conference that he's only here to win championships, just like Brown, and stressed that fans need to stay the course with the Bengals.
Then again, they said that last year.
And the year before.
And the year before that.
And the year before that, too.
There's no denying Lewis pulled the Bengals out of the Lost Decade, but this was an atrocious year for the Bengals both on and off the field. As columnists smarter than me (see: Fay, John) have said, the Marvin Lewis Era has been a mixed bag of potential wrapped in could-have-beens and almosts.
Lewis wants fans to stick with the Bengals. Maybe if the Bengals showed they were different in 2018, the fans would have a reason to do so.
Kevin Necessary is the editorial cartoonist for WCPO. His opinions do not reflect those of WCPO.
