The 2018 Cincinnati Bengals season continues to serve as an interesting case study in hindsight.
That was the season Marvin Lewis lost his job after 16 years. It was also where a consistent strength under Lewis — the defense — fell off the map. Under the guidance of new coordinator Teryl Austin, the unit was on pace to allow the most average yardage of all time.
Lewis ended up parting ways with Austin after a 51-14 loss to New Orleans, marking the second-ever time the franchise fired a coordinator in the middle of a season.
But in a new interview, Lewis says it’s his fault.
Ed Bouchette of The Athletic caught up with Lewis:
“It was an uncomfortable thing for me to have to do. It just got to where it just wasn’t a good fit at that point in time. He was uncomfortable. He wasn’t happy and it was just a thing that had to be done.”
Lewis says it was “more my fault than his” after trying to have Austin come in from the outside and replace a player favorite like Paul Guenther.
No matter where they came from, some of the decisions were odd. The coaches spent the summer strangely working Carl Lawson some at linebacker. Corners like William Jackson were asked to play away from their strengths. The result was allowing the most yardage in franchise history and in hindsight, we were able to locate exactly when the players gave up on Austin thanks to some behind-the-scenes footage.
Lewis wasn’t going to give this interview on the topic any other way. Regardless, the perspective is interesting. He’s now at a comfortable spot with Arizona State and Austin is in Pittsburgh and the Bengals have moved on, too.
