By: Stephen Patterson
The Cincinnati Bengals and Marvin Lewis needed to part ways and move on. The Bengals clearly haven't lived up to their expectations in his eight seasons as head coach, and he clearly needed a change of scenery to start over with a new team.
The only way Lewis can turn things around in Cincinnati and put the franchise back on the right track is if the team is willing to commit to a nearly complete overhaul of the roster, especially on the offensive side of the ball.
Lewis is clearly a solid head coach, as he has lead the Bengals through some very tough times and taken them to levels the team had never really reached before. However, some of the key players on the team have proven they can't take the Bengals any further than they have made it in the previous eight seasons.
Carson Palmer and Marvin Lewis looked as though they needed to part ways after the season in some fashion, and if Lewis is returning as the head coach, that means Palmer needs to be out the door as soon as possible.However, for some reason Lewis wants to keep Palmer around, insisting he is the team's quarterback for next season. If Cincinnati wants to win in the near future, they need to move on at the quarterback position because Palmer will never be able to lead this team much further than he already has.
He is a solid quarterback, don't get me wrong. He is capable of playing at a Pro Bowl level every season and putting up insane numbers, but for some reason, he has never developed one of the most important things a quarterback needs to be a truly successful winner—consistency.
One week Palmer will throw for 300 yards, a few touchdowns and lead Cincinnati to a breathtaking victory over a top notch team.
However, he will implode and cost the team the next game by throwing untimely interceptions based on poor decisions and bad protection, usually causing him to battle to stay healthy regularly.
He has never shown any reason he can be a player that people should be confident in to lead a team to three or four consecutive wins in the postseason.
That's not going to change at this point in his career, and if by some miracle it does, it won't happen in on the team he has spent his entire professional career playing for up until this point.
Even if he does return next season, he likely won't have either of the Bengals' two superstar receivers from this season to pass the ball to, which probably isn't going to do anything for his already shaky confidence in Cincinnati.
Terrell Owens, who rejuvenated his career this year with a solid season and showed he has at least one season left in him to play at a high level for a contending team next year, is almost certainly going to a better team next year.
Chad Ochocinco, arguably the best wide receiver the Bengals have ever had, also will likely be playing for a new team next season, as he and Lewis aren't exactly working under a tight relationship anymore.
Without those two explosive receivers, the Bengals have virtually no aerial assault heading into next season, which means they probably will struggle to match their four wins from this season barring some major unforeseen moves.
It's now the league of the quarterback and which team can move the ball through the air the best, fastest and most efficiently. The Bengals will have none of these qualities moving forward with Palmer and Lewis still paired up and without T.O and Ochocinco.
Cincinnati holds the fourth overall pick in the 2011 draft, and they have the opportunity to draft any quarterback not named Andrew Luck, which is something they really need to consider.
At least with a new quarterback, the team will be on the right path to rebuilding, not prolonging the inevitable process once they realize bringing back Palmer along with Lewis would be a mistake.
Who knows, maybe they will somehow get blessed with the Sam Bradford of this season's draft and be competing immediately in the playoff race while they revamp everything. But that won't be a possibility with the same leadership on the field and sidelines and with fewer quality weapons.
