Bengals Continue to Struggle Against Adversity

The Bengals proved against the Colts that they aren’t ready to be amongst the NFL’s elite. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

Being amongst the NFL’s elite means being able to win games within any circumstance.  It means being able to find your way through adversity and respond with a winning attitude.  It means being able to “hang with the big boys.”  The Bengals have shown time and time again that they haven’t found the necessary mettle to win when it matters and this past Sunday was just the latest indictment against this talented team.

The Bengals have inexplicably been a different team since their bye in Week Four.  They’ve been so bad that people have begun to question the three wins they earned prior to their bye.  While there’s no doubt the Bengals’ wins over the Falcons and Titans are hardly the kind of wins you measure top teams by, the Bengals did what they were supposed to do when beating both teams handedly.  When it comes to their opening season win, despite nearly squandering a 15-0 lead, the Bengals still won a divisional game on the road against what is now a 5-2 Ravens team who owns the league’s best point differential mark at +89.

Yet this all feels like an eternity ago as the Bengals have experienced this inexplicable deterioration.  Losing to the Patriots and Colts on the road is nothing to be ashamed of.  But when watching these games, it almost seems impossible to really get a read on this team as they’ve looked altogether absent.  This is also where thoughts of blaming their deterioration on injuries is a clear fallacy.

Injuries will always impact a team, that’s undeniable.  But the manner in which these games were lost went beyond any injuries this team has.  The Bengals looked disengaged, which is why it seems so difficult to get a read on them.  They weren’t simply bested while they put forth their best effort.  Rather the Bengals appeared to not even to be in the game.  It’s this seeming reality that demonstrates the Bengals’ issues go beyond any number of injuries.  The Bengals are clearly inept when faced with a challenge.  They lack the fortitude I wrote about just a couple of weeks ago and that will be the their downfall if they aren’t able to find it within themselves soon.

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The responsibility falls everywhere within the organization.  It falls with the players as none possess the leadership this team needs while they lack the willingness to step up and own this team.  It falls with the coaching staff as Marvin Lewis and company have failed to teach their players what it means to lead while displaying the quality themselves.  And it falls with the ownership for not demanding more from the leadership they’ve put in place and the players they’ve chosen to take on.  There have been many different types of leaders within sports from all parts of organizations.  From the likes of owners such as the Rooney Family and Robert Craft, from coaches such as Vince Lombardi and Bill Belichick, and from players like Ray Lewis and Joe Montana, the NFL has seen great leaders of all different types and pay grades.  The Bengals need to find and develop their own.

It’s shocking the Bengals have struggled so much with this concept when you consider certain facts about this organization’s makeup.  Mike Brown is the son of Paul Brown who was not only a leader in the NFL, but an icon in its history.  This while Marvin Lewis coordinated one of the best defenses of all time while helping develop one of the league’s greatest leaders in Ray Lewis.  Yet the Bengals continue to struggle to find their leadership and hence fortitude.

There is no easy solution to this problem.  There is no proverbial “magic wand.”  Rather, someone in this organization needs to step up and own this team.  Doing so means that leader will need to motivate others to raise their level of play and inspire his teammates to fight through the inevitable adversity that will come.  Someone in this organization needs to find this courage within himself and challenge himself to be great.  Until then, the Bengals will continue to struggle when it matters most.