Bengals’ “New Beginning” 2.0

Marvin Lewis’ second “New Beginning” could not have gotten off to a less auspicious start than when news leaked that franchise quarterback Carson Palmer was demanding to be traded to a West Coast / warm weather team. Otherwise, rumor had it, he would retire from football.

The loss of Palmer was probably not one of the changes that Lewis promised would make the team “better.” But, to borrow from Lewis’ own media playbook, “it was what it was.” There would be no changing Palmer’s mind. The team had to move on, but Mike Brown obstinately refused to grant Palmer’s trade demands. Even had he wanted to, the NFL lockout would have prevented it. It was a foregone conclusion that the Bengals would have to find their quarterback of the future in the 2011 NFL draft.

Shortly after news of Palmer’s refusal to play for the Bengals broke, Lewis announced that the Bengals had hired Jay Gruden to replace the unpopular Bob Bratkowski as the team’s offensive coordinator. Gruden, brother of former NFL and Super Bowl winning head coach Jon Gruden, seemed to bring a new fire to the position, as well as a West Coast Offense geared to maximize the talents of the players, rather than pressing the players to fit the system as had Bratkowski.

 Meanwhile, Lewis’ relationship with diva-receiver Chad Ochocinco had grown worse. One week after Terrell Owens reported that he had suffered a season-ending knee injury, Chad claimed to have developed season-ending bone spurs that would require off-season surgery. Lewis seemed to doubt the legitimacy of the claim, proclaiming that Chad was just “bing his mopey self.” As usual, Chad made out to be hurt by Lewis’ insinuation, and threw out his own disparaging remarks about his head coach:

"“Since when the fuck am I ever mopey? I’m injured for the 1st time in 9 years and it’s called being mopey, unless I’m dead then I get respect.”"

Things would devolve from there. Very quietly, Lewis was planning for the departure of the franchise-leading WR. Jerome Simpson and Andre Caldwell had both shown tremendous talent and success in the last two games of the season. Plus, Lewis had to have his fingers crossed that Georgia’s A.J. Green would still be available when the Bengals picked in the 1^st Round of the draft.

After losing their top two WRs (Owens and Ochochinco) and their franchise QB, no one could expect the Bengals to be competitive in 2011. No one, that is, but Lewis, his staff and his players. Lewis believes that even without Ochocinco and Palmer, the Bengals had a strong nucleus of young players hungry to win and dedicated to doing whatever it takes to win. This attitude was clearly reflected in his choice for a new offensive coordinator, and even more so, perhaps, in their selection of the player who would, ultimately, have to replace Carson Palmer.

Texas Christian’s Andy Dalton happened to be in the right place at the right time for Lewis and Gruden. His skill set and experience match Gruden’s West Coast Offense extremely well. Most importantly, however, his calm, if sometimes fiery, Texas grit provides the Bengals with a style of leadership sorely missing throughout much of Lewis’ tenure in Cincinnati. Lewis had always fretted that his players would not be able to handle success. In the end, after the 2005 season, his worries proved to be warranted. Some even speculate that he lost control of the team during halftime of the 2005 playoff game, though no details have ever been revealed about what transpired in the locker room. To regain control, Lewis would have to add players to what he perceives as the nucleus of hungry young players, players who shared their professionalism as well as their hunger. It would also mean eliminating the player most disrespectful of Lewis and least team-oriented – #85.

The emergence of Jerome Simpson and the drafting of A.J. Green underscored the writing that was already on the wall.  Chad’s days in stripes were numbered. On July 28^th, it was announced that he had been traded to the New England Patriots.

New Beginning 2.0 officially began on that date, or better, two days later when camp opened. Marvin Lewis now has the opportunity to remake the culture of this team, and he wasted no time in clamping down on any possible deviations from the script he has written. On the morning when camp began, Andre Caldwell came out wearing Ocho-esque orange shorts, and Jerome Simpson came out of the locker room late. Lewis reprimanded Simpson, and sent Caldwell back into the locker room to change into the black shorts that the rest of the team was wearing.

Lewis believes he now has the players necessary to transform the  culture of the locker room. When asked about the impact of Palmer’s and Ochocinco’s departure, tackle Andrew Whitworth stated that “We didn’t lose much of the leadership of this team, really.” On Ochocinco specifically, Whitworth remarked that “I wish at times he could have done more things to help the team rather than just things that help him.” On a similar note, running back Cedric Benson stated that “I didn’t really get to know him personally. I knew him as a player. I personally don’t miss him, no.” Moreover, the players, as well as the coaches, seem to have turned the page on the Palmer-Ocho Era. They are prepared for and anxious to begin a new, and hopefully more succssful, era. I will be commenting on the progress of their efforts throughout the next two seasons. With only a 2 year extension on his contract, Lewis only has those two years to GET IT DONE!