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Five most overrated NFL head coaches entering 2017

NFL head coaches Marvin Lewis Cincinnati Bengals

Marvin Lewis, Cincinnati Bengals

Unlike the rest of the coaches on this list, there’s not anything Lewis is cripplingly bad at that hurts the Bengals. He isn’t the best coach in the world, but he’s not a major obstacle to winning. He simply fails to get anything extra out of a football team.

Lewis has coached the Bengals since 2003, a span over which they have failed to win a playoff game, and not for lack of talent. Between 2003 and 2008, he had Chad Johnson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh at their peaks, Rudi Johnson and Cedric Benson at running back, both of whom rushed for over 1,000 yards three times in Bengal uniforms, and Carson Palmer at quarterback. Yet, despite finishing 11th or better in offensive efficiency each year from 2003 to 2007, the Bengals played in just one playoff game and lost it (Palmer went down with an injury on his first pass of the game).

Why did the Bengals fail over these seasons when Palmer was healthy (save their lone playoff game) and the offense was dynamic? Their defense was regularly among the worst in football. Lewis, of course, is a defensive coach, having held coordinator jobs in Washington and Baltimore before being hired in Cincy. Throughout Lewis’ 14-year tenure, the Bengals’ defense has held a higher DVOA — Football Outsiders’ measure of efficiency — than its offense just six times.

It’s tough to blame Lewis for the playoff losses. The Bengals have had incredibly bad luck in those games: Palmer got hurt in 2005, top receivers A.J. Green and Marvin Jones missed the 2015 Wild Card matchup against the Colts, Jeremy Hill fumbled and Vontaze Burfict went nuts against the Steelers in 2016, a game the Bengals were lucky to be competitive in since Andy Dalton was hurt.

But it does say something that the Bengals consistently lean on the unit he isn’t coaching, how multiple offensive coordinators: Hue Jackson and Jay Gruden have taken head coaching jobs elsewhere while Lewis has languished in perpetuity, thanks mostly to an ownership group that seems content with the status quo and coddling red-flag players. Hiring good coordinators is a skill and no doubt a skill Lewis possesses.

However, it’s not a good thing when the coordinators seem to be carrying more of the brunt of success than the coach himself.

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