Esiason offers thoughts on Lewis, Dalton
Ex-Bengals QB: ‘This has always been a unique place.’ The Associated Press contributed
Former Cincinnati CINCINNATI — Bengals quarterback Boomer Esiason said the team needs an infusion of energy, seemingly hinting it might be time for a coaching change.
However, when asked specifically if he thought this should be Marvin Lewis’ last year, Esiason backed off his previous statement.
Esiason, who led Cincinnati to the Super Bowl in 1989, was one of 20 “Bengals Legends” honored at halftime of Monday night’s game against the Steelers, as part of the team’s 50th season celebrations at Paul Brown Stadium.
“Only Marvin knows if it should be it for him,” Esiason said. “Right? He’s a lameduck coach right now. I’ve never really seen anything like this. Most coaches don’t go into their final year without a contract, but this has always been a unique place, to say the least.
“Only Marvin knows what he wants to do in his heart. If he decides to retire, he’s had a great run here. Maybe one of the best runs ever. He’s certainly been a very solid face of this franchise for many years and he’s never done anything to embarrass this franchise, that’s for sure.”
The three-time Pro Bowler said the Bengals have plenty of talented players and said they have drafted well in recent years, noting “whatever they decide to do coaching wise ... there’s a real opportunity here to be a real competitive team.”
He went on to describe how strong a quarterback Andy Dalton is but said he needs a “Sean McVay type” coach in his life, speaking of the Rams coach guiding Jared Goff to an impressive season.
“Sometimes you’re in a situation that just kind of gets stale,” Esiason said. “If that’s happening here, (Dalton) would know that. You’d love to see a new-found energy around this team because that’s what it’s going to end up taking. Maybe (Monday is) the start of that, who knows? If they win, they come back to work together, they come back to work tomorrow and it’s a whole different mindset. If they lose, unfortunately, and they struggle on offense, they’re going to be back in that hole that they’ve been in for predominantly a big part of this year.”
Esiason said the offense’s struggles have a lot to do with the changes on the offensive line, which lost Andrew Whitworth to the Rams and Kevin Zeitler to the Browns in free agency.
The Bengals were successful during Esiason’s time in large part because of the offensive line anchored by Anthony Munoz, which also helped Esiason’s confidence. Esiason played for the Bengals from 1984-92 and in 1997, going 62-61 over 10 seasons, and he was named league MVP in 1988, despite losing Super Bowl XXIII to the 49ers.
“I also think there has to be an attitude about wanting to win and believing you can win,” Esiason said. “When you lose to good teams and you are struggling on offense, your confidence ends up going.”
Dalton deserves some of the blame for the offense’s struggles, too, Esiason said.
“We deserve our share of criticism when it comes, when it’s realistic,” he said. “I think sometimes fans tend to be unrealistic and aren’t understanding what the quarterbacks are dealing with in terms of his environment. He can also make his environment better . ...
“I’ll just say, I think Andy gets down on himself, that’s just me watching from afar. I just want to shake him and say, ‘You’re better than this. You’re a good player. You should be the leader of this team. This should be your team, there should be no questions about that. You have to assume that mantle.’ ”