Cincinnati Bengals coach Marvin Lewis urge QB Andy Dalton, LB Rey Maualuga improve – NFL News
Cincinnati Bengals’ unhappy coach Marvin Lewis has broken own rule of handling the team’s affairs quietly and internally, throwing an outburst at the second-year quarterback Andy Dalton and third-year middle linebacker Rey Maualuga to come out of persistent
gloom to help their troubled side to claim consistent victories in the remaining part of the season and catch up on their American Football Conference (AFC) North division rivals, the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers.
Dalton, who led the team quite well during his first pro year, has been struggling to find the prime form once again. His colleague Maualuga’s performance is not measurable at all. This has warranted the head coach to break away from silent attitude and
ask the duo to perform better in the rest of the season if they want to see their team progressing consistently well.
Lewis said:
"We're looking for our quarterback and our middle linebacker to take hold of our football team, and I think that's important for us. I think both guys are such good people that you've got to be a little bit of a (jerk). You do.”
He added:
"Andy has a great deal of confidence, self-confidence, internal confidence, confidence in the guys around him. But at some point you step out of your skin and you go. And it's time to go."
In spite of the coach’s insistence for improvement in the performance, the Bengals’ record this year is not a surprise at all. They hardly progress into the phase beyond the regular season each year.
They have a very few playoff appearances to their credit. This includes last season when they were lucky to have won a wild card berth into the playoffs but nosedived in the first game versus a team who had just made the second round in their franchise history.
Yet Lewis’ concerns are obvious, given the team is used to do rather well in the initial half of each past season. They were off to one of their worst starts this year when their divisional rivals the Baltimore Ravens thrashed them in a one-sided game.
They maintain a 3-4 record so far, but unfortunately are on the three-game losing streak, which has frustrated the coach to demand the offence line to do better.
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