Storyline of the Week

The Cincinnati Bengals begin their offseason workout program.

Bengals owner Mike Brown can be called a lot of things.

Impetuous isn't one of them.

If he were, Marvin Lewis would have been fired long, long ago. Only two head coaches in the free-agency era — and few in NFL history — have kept the same job for so long without winning a playoff game.

Mike Holmgren needed seven years for his first postseason victory in Seattle. Jim Mora lasted 10½ seasons in New Orleans before resigning without a playoff win.

But both coaches had led their teams to multiple postseason berths. That's far more than what Lewis has accomplished.

Cincinnati has reached the playoffs just once since Lewis became head coach in 2003. Since that first-round loss to Pittsburgh in 2005, the Bengals have gotten progressively worse. A 4-11-1 finish in 2008 dropped Lewis' overall record to 46-50-1.

Twenty-six teams have switched head coaches since Lewis was hired, 12 of them on multiple occasions. If so many Bengals games weren't already airing on CBS, the network should try casting Lewis in the next season of Survivor.

Credit (or blame) for Lewis' longevity belongs directly to Brown. The public perception is that Lewis remains largely because the tight-fisted Brown doesn't want to pay off a contract that runs through the 2010 season. While there may be validity to such sentiment, Brown has other reasons to keep Lewis.

Start with the family tree. Brown is the son of NFL icon Paul Brown. The spot Mike Brown has in his heart for head coaches became even softer when his late father was fired by then-Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell after the 1962 season.

Brown has given such previous Bengals failures as David Shula (19-52 record) and Bruce Coslet (21-39) ample time to resurrect his franchise. In fact, Paul Brown Stadium — the place where Lewis works every day — is named after someone who didn't win a playoff game during his seven seasons as Bengals coach. Mike Brown has faith in Lewis just like Dallas did in Tom Landry, who didn't notch a playoff victory until his ninth season.

As team owner and general manager, Brown also is insistent upon having final say on all major football decisions despite almost two decades of on-field futility. Brown, who turns 72 this year, doesn't seem particularly interested in trying to bond with a new coach who would have to adapt to his hands-on management style.

Asked about his Bengals tenure last week at the NFL owners meeting in Dana Point, Calif., Lewis said he has "gratitude" for Brown's unwavering support.

"When I signed the last contract extension after the '05 season, the thing Mike said was, 'I have more patience than you do. There's going to be some tough times ahead that people don't realize,' " Lewis said.

"Unfortunately, he's been right. I think his thing for me was to be patient and know there may be some pitfalls along the way that I didn't foresee coming."

The road was especially rocky in 2008. Wide receiver Chad "Ocho Cinco" Johnson set the stage early in the offseason, embarrassing himself and the franchise with his shameless lobbying to get traded. Johnson was then hurt during the preseason and enjoyed his least productive campaign since 2002.