Taking Responsibility

 The San Diego Chargers went 8-8 last year.  While this might be deemed a smashing success down in the front office at One Paul Brown Stadium, in San Diego they were extremely disappointed.  You see, the San Diego Chargers' goal is to "win" or even "win" the "Super Bowl."  Here is what Chargers GM A.J. Smith said recently about his own recent performance:

“I’m not very pleased with my own contributions the last two years personally,” Smith said. “I critique myself every year just like I do with everybody else. I need to do a better job. I’m not happy with some of the player personnel decisions that have been made in looking back. I need to do a better job in the decision-making process.”

How much different does that sound than anything you might hear out of Marvin "Chuckles" Lewis or MikeyBoyBrown?

Here is what Marvin had to say recently about these "new" Bengals:

"A lot has been said that they don't do this and they don't do that. Well, that's not really true. We do do, and we do it at a very, very high level," Lewis said. "We need to kind of get rid of that bad perception and (the media) will help that by not giving into the old ways before '03. Whatever they were, which I'm not privy to. It's about winning games and winning games now.

RIght.  So going 4-11-1 and making superficial moves in free agency (backup QB, franchising a kicker, replacing one WR with another) is supposed to make us believe that "it is all about winning games?"  How about taking on some responsibility? 

This is not just about Marvin.  We have said many times at WDR that Marvin is probably doing the best he has with limited resources.  But wouldn't it be refreshing to hear someone on the Bengals take responsibility for the team? 

The Chargers have gone 54-24 in the last 5 seasons, with 4 playoff births and 3 playoff wins.  To that team, that is not acceptable.  The Bengals have gone 38-41 over the same stretch.  To the Bengals, this means that it is "about winning games now."  Evidence speaks to the contrary.

(h/t to Allan Chandler, again)

Comments

[Ben]

In a different context, “we do do,” is exactly right.

[whymikeywhy]

Well said. While I don't want the the Front Office, Marvin, or other personel to pander to us--just saying a lot of things we want to hear to calm us down--it is remarkable how little accountability anyone takes for repeated failure. Again, my response to Marvin's quote: you say others are "saying" you don't do this or that, and that what they're "saying" is not true. What parts are not true? Can you go through the manifesto and specifically clear up for us what parts WDR is right on and what ones WDR is not? If want they want to bash their critics, they need to actually explain why these critics are wrong--and not hide behind silly defenses like, "well, not every successful team has a GM, therefore, we don't need one." That's a Mikey favorite. It is true that not every successful team has GM, but if the past 18 years are any indication, and they are, you DEFINITELY need one. Just calling it a "theme" is not enough.

One additional requirement: in their response defending themselves, they cannot reference injuries, another of Mikey's favorite moves. Every team has them, even the successful ones.

I would love to see a public debate between a Bengals personel member (preferably MB) and Daugherty or a WDR member. Obviously it won't happen, but that would be awesome. I'm tired of hearing MB, Lewis, and others get to make these silly arguments without anyone there to hold their feet to the fire.

[whymikeywhy]

Also thought this quote from A.J. Smith in the same article deserved mention:

"“I know players have to play,” Smith said. “When players play, they make you look good. If players don’t perform, they don’t make you look real good. The bottom line is those players are a reflection on who brought them in or decisions that were made to bring them in here." (http://www.chargers.com/news/headlines/aj-article.htm)

Smith acknowledges the whole "the players just need to play" argument used by sheep and others to remove blame from the management. But then he dismisses it. He's emphasizing here what you never hear anyone in the Bengals FO say: they are accountable for the players they bring in.

[Robinsgr]

When the biggest loser in the organization is the owner, and he, himself, is not concerned with winning but rather with making money, how can he hold anyone else accountable? We've all had at least one job in our life that was strictly a job - where we did not give it all we had. This attitude was usually the result of bad management and management not listening to our input because they thought they knew better than we did. I am sure many in the Bengals organization are in this position. MB has never taken responsibility for this team's failures and sadly, never will.