The Cincinnati Bengals will host the Las Vegas Raiders this week, marking the return of former head coach Marvin Lewis, who is now an assistant in Vegas.

So we decided this was a good time to compare Lewis’ early Bengals tenure with that of current head coach Zac Taylor.

Let’s see, okay?

Marvin Lewis was hired as head coach of the Bengals in 2003. We’re not going to look at his entire tenure, just the first five and a half years, where we are now with Zac Taylor.

Here’s a graph of Lewis’ wins over his first 5.5 seasons:

And Taylor’s wins:

On both counts, as you would expect when a new head coach is hired, the team underwent a complete rebuild. In the early years of the Lewis era, the team separated from the lowly 1990s, and in the early years of the Taylor era, they were rebuilding after the Dalton-led teams fell apart.

Lewis got Carson Palmer the No. 1 overall pick, and Taylor got Joe Burrow, again the No. 1 overall pick.

Both coached the soon-to-be-replaced quarterback in their first year with the franchise. Lewis started with Jon Kitna, and Taylor had Dalton and numerous backups. Both have dealt with injury issues at their quarterback, though Burrow’s injuries have been more frequent and severe, and both had rosters loaded with wide receiver talent.

Lewis was a defensive coach, while Taylor had an attacking mindset. But despite Lewis’ defensive acumen, both administrations faced some of the most potent offense in franchise history.

Let’s look at a few different metrics to see how the first 5.5 years of the Lewis era compare to what we’ve seen so far in the Taylor era.

Offence

Similar, right? Each team’s first year was led by the former quarterback (Kitna/Dalton), and the rest of the time the No. 1 overall pick was under center (kind of).

It’s difficult to compare offenses from two completely different eras of NFL football, but the teams are built similarly in terms of rosters. The high-flying 2005 offense had Chad Johnson, TJ Houshmandzadeh and Chris Henry.

The 2021 Bengals had Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd. The main difference between the two offenses is that Palmer and Burrow are very different. Palmer was motionless, but he had a cannon for an arm. Burrow is a much more cerebral quarterback and much more mobile than Palmer. He doesn’t have the arm strength, but he’s more accurate.

Under Bob Bratkowski, the Bengals ran a downfield passing attack, featuring Palmer and his concrete feet under center with plenty of deep routes, play-action and multi-receiver sets. Burrow’s offense is more like the spread concept. He’s usually in shotgun, as the offense relies on rhythm and allows routes at multiple depths to keep the quarterback’s options open.

We also shouldn’t forget that Burrow was unavailable for much of his first few years in the NFL, missing large chunks of his rookie season and the final third of 2024.

Average points difference for Lewis: 18.7
Average point differential for Taylor: 19.6

Edge: Zac Taylor

Defense

Again, the offenses are different now. Modern rules protect quarterbacks and wide receivers more than ever before, and while the Palmer era wasn’t the lawless ’70s or ’80s, it was much rougher.

However, it’s no surprise that Lewis would have a better defense overall, considering he cut his teeth as a defensive coordinator. It seems like Taylor has always been much more focused on offense and left the defense to Lou Anarumo. It also shouldn’t be shocking at all that the Bengals’ most successful years in the Taylor era coincide with their best years on defense.

Edge: Marvin Lewis

Culture

Lewis entered one of the most toxic cultures in the NFL. The Bengals, freed from an entire decade of shame, signed Lewis, and with him came an unprecedented (at the time) era of success. No, they didn’t win any playoff games in his 16-year tenure, but he did go to the playoffs in seven seasons.

The Bengals also gained a reputation, especially in the early Lewis years, for having players on the team who frequently had run-ins with law enforcement off the field or played recklessly on the field. Taylor’s teams seemed to avoid that, drafting guys they don’t think will cause problems in the locker room.

Taylor was fortunate enough to begin building on the foundation that Lewis had poured in Cincinnati. There have been many changes. There has been more spending in free agency than in years past (although the salary cap has increased), and fans have been given a ring of honor and more involvement than in the Lewis era.

However, this is difficult to assess objectively, as the point of view comes from outside.

Edge: Zac Taylor

Development

Taylor doesn’t have the sample size that Lewis has over the latter’s entire career, so we’ll simply look again from 2003 through the first eight games of the 2008 season. During that period, one player drafted by Lewis’ staff, chosen for the Pro Bowl. That was Palmer.

However, there were other guys like Andrew Whitworth, Eric Steinbach, Johnathan Joseph and Leon Hall who played at a high level during the period 2003-2008. Whitworth became a Hall of Fame level left tackle as his career progressed.

During Taylor’s time in Cincinnati, Burrow and Chase were the only two players called up to the Pro Bowl by the team’s current coach, although guys like Logan Wilson, Germaine Pratt and Tee Higgins have played at a high level.

Of course, Lewis has had many more in his sixteen seasons, and I’m sure Taylor will have many more. But for the first 5.5 years of Lewis’ tenure, he’s pretty much on par with Taylor.

Edge: Even

Great game record

We all know where this one is going. Lewis’ Bengals were notorious for choking in big games. They did it in games that could have sent them to the playoffs, and they did it every time they got into the playoffs. Lewis was 0-7 in the playoffs before Mike Brown pulled the plug. But it’s worse than that. Lewis was 3-6 in primetime games in the first 5.5 years of his time with the Bengals, including their home playoff loss in 2005.

Taylor’s Bengals, on the other hand, have fared much better under the lights or on a national stage. Including all playoff games, Taylor’s Bengals are 12-7 in prime time. The only anomaly here was the 2022 game against the Bills that was canceled due to Damar Hamlin’s freak injury.

Edge: Zac Taylor

Division record

Winning in the NFL isn’t easy, and winning in the AFC North is even harder. Long considered one of the toughest divisions in the league, AFC North features legendary franchises and some of the best players to ever grace the field.

Lewis went 17-17 through his first five and a half seasons with the Bengals, including their 2005 playoff loss to the Steelers. Taylor has struggled when playing against divisional opponents. He is 11-21, including a win over the Ravens in the playoffs. One is bad, and the other is .500, which doesn’t get you anywhere either.

But since the Steelers had a young Ben Roethlisberger in the early 2000s and the Ravens put together one of the greatest defenses ever, this one goes to Taylor’s predecessor.

Edge: Marvin Lewis

Conclusion

It is difficult to compare the two teams. Lewis’ Bengals faced Steelers and Ravens teams full of Hall of Fame players on both sides of the ball. He still had more success than failure, and of course, he went on to a period of unprecedented success for this franchise after the 2010 season, although it didn’t translate into postseason wins.

Taylor’s tenure has produced fewer overall wins, but much more playoff success. Injuries to Burrow in recent years have often seen him working with less than a full deck, but he’s still had more ups than downs.

This season is really the first year that Bengals fans are watching Taylor’s Bengals and demanding answers. Burrow’s freshman year was ended by a brutal injury. The team went to the Super Bowl and then the AFC Championship games over the next two seasons, and then Burrow was hampered by a lower leg injury during the first few games of last season before being lost for the season with another injury, this time on his throwing wrist.

In 2024, they have no such excuse for their slow start. They didn’t do the things they were supposed to do in the offseason, the defense played very poorly against good offenses, and when the defense did show up, the offense was lost.

Bengals fans demanded Lewis’ firing long before he and the team parted ways after the 2019 season, and fans are once again calling for ownership to fire the head coach. Considering Taylor’s postseason success, it’s unlikely they’ll bail on him now, especially since they gave Lewis 16 years.

It is difficult to compare the two teams. The opposition was different, the rules were different and the key players, the quarterbacks, on both teams were drastically different. But given Taylor’s success when it matters most, especially his record in the playoffs and the number of injuries his star quarterback has dealt with, I’d say Taylor has the edge.

There’s more than one way to skin a cat, though, and there are plenty more metrics I haven’t even thought of comparing the two.

In this week’s Bengals Reacts Survey, we asked fans if they thought Lewis or Taylor was the better coach. 65% of voting fans gave Lewis the lead.

Who do you think was better as head coach of the Bengals during the first 5.5 years? Let us know in the comments section!