Doc: Bengals' stability should inspire half-full thinking

The Bengals re-upped Marvin Lewis Wednesday, adding a year to a deal that was to expire at the end of the upcoming season. Are you shaking your head in disdain, or nodding it in approval?

You can look at it two ways, and two ways only: Either you see the latest extension as a fine example of what ails the comfortable and complacent situation within the offices at 1 Paul Brown Stadium, a state of secure inertia that has yielded utter postseason failure.

Or you see the benefits that continuity and stability have produced.

Not that it matters. Mike Brown is Mike Brown. He is the NFL's tortoise, a tag he accepts. "I'm old enough to be a tortoise," Brown said Wednesday afternoon.

Half-full types might suggest that – given the Bengals regular-season record (40-23-1 in the AFC North since 2011 best in a very good division) – times are good. Given that success, and the man who determined it, you'd think that maybe wingtips and seersucker will return as fashion statements along with sensible, American-made, mid-sized sedans of the sort Brown prefers to drive.

Half-empties will say "So what? The only numbers that matter are zero and six, Lewis' playoff record."

I used to be half-empty.

To those of us with memories that pre-date the Marv Era, the contract extension is, as Lewis would put it, a good thing. Unless, you consider a grocery bag to be the height of headwear fashion. If you're good, as the Bengals have been lately, there is much to be said for stability and continuity.

Consider the franchises that lack it. The Washington Redskins, say. They move and shake. They make offseason noise, often. They stink.

Owner Daniel Snyder has thrown tall cash piles at empty free agents and fired coaches like they were suits purchased off the rack at Stein Mart. Snyder craves attention and acceptance. He is who Paul Brown would call "a plunger": a rich guy who comes into the league with more ambition than brains.

You want the Bengals to be the Redskins?

Hail, no.

Stability upstairs has allowed the Bengals to draft well. Everyone upstairs knows the drill. From assistants to scouts to The BrownTrust, everyone knows what is expected, philosophically and personnel-wise. It might not be a Super Bowl machine, but it is well oiled.

For several years, the Bengals have entered the draft not needing to reach. Reaching is bad. It leads to mistakes. The Men haven't made many mistakes lately.

The Bengals have no philosophical canyon between coaches and ownership. As Brown put it, "Marvin and I function well together. It's something we've learned over the years. We've built a confidence" in one another.

The lack of dysfunction has helped the Bengals win. Not as much as is expected now, obviously, but five winning seasons in the last six, a division title and four consecutive playoff appearances.

I'm not accepting mediocrity. I'm not the new houseman/sellout. The Enquirer still pays me.

With a very good quarterback, the Bengals could have done better. Even without a very good QB, they should have done better. Losing at home to San Diego two years ago was unacceptable. But since '11, they've won more regular-season games than anyone in the AFC, save New England and Denver. Every team wants to be New England.

I get frustrated with Mom And Pop, too, even if that is a slightly outdated perception. I get jammed with Brown's obstinance. I believe the Brown family crest is the head of a pig.

But, you know, players want to play here now. Good players. That's because they see the wins and the stability, and because they're aware of the loyalty ownership shows them.

Ain't that right, Devon Still?

No one on the current roster, save Domata Peko and Andrew Whitworth, remembers the charity and kindness Brown showed, after Chris Henry died. But word gets around. Ask Michael Johnson.

When Brown says, "The team is performing well," as he did Wednesday, some of you want to lie down in a cool place. But the truth is, the team has performed well. Let me take you back to 1995 if you don't believe it. Or even to 2010.

The team has performed well to such an extent that other owners, former big ego-spenders, are reconsidering their need to constantly mess with things. That includes Snyder, who hasn't canned a coach in at least 10 minutes. Jerry Jones – is there a bigger Big Swinger than Jerry Jones? – has hung with Jason Garrett for six years and three consecutive 8-8 seasons, until last year's 12-4.

"Continuity tends to produce stability," Brown said. "Not always. But it's a helpful factor."

I asked Brown what he'd say to those who are unhappy with how he runs things. He offered the sort of answer that was typically, steadfastly – and to some, infuriatingly – him.

"It's an argument. I understand it. I don't accept it (or) operate in accordance with it. I'm not saying (a different approach) wouldn't work. It very well could. But not here."

There you have it. Complain all you like. You might as well bang your head off a goalpost. Mike's not going anywhere. Neither, for now, is Marvin. In a league dead-set on producing the more perfect 8-8, is 10-6 so bad?