Cincinnati Bengals: The mystery that is Andy Dalton
The Cincinnati Bengals have Andy Dalton as their quarterback. For even the casual NFL fan, your knowledge of the Bengals and Dalton is simple, the team is just not good enough to ever be a dominant threat in the league, especially with Dalton at QB. When it comes to Dalton though, why is he such a hot and cold player? The man is a virtual mystery and Bengals fans are getting tired of his inconsistency.
Dalton finished off his 2014 campaign with 18 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. When Green Bay Packers quarterback, Aaron Rodgers withdrew from the Pro Bowl, how in the world did anyone think that Dalton earned the right to replace him, let a lone even attend the game? Dalton is not a Pro Bowl quarterback and will never be one.
Those that think Dalton could actually be something great need to take a step back and see that no matter how you cut the cake, Dalton will never be a dominant quarterback in the NFL. Cincinnati have suffered greatly because of his inconsistency over his career.
Since coming into the league back in 2012, Dalton has already thrown 66 interceptions. He does have 99 touchdowns and 14,700 passing yards, but, his high interception numbers are a big strike against him. When you look around the NFL, the élite quarterbacks average between five and eight interceptions a year, sometimes even fewer. Take Rodgers such as, he only threw five interceptions last season and look how great Green Bay did because of that.
Dalton has proven that he cannot win in the playoffs either. He holds a 0-3 record and his touchdown to interception ratio is equal to a middle school pickup game against the Seattle Seahawks defense. Dalton has just one touchdown and six interceptions to his name in the post season. With numbers like that, any coach would gladly choose almost any quarterback over Dalton in the playoffs, maybe even Mark Sánchez.
Once a quarterback gets past his fourth or fifth season in the NFL, the future of that player is relatively easy to predict. Dalton holds a 39-23-1 record as a starter and as before mentioned, an 0-3 record in the playoffs. Ask any coach in the NFL, even Marvin Lewis, and see if any of them truly wanted Dalton as their starting quarterback, at least half, if not more, would argue against having him on their team.
Looking ahead to this coming season, Dalton faces an even bigger challenge, can Cincinnati even make the playoffs? The AFC North saw three of its teams make the playoffs in 2014, had the Bengals not tied with the Carolina Panthers during the season, the Bengals could have missed the playoffs all-together.
The Bengals lost in the Wild Card round to the Indianapolis Colts by a score of 26-10. Not many critics gave the
Bengals a chance in the first round and rightfully so, the team did not play well at all and Andrew Luck made sure to make them pay for their issues. Dalton went 18 of 35 for only 155 yards and no touchdowns or interceptions. In the playoffs especially, if your quarterback does not show up, there is next to no chance that your team can progress.
Dalton at the end of the day has a lot of soul-searching to do this offseason and must find a reason to set himself a part from the rest of the field. Do not expect much from Dalton this season however or from Cincinnati.