Should Cincinnati Bengals be this committed to Andy Dalton?

By Brian Spaen | Mar 26, 2015

Both Cincinnati Bengals coach Marvin Lewis and owner Mike Brown are completely backing up Andy Dalton heading into the 2015 season. There will be no competition and they are committed to him to finally bring home a championship. While Dalton has a lot of upside and there’s no reason to replace him, it wouldn’t hurt to bring in some competition.

During the NFL meetings this week, Marc Sessler of Around the NFL questioned Lewis on the potential of bringing in a different quarterback, but Lewis was quick to say that they were set on Dalton. Despite other tandems like Joe Montana and Steve Young among others in the past, he believes that doesn’t work these days.

"“We feel Andy Dalton’s our quarterback, yes we do,” Lewis said. “It’s a different era than when Steve and Joe were there. [We] just signed Andy long-term. So we committed ourselves to Andy long-term, and we feel really good about him.”"

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Brown echoed the same thoughts to the Cincinnati Enquirer. He explained that the key to Dalton’s success is having a solid group of playmakers around him.

"“You go round and about and Andy is perceived higher by some people than he seems to be all the time locally. He is the style of guy who can function best when he has a good group around him. He needs that. Maybe he needs it more than some, but they all need it.”"

The problem with the Bengals lies in reaching the playoffs four straight times and getting bounced after the first game in each appearance. How much of the blame should be put on Dalton? It’s all perceived on how you look at him.

On sheer production, Dalton has been excellent. He holds a 40-23-1 career record and the Bengals have won 10 or more games in three straight years. That’s quite an achievement in a very tough AFC North division that also holds recent Super Bowl winning champions in the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers.

However, that’s not been the same on a big stage. Dalton has a one touchdown to six interception ratio in four playoff games. There’s certainly a lot of talent around him to have such successful regular seasons, so its frustrating to see it all go away after one failed playoff game.

Quarterbacks coach Ken Zampese told Bengals.com after the latest playoff loss that there’s no more problem with Dalton’s arm. He’s continuing to improve, and winning that playoff game is the only thing left to accomplish.

"“You don’t hear anymore how he can’t throw it long or that his arm strength stinks. Every time someone puts something out there in front of he, he dispels it. Winning a play-off game is what’s left. Look at what he’s accomplished in four years. He’s had a year where he threw for 33 touchdowns. He’s not a guy that can’t throw the ball.”"

There isn’t a definite answer to Dalton at this point. At 27 years of age, he can still prove he’s a great NFL quarterback. More focus is always put on what somebody hasn’t done compared to what they’ve achieved, and that’s even further put under a microscope when the “hasn’t done” happens in the playoffs.

For those that want Dalton replaced, good luck finding somebody else with his potential. There’s nobody in the market. But why wouldn’t the Bengals even entertain a chance to ignite Dalton? Instead of blindly supporting Dalton, it could fire him up if they throw another quarterback in the mix worthy of competing for the starting job.

Dalton was light years ahead of backups Jason Campbell and AJ McCarron last season. Maybe one of them improved enough during the offseason to get the Bengals over the hump. Perhaps a quarterback will fall to them in the draft that will give Dalton some competition.

The media would make a big deal if the Bengals announced that there was a QB competition, so perhaps they’re setting up a smokescreen to keep distractions away. Hopefully that’s the case. The Bengals shouldn’t be looking for a different quarterback, but it would be wise to keep every option open.

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