A win is a win, and Andy Dalton can consistently lead a game-winning drive

I’m not sure how I’m supposed to be feeling about the Bengals win today. A win is a win, and it’s hard to win a game in the NFL. It really is, especially given a game like today.

Here’s the deal: Tampa Bay came into today’s game as the NFL’s top-ranked offense. Do you want to know why that is? Because Ryan Fitzpatrick was insane through the Buccaneers first three games, as he became the first quarterback in NFL history to throw for 400 yards or more in three straight games.

I know the Bengals defense completely broke down in the fourth quarter, but we all should have known that Fitzpatrick was capable of leading Tampa Bay back into the game. With weapons like Mike Evans, DeSean Jackson, O.J. Howard and even Adam Humphries, you knew it wasn’t going to be easy for a Bengals defense that has faltered against dynamic offenses with vertical passing attacks.

It also won’t help, going forward, that Carl Lawson’s season-ending ACL injury is going to hurt an already disappointing Bengals defense. There are other guys on the defensive line that can fill that void, but the pass rush has to start showing up for 60 minutes every game. It was there today when Jameis Winston was in at quarterback, but it became virtually nonexistent when Fitzpatrick entered the game. During the bye week, this defense better start figuring out ways to slow down offenses, especially ones we have already seen this season and ones that still remain on the schedule. Did I mention the first game after the bye week is against the New Orleans Saints? This was the bad from today. Now, here’s the good.

Before Fitzpatrick entered the game, the Bengals defense was making plays. Four interceptions and five sacks; that was a defensive performance we had been waiting to see.

The first half of the game saw the Bengals offense I know, at least this year’s offense. Joe Mixon was being used in a large role, which is how he should be used in every game. Bill Lazor and the offense came out and did everything I wanted them to do: empty the bucket, give Mixon a high number of carries and target A.J. Green in the red zone.

When this offense is at it’s best, you can see all the weapons that are at Andy Dalton’s disposal. Tyler Boyd continues to impress me week after week. Nine catches for 138 yards and a touchdown? That’s a performance worthy of a No.1 receiver. What Green and Boyd are doing together brings back memories of what Chad Johnson and T.J. Houshmanzadeh did together when they were here. And hopefully the bye week will allow guys like Tyler Kroft and Giovani Bernard to get healthy, which will make this offense more versatile.

Let me ask you all a question? Even though Tyler Eifert is, sadly, out for the season, would you be happy as a fan knowing that Andy Dalton is taking the field every week potentially with Green, Boyd, Mixon, Bernard, Kroft, C.J. Uzomah and Alex Erickson? I would be because those aforementioned players give Dalton a good, deep arsenal of weapons to spread the ball around.

Speaking of Dalton, what a game-winning drive he led. That drive showed that he is capable of consistently leading them and that, if given the ball with timeouts and/or enough time on the clock, he can lead the Bengals down the field to win the game. I said two weeks ago on my show that there are certain quarterbacks who, if given the ball with enough time on the clock, are going to lead their teams on a game-winning drive. I think that the game-winning drive Dalton led today shows that Dalton could be becoming one of those quarterbacks. He led one against Atlanta with all the time in the world, but today he led one with just over a minute and with everything going south for the Bengals.

I’ve said this season is different than any other season, and today’s game proved that. Yes, the Bengals blew a 21-0 lead and an 18-point fourth quarter deficit, and they made me nervous at the end as I’m sure most of you Bengals fans felt the same way. But I think if this game had been played last year or any other previous season, the Bengals wouldn’t have responded going down the field in less than a minute for the win. This year, this team, especially Dalton, is showing its resiliency and seizing opportunities to win games.