As the Bengals quarterback, Andy Dalton is the member of the team hardest to draw conclusions about. On one hand, he has had a solid career here in Cincinnati that has spanned the majority of this decade. Five straight seasons of at least 3,000 passing yards to start his career is a feat that only Peyton Manning accomplished before him, and he followed those first five seasons by throwing for 4,206 in 2016, just 87 yards behind his career-high of 4,293 he posted back in 2013. I would also argue that from 2016-2018 and at times this season, he has been the reason why the Bengals offense hasn’t gone completely dormant. As vital skill players and a majority of the offensive line have gone their separate ways combined with A.J. Green missing 20 games since week 12 of the 2016 season, Dalton has managed to keep the Bengals relatively relevant. But therein lies the problem.
In a league where despite there being so much parity, it is a Super Bowl or bust league. Just keeping your team relatively relevant as a quarterback isn’t going to cut it, especially with the new Craig Sager-esque fancy-like-looking offenses that we’re all growing accustomed to seeing on Sundays. After spending the first eight years under Marvin Lewis- I read over the Summer that he used to tell the offense to not show up the defense at practice- it’s clear that pointless philosophy limited the Red Rifle’s abilities and development as a quarterback. He’ll always be solid, but in his ninth season it’s becoming more and more obvious that he’s not going to get to the next level of the elite quarterbacks of the NFL, let alone even the great or very good ones.
That conclusion, for one, reared its ugly head in the fourth quarter Sunday against the Jaguars as Dalton threw three interceptions in a span of five plays, including a pick six and his third on the final two of the five-play span. With the game hanging in the balance, Dalton threw it to the other team three times on five pass attempts. Did I mention he’s in the ninth year of his career?
I get that he’s playing without A.J. Green, behind an offensive line that is comical at best and, as a result, with a putrid running game. But look around the league and you’ll see the great ones are finding ways to win with injuries and restrictions around them. In other words, the great ones find a way, which Dalton is not and likely won’t ever be.
I was hopeful when Zac Taylor was hired the Monday after the Super Bowl that he could be the man to get Andy Dalton to the next level. A young, offensive-minded coach coming from a coaching staff led by the pioneer of the new-wave offenses we began seeing in 2017 in Sean McVay; it was a breath of fresh air to have somebody out-of-house come in from a team that was among the NFL’s best offensive teams in 2017 and 2018. Sure enough, Dalton set a career-high with 418 passing yards in the season-opener at Seattle. Not to mention, Dalton was without A.J. Green and Joe Mixon and a running game after the latter of the two sustained an injury in the third quarter. A glimpse of what was to come, right? Well, wishful thinking.
It has become more and more evident, at least to my eyes, that the Bengals peaked in the Seattle game because, at the time, the Seahawks and future opponents didn’t necessarily know exactly what the Bengals offense was going to look like. But it was easy to adapt and make adjustments with the Bengals playing without A.J. Green and with an offensive line whose run-blocking and resulting rushing stats through seven games make me want to gag. Defenses know that if they force Dalton to throw the ball at least 40 times a game, they’ll have a major chance at being successful. And while Dalton is hindered by that horrific offensive line and that unit leading to just a pathetic running game, there have been times where he has had an opportunity to win the Bengals some games this season. He just simply hasn’t delivered like a nine-year veteran should.
1. Week 3 @ Buffalo – BUF 21 CIN 17 4Q :20 Cincinnati has the ball on the Bills 28-yard line facing a 3rd-&-5, on a drive with the season, at 0-2, effectively on the line. Dalton attempts to hit wide receiver Auden Tate on a slant route towards the middle of the field. Instead, Dalton’s pass sails to Tate’s outside shoulder, and upon trying to reel in a one-handed catch Tate deflects the ball, ultimately leading to a game-ending interception. A ninth-year quarterback should be able to complete a slant pass to the middle of the field.
2. Week 7 vs. Jacksonville – JAX 17 CIN 10 4Q 8:45 Cincinnati has the ball on the Jacksonville 15-yard line. By the time there was 3:59 remaining, Dalton had thrown three interceptions in five plays including a pick six and his third interception on the final two. 24-10 Jacksonville. Ball game over and, for the better sake of the long-term future of the Bengals, hopefully Dalton’s career here in Cincinnati over.
The point is that teams recognized what the Bengals offense showed in Seattle, particularly with Dalton throwing the ball almost as many times per game as the number of years the Bengals have been in the NFL, 52. Not all of the blame can be placed on Dalton given the offensive line playing front of him and its run-blocking deficiencies leading to Joe Mixon and Giovani Bernard practically becoming useless. But he has had chances to win games this season, and has simply not delivered. No quarterback in his ninth season should throw three interceptions in five plays, including two on back-to-back plays with the game still hanging in the balance.
A limited quarterback playing with deficiencies around him has been an accurate description of Dalton since the start of the 2016 season. But after just seemingly mailing it in in the fourth quarter Sunday against the Jaguars, it should be clear and obvious that Dalton should not be in the Bengals long-term plans at quarterback. If Zac Taylor is the young, offensive-minded and long-term solution at the head coaching position Mike Brown and the front office were looking for in the offseason, it’s time for them to realize that Andy Dalton is not the long-term solution at the game’s most valuable position. The time for a change at quarterback has come.
Let me be Frank and Cut to the Chase 