I remember when Jay Z said “Men lie women lie, numbers don’t.” For the most part that can be true, but in Andy Dalton’s case it is a very big LIE. On paper Andy Dalton has pretty good numbers that tend to blind some football fans.
This season Dalton threw for over 4,000 yards, 33 touchdowns, and 20 interceptions. If you were looking at stats, and never watched any of Dalton’s games you would think he was one of the top Quarterbacks in the game. All is well with Dalton until you actually see him play. On paper Dalton has better numbers than Cam Newton, Colin Kaepernick, Russell Wilson, and Alex Smith. The numbers lie once again, because Dalton is not in the same class as the quarterbacks mentioned.
Dalton is the model of inconsistent play, and gives Bengal fans a roller coaster ride throughout the season, word to my man J.T. (http://bit.ly/1aq7cqN). Yesterday’s playoff game was the prime example of how Andy Dalton can give you inconsistent performances. In the first half Dalton was pretty efficient throwing the ball. He threw his first playoff touchdown, and he didn’t have any head scratching moments. In the second half, where it mattered most Dalton had one fumble, two interceptions, and several errant throws. At one point I thought the Bengals would need Dwight Howard to catch some of Andy’s passes.
The turnovers were a big deal, but the lack of resilience was the bigger problem. In other games this weekend quarterbacks such as Colin Kaepernick and Andrew Luck committed turnovers in big moments, but they were able to bounce back and lead their teams to victory.
It’s been three years, and the Bengals are dealing with the same issues. I know the NFL is a passing league, but why is Jay Gruden allowing Andy to throw 51 times in the playoffs? Dalton should be a game manager due to his discrepancies in the passing game, but he is put in position to be a gun slinger. I know when you have weapons such as A.J. Green and Marvin Jones you want to use them, but it’s not the best benefit for the team to have Dalton throwing more than thirty passes in a game.
The more you allow Andy to drop back to throw it improves your chance for disappointment. The Bengals have a quality team top to bottom, and should be on their way to Denver to play Peyton Manning & Co. I know people want to point the finger at Marvin Lewis, but Dalton is the reason why they are sitting at home.
The Bengals need to find a solution quick, fast, and in a hurry. Either sign a veteran QB (e.g, Michael Vick) that can compete for the job with Dalton, or draft a QB in this years draft. By doing that it could buy the Bengals some time with the Andy Dalton experiment. I also think the offensive philosophy has to change as well. I don’t know the end result, but change is needed fast. The Bengals players and fans don’t deserve to be put in this situation year after year. The jig is up on Andy Dalton, and it’s time to say goodbye to him.
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