05-27-2021, 09:55 PM
(05-27-2021, 09:14 PM)Crazyjdawg Wrote: He's not on the team anymore. You don't need to defend him. We did well with him when he was younger because the team around him was really, really, really good. He was average or worse his entire career except for 2015 when he had probably the best roster in the NFL around him. Have you already forgotten "Bad Andy?"
We had opportunities to upgrade him, but chose not to because we, foolishly, believed we were "just one player away" from winning that playoff game. We were so obsessed with a short term goal, winning a single playoff game, that we failed to build for a long term, successful run with an actually talented QB.
Andy Dalton was the perfect back up QB, but he should not have been a starter for a decade. Especially with absolutely no competition every single year. It's almost like the coaches were afraid to even try to improve the position.
If you don't agree with that, then your memory is the one that is faulty, not mine.
1. Dalton ranked 15th or better in passer rating 4 out of 5 years between 2012 and 2016. That's slightly better than average among starters. That's not "average or worse".
2. People always exaggerate the talent we had on offense. 2015 was the best year we had, talent wise, but even that team wasn't the 1999 Rams or even last years Bucs. AJ was a beast of course. Marvin Jones was an excellent #2. Beyond that, how great were they?
Sanu never amounted to much. Eifert was a one year wonder, our version of Jordan Cameron. The run game ranked 23rd in yards per carry. We had some really good weapons, but people talk like it was something epic. It wasn't. Heck, we're about to have better weapons this year. I wonder if you will take credit from Burrow for that?
The rest of the time, we had #2 WRs like Jerome Simpson, Armon Binns, Greg Little, Brandon Lafell, etc. Average at best, probably worse. We never had a great run game for the duration of Dalton's tenure. Eifert was perpetually injured, so the TEs stunk. The offense usually fell on him and AJ.
3. Calling Dalton a backup QB (during his prime) is silly. You said yourself he was performing as an average starter. With a bad run game. A backup QB doesn't maintain that level of play and lead a team to the playoffs 5 years in a row.
What other backup level QB has ever accomplished such feats?
The training, nutrition, medicine, fitness, playbooks and rules evolve. The athlete does not.
