Ok, so maybe I was a week premature in my "Dalton deserves more credit" thread.

A lot of folks slammed him and me by saying that it shouldn't count for anything because he did it against the Browns and he lost to the Packers so that is all that mattered.

Dalton might have been a bit high on one of those INTs, but the other was 100% Green. He hit Carter for a wide open big play that Carter dropped. If you add those as receptions, Dalton would have been near 400 yards passing. He did this against the #1 ranked defense in the NFL.

He got a cheap shot from a former teammate (Hope that asshole gets fined) and he rolled his ankle in another play, but he hobbled through it and won the game.

Mixon is starting to find his groove, and some key weapons (Ross, for one) should be back for the next game. The rotational offensive line, though somewhat curious, seems to be working. That last drive in the fourth quarter was awesome. Something that we usually went in to a shell and gave the ball back after three unsuccessful run plays. The defense is amazing. I said they might not give up more than 20 points in a game the rest of the year and they are showing the league that all they were missing was a pass rush.

Piggy had a glorious 5 INT day and they got hammered by Jax. So, what I had said could happen with a loss to the Chiefs has already happened. At the very worst, the Bengals will be facing them with a 2-3 record and the steelers would be 4-2, with a potential to be 3-3 after playing the Chiefs.

The season wasn't over. It wasn't an ideal start, but they are right back in the thick of it.

That high ball was a catchable ball as well. It was up high for a tall receiver, and AJ got his hands on it. 9 times out of 10 on a dry day Green makes that catch. I put all three turnovers yesterday on AJ..... outside of that he had a tremendous game.

(10-09-2017, 08:31 AM)Sled21 Wrote: That high ball was a catchable ball as well. It was up high for a tall receiver, and AJ got his hands on it. 9 times out of 10 on a dry day Green makes that catch. I put all three turnovers yesterday on AJ..... outside of that he had a tremendous game.

Yep, and Dalton didn't stop going to him.  In his post game presser, he said that he told AJ "the good thing is those don't hurt your stats, they hurt mine".  I thought that was pretty funny and Dalton perhaps making fun of how people hate him regardless of his performance.  

(10-09-2017, 08:31 AM)Sled21 Wrote: That high ball was a catchable ball as well. It was up high for a tall receiver, and AJ got his hands on it. 9 times out of 10 on a dry day Green makes that catch. I put all three turnovers yesterday on AJ..... outside of that he had a tremendous game.

Yeah, if that high pass was to any other WR on the team, I would pin it on Dalton. That said, if AJ Green is going to be considered an elite/top-5 WR in this league, if the ball hits your hands, it should be caught. In the same vein that a 5 sack season might be good for a normal DT, but it's very underwhelming if a player like Atkins finishes a whole season with 5.

If it hits AJ's hands, I expect him to catch it.

Appears to me most of Daltons struggles were mostly OC related.

(10-09-2017, 08:57 AM)whodey4life84 Wrote: Appears to me most of Daltons struggles were mostly OC related.

OC , O line, and " lifetime employee"  Paul Alexander in my opinion

Dalton is an above average QB at his best. He'll have 2-3 really good games. 2-3 really bad games. And a bunch of average to above average games.

This game fits in the above average category.

(10-09-2017, 10:27 AM)THE PISTONS Wrote: Dalton is an above average QB at his best. He'll have 2-3 really good games. 2-3 really bad games. And a bunch of average to above average games.

This game fits in the above average category.

Really? Green screws up on 3 plays so Dalton gets the blame. A TE drops a 20 yard completion (perfect pass) and it is ignored. This is the problem with just using a QBR and not common sense. AD was accurate all day yesterday and under duress from a great defense and injury carved them up. No, it was not above average, it was a great game.

(10-09-2017, 10:13 AM)Sabretooth Wrote: OC , O line, and " lifetime employee"  Paul Alexander in my opinion

OL is improving

This along with the Houston game are the only two games I've been able to watch, and the one thing I will say is I was pleasantly surprised at the way Andy moved in the pocket. He stepped up quite a few times and scooted left or right a few times. He also made several nice throws outside the pocket.

I may have been premature in saying Dalton had dropped off back after Week 2, but I didn't anticipate the Bengals actually being willing to make an OC change that soon into the season. For what it's worth, Lazor looks to have schemed the offense into competency by hiding its weaknesses much better than Zampese did.

Dalton is on pace for serviceable statistics this year based on what he's done in the first five games:
3904 pass yards, 22 pass TDs, 19 INTs

However, since the OC change, Dalton has had the following stats average per game:
275 pass yards, 2.33 TDs, 0.67 INT

Project that out over a full 16 game season and he would have:
4400 pass yards, 37 TDs, 10 INTs

That's pretty good.

The Bengals really made probably the only move they could have mid-season to try and upgrade what looked to be an abysmal team, and it has paid off thus far.
Props to the Bengals for (finally) having the guts to do something unexpected for the sake of trying to win now.

The thing is you get labeled a "Dalton hater" when you try to blame Andy for anything he does bad. That first INT was on Andy Dalton and anyone who thinks otherwise immediately has their ability to make a sound decision called into question. The ball was high and behind AJ. He and the ball were going opposite directions and it had heat on it in the rain. Bottom line: I was a poorly thrown ball that got intercepted. All AJ did was to try to make a play.

The pass the Carter was catchable but let's not sell the narrative that it was perfect. The pass was short, the 4th string TE and to turnaround and run backwards in an attempt to make a play.

While we are on the subject of should have caught. The Bills' defender should have caught that last throw Andy put right in his breadbasket. That happens and there's a very good chance yesterday's game has a different outcome.

Andy had a solid game against a very good defense and I praise him for gutting it out through the leg injury, but like all players, there is room for praise and room for critique.

Dalton had a solid game and turnovers should be on AJ.

Bet that QB rating would skyrocket minus INT's.

It's been the same thing for years. He has good games, bad game, and above average/average games and people want to judge him on whatever he does in that particular game and say that's how Dalton plays.

He's an above average QB overall. Somewhere in the 12-16 range of QB's if they were all ranked.

We could certainly do much worse. I don't think McCarron would do better.

The biggest take away for me was that Andy made plays under pressure instead of throwing the ball out of bounds. If he continues to respond positively under pressure and the defense holds steady, we only have to worry about Marvin Lewis. Damn.

Nice game from Andy

BUT

Man, he had a bunch of high throws that could have been disastrous. And the last throw of the game where he threw a really bad pass into coverage in the end zone. We were a few bounces from being 1-4 and talking about "Bad" Andy.

I really do like how he looks now, and the lack of a running game really puts the pressure on him. I expect him and his OL to improve as the year goes on

(10-09-2017, 08:31 AM)Sled21 Wrote: That high ball was a catchable ball as well. It was up high for a tall receiver, and AJ got his hands on it. 9 times out of 10 on a dry day Green makes that catch. I put all three turnovers yesterday on AJ..... outside of that he had a tremendous game.

(10-09-2017, 08:54 AM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: Yeah, if that high pass was to any other WR on the team, I would pin it on Dalton. That said, if AJ Green is going to be considered an elite/top-5 WR in this league, if the ball hits your hands, it should be caught. In the same vein that a 5 sack season might be good for a normal DT, but it's very underwhelming if a player like Atkins finishes a whole season with 5.

If it hits AJ's hands, I expect him to catch it.

(10-09-2017, 10:35 AM)Luvnit2 Wrote: Really? Green screws up on 3 plays so Dalton gets the blame. A TE drops a 20 yard completion (perfect pass) and it is ignored. This is the problem with just using a QBR and not common sense. AD was accurate all day yesterday and under duress from a great defense and injury carved them up. No, it was not above average, it was a great game.

1st of all, the Bills defense is excellent. They had beaten some really really strong teams in the Falcons and Broncos as well as had a 1 score loss against an excellent Panthers team. Their D had been unreal and nobody had scored 20 on them. Frankly, if AJ Green is typical AJ Green, the Bengals probably would have gotten to 30 or really close.

2nd, Andy Dalton, against THAT Bills defense played a really good game. You have to weight these things properly, IMO. All things and stats aren't equal. The way he played against the Bills is more impressive, to me, then his stats against the Browns or the 1st half against the Packers.

3rd, the first INT to AJ Green happened right in front of me. That was on Andy Dalton. He threw it way high and behind an open AJ Green and there was no need to. AJ could barely touch it while in stride. It was wet, it happens.

4th, Andy Dalton is capable. No one can argue that he is incapable. But potential only goes so far. He has to be this good all the time. Not unbelievable. Just very good. The talent on the Bengals will do the rest. He doesn't have to be Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers week in and week out because the Bengals are much better than those teams talent wise. He has to be a good to very good Andy Dalton. I think that on Sunday, against that Bills team, he was VERY good.

Would love to see a little more urgency.

When its 3rd and 2. Dont throw the ball 10 yards out of bounds. Why not at least give someone a chance?

(10-09-2017, 02:18 PM)PDub80 Wrote: 4th, Andy Dalton is capable. No one can argue that he is incapable. But potential only goes so far. He has to be this good all the time. Not unbelievable. Just very good. The talent on the Bengals will do the rest. He doesn't have to be Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers week in and week out because the Bengals are much better than those teams talent wise. He has to be a good to very good Andy Dalton. I think that on Sunday, against that Bills team, he was VERY good.

Dalton has always been a good QB, period. Better since 2015 of course, but he's always been good. 

Good QB's have bad days. People just need to come to grips with that. You name me any QB in any season, and I'll show you at least a couple bad games. Possibly 3-4 or more depending on the season. There is no QB who is always good, all the time. 

I just wish people would accept Dalton as what he is. Not elite (top 5) but very good (top 12ish). Stop redefining his legacy with every throw, every game. If he throws a 50 yard rope on the run, it doesn't make him Aaron Rodgers. If he tosses a few high and has an off game, it doesn't mean he's a scrub. Ever since we drafted this guy, literally everything has been overreaction city. I've never seen a more scrutinized player in my entire life.

(10-09-2017, 02:35 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote: Dalton has always been a good QB, period. Better since 2015 of course, but he's always been good. 

Good QB's have bad days. People just need to come to grips with that. You name me any QB in any season, and I'll show you at least a couple bad games. Possibly 3-4 or more depending on the season. There is no QB who is always good, all the time. 

I just wish people would accept Dalton as what he is. Not elite (top 5) but very good (top 12ish). Stop redefining his legacy with every throw, every game. If he throws a 50 yard rope on the run, it doesn't make him Aaron Rodgers. If he tosses a few high and has an off game, it doesn't mean he's a scrub. Ever since we drafted this guy, literally everything has been overreaction city. I've never seen a more scrutinized player in my entire life.

Eli Manning, and he has two Super Bowl rings.