11-05-2015, 12:29 PM
(11-05-2015, 12:18 PM)Sovereign Nation Wrote: 1. However anyone who does understand football and isn't an internet tough guy poser would have seen that last year's team was hurt and limping.
2. You would have thought that '14 would have helped get more people to realize that Dalton was a good QB since all of the factors that were attributed to his success was missing or hurting.
3. A lot of people were given credit to Hill for our success last year, but one only has to look at this year's performance to see that Hill wasn't the only reason for the success.
4. One thing that did help contribute to our playoff appearance was our schedule. We played the AFC and NFC south last year and we all know that those 2 divisions don't have the best teams in the league.
5. Bottom line: Dalton, to me at least, actually had a good year last year with all things considered. I understood where the criticism was coming from, I just didn't agree with it. Unlike some people, I did know that Dalton was going to have a much better year this year if everyone stayed healthy. So far so good.
1. Ouch, pot meet the kettle.
2. This is true, even though his statline wasn't pretty, he was playing solid football and most people could see his decision making and pocket awareness improve even though he had to deal with so many injuries to his receiving weapons. Call me crazy, but I was actually more impressed with some things Andy was doing in 2014 than what he did in previous years, but some just wanted to bash him for his numbers being down.
3. To be fair, Hill did have a LOT to do with our success last year. Gio wasn't playing at a high level, Andy wasn't throwing the big volume numbers, and a lot of our other guys were injured. Hill's performance this year has absolutely zero to do with critiquing what he did in 2014, that doesn't even make sense to say that it does.
4. Playing those 2 divisions is a great point to bring up as I'm sure it did have a lot to do with the 4th consecutive playoff appearance. It also helps that Andy and the Bengals have done such a great job beating Baltimore in close games since 2011. I'd like to see them 2-0 Cleveland more often than they do now.
5. I was very tough on Andy after 2013, I probably nitpicked him more than I should have. I'm often seen as an "Andy hater" because of all of that, and I still refuse to say that 2013 was some absolutely amazing performance, but I was happy with most of his 2014, and I'm surprised more people didn't see the little things that showed promise for this year. I don't know if anyone could see his 2015 deep ball being absurdly accurate coming, but the stuff like his movements in the pocket last year were HUGE for his progression, and I'm stoked to see that turn into what we're seeing now.
