Class Act Dalton

[*rfaulk34*]

(12-07-2017, 11:32 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote: I'm trying to wrap my head around Dalton being coached by Bill Belichick, Mike Holmgren, Tony Dungy or Mike McCarthy.

Brady and Manning had tons of weapons. Gronk, Moss, Welker, Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne, Dallas Clark, Edge, Joseph Addai, etc etc.


What was he supposed to do there? The short options had defenders draped on them. You can see him scanning left and right and seeing no one open. It looked like he decided to tuck and run for it, but by then Dupree had him. The Steelers literally rushed 2 there and dropped 9 into coverage...and that was STILL enough. Say Andy blindly chucked it up just to "give us a chance". That ball had a 90% chance of being batted down or picked off. Then we're still right where we are...somehow finding a way to pin this on the offensive MVP of this game. 

The smart move there would be to not pull the trigger and risk an INT in a tie ball game. Unfortunately, our defense was in full meltdown mode, allowing 20 points in one half of football. Dalton did make the play...not his fault AJ Green dropped it. Why are we ripping Andy when he held up his end? If AJ gets criticized, people have a conniption on here, but he holds the most blame for that 3 and out.

Here's the play, btw: https://youtu.be/z1FfOwjlqxU?t=4m20s


Fair criticism, but I think it's irrelevant to this particular game. Here's the last 3 drives we had, including the only two 4th quarter drives:

Drive 1:

AJ Green drop (the one that the Steelers thought was a fumble)
Gio 13 yard run
Gio 4 yard run
Brandon LaFell drop
Andy chased from pocket, had to throw away
Punt

Drive 2: 
Dalton quick sack (instant pressure)
Penalty on Gio for false start
Brandon LaFell drop
Dalton 16 yard pass to Gio on 3rd and 23 (Steelers dropped everyone into coverage)
Punt

Drive 3:
AJ Green drop 
Gio Bernard 8 yard run
Dalton sacked 
Punt

So we have 3 drops, a penalty, 2 sacks and at least 1 pressure. Seems Dalton wasn't the one killing these drives. I get your frustration, but I think it's misplaced.

One thing you have to understand about my perspective...it's very hard (for anyone) to say what Dalton could have/should have done differently because all we have is what he did. With hindsight and the all 22, it's easy for anyone to point out what he could have done. 

The only thing i can throw out there is, he didn't get it done with what he did. Backing up for a second--speaking specifically about that last sack--can you tell me you're happy with his pocket awareness? That's probably the biggest thing about my "criticism". Wison, Ben, Brady, Brees, Rodgers and even a few newer quarterbacks move around and manipulate the pocket, buying more time for a play to develop. That is what allows them to make a play to keep a drive alive. Unfortunately, Dalton is pretty bad at this. Most times he jets out of the pocket and the first thing out of my mouth is "here comes the throw away". To be fair, the Bengals receivers seem to be equally unable to move around and give him any options. But setting that aside, he simply can't manipulate the pocket for any appreciable amount of time to allow anyone to try and get open.

I don't feel a need to give examples of how i'm not someone that usually bashes him. If someone doesn't know my history regarding him and how i've spent hours crunching numbers and giving examples of how he's a pretty good QB, i'm just like "whatev". 

My bottom line is, I, you, everyone watches game after game of QBs that find a way to keep a play alive or make a throw or tuck it and run in a crucial situation that results in a game won. Dalton just isn't the type of QB who can do that.