09-21-2015, 02:53 PM
(09-21-2015, 02:36 PM)djs7685 Wrote: Yeah I was just trying to be as blunt as possible, I don't think a lot of these guys are actually idiots, but I'm not really one to soften things up
There are guys like Toast that have been really tough on Andy and then guys like Brownshoe that make too many excuses for the guy, but I actually agree with those 2 posters specifically a LOT on topics that aren't exactly Andy Dalton related. I find that to be a trend with a handful of the Andy extremists on both sides, a lot of them (outside of obvious trolls) are pretty reasonable when it comes to the team in general, they just have REALLY strong feelings about the QB for whatever reason. I just think it's absurd to hold the opinion that Andy is a below average quarterback in the NFL or that he's a top 10 lock. Those both sound completely crazy to me.
Andy has been great. I hope it continues, I really do. He seems like a really good person and he hasn't been considered average due to lack of trying, he just made too many mental mistakes in the past and isn't the perfect QB physically. Andy looks almost transformed this season compared to the past years, but I'm just afraid that I've seen this before. Last year I was super hyped on Andy after the first 3-4 weeks especially, but then it fizzled out by the year's end and he looked like the same old guy. This year, it seems to be a much bigger difference in terms of the changes that he's made, but I just really, really, really hope that it continues and that these aren't temporary adjustments.
He's going to have some bad games this year, everyone needs to be expecting that. Some are going to fall off the bandwagon the first time he throws an INT or two and has a sub-80 passer rating, but I'm willing to give him a large enough sample size (need to see multiple primetime performances and more dominance at 1PM on Sundays) before taking a firm stance on him this year.
Once again, I totally agree. We've seen some long stretches where Dalton played like this (POtM in Oct '13 comes to mind) so lets just say I'm cautiously optimistic.
That said, it seems different this time. His deep accuracy has been better, he's made some plays rolling away from pressure, he's been throwing it away at the right times, etc. We'll see. I really want to see how he handles the Browns considering they've owned him for like 3 years now.
The training, nutrition, medicine, fitness, playbooks and rules evolve. The athlete does not.