Dalton's make or break year

[Shake n Blake]

(08-04-2019, 08:39 PM)rfaulk34 Wrote: 2012 vs Steelers in prime time, missed 4 straight 2nd (just one) or 3rd (three) down throws on the last 3 drives of the game.

2012 vs Texans in the playoffs, missed a throw to an open AJ in the end zone on 3rd down that would have given the Bengals the lead. 

2013 vs Miami in prime time, missed a 3rd down pass from the Dolphins 36 on the last drive of regulation.
**** missed a 2nd and 3rd down pass from the Dolphins 39 in overtime. (2nd down was a dropped pass)
**** took a sack in overtime to end the game.
2013 vs Steelers in prime time (flexed game late in the year), missed 4 straight passes (1,2,3,4th down) on the last drive (game wasn't lost on this--they were down 10).

2015 vs Cardinals in prime time, missed 2 throws on the final drive (kicked FG to tie game)

2016 vs Giants in prime time, stood like a statue and got sacked on 2nd and 3rd down on the last drive of the game.

2017 vs Texans in prime time, missed 3rd and 4th down on last drive of game (3rd down throwaway after rollout. 4th down a mile over erickson's head).


That's a lot of misses on critical downs in "bigger" games. 

14 actual misses, not counting sacks on critical passing downs on 19 drop backs (opportunities).

So what you're saying is that Dalton has only had 7 opportunities to prove whether or not he's clutch in big games. In 8 years. 

...and it's highly debatable whether or not some of these were truly clutch situations. Down 10 on the last drive? That Giants game where Dalton was getting pummeled? You say he stood there like a statue, but where was he supposed to go? Ogbuehi got manhandled by JPP and there was nothing even resembling a pocket because the whole line was folding back like a cheap lawn chair. The only place for someone of Dalton's athleticism to run was backwards. Can't throw it out when you're in the hash marks. Besides a hyper athletic QB, I'm not sure who makes a play there. 


In the Cards game, Dalton led us back to tie the game after trailing 14 heading into the 4th. Even on the drive you claim he came up short, he went 3/6 for 48 yards with a 6 yard run to even get us in position to tie the game with a FG. If anything, Dalton was clutch as heck in this game.

So again it goes back to: how many clutch scenarios in PT/playoffs has he really had?