The State of the Bungals

Oh it's a love hate relationship.

For all of October, it was love.  First we beat up on the Pats.  Then we downed the Lions.  Then we dominated the Jets who were coming off of an upset win over the Pats.

Then Andy Dalton was awarded AFC Offensive Player of the month.  Who knew the NFL even had such stupid awards?

The problem was that there was one day left: Halloween.  That found Cincy traveling down to Miami.

Dalton, of course, stunk the joint up throwing three interceptions vs zero touchdowns.  Now to be fair there were many drops and we lost our all world defensive tackle Geno Atkins, yet we blew a game we should have won, going down 20-22 in OT.

The next week the Bengals, beat up and bruised, traveled to Baltimore.  Again, Dalton threw three interceptions and just one touchdown as the Bengals lost again in OT, 17-20.

Things didn't appear to go much better the following week at home, where the Bengals are actually undefeated.  Facing the Browns, Dalton promptly threw two interceptions, one of which Joe Haden returned for a TD, and the Bungals quickly found themselves trailing 0-13.  This wouldn't have been so bad, but they already lost to the Browns earlier in the season.  So if they wanted a real shot at winning the AFC North, they had to beat the Browns to improve their division record.

Eventually, the Bengals special teams (blocking two punts, one of which they returned for a TD, and Adam Jones returned a punt deep into Browns territory just before half time) and defense (three interceptions and Vontaze Burfict forced a fumble which he scooped up and returned for a TD) and Dalton scraping three touchdown passes together, were able to pull out the win, 41-20.

So now the Bengals sit at 7-4.  A couple more wins will give them their first AFC North title since 2009.  If they could somehow manage to win out (and that's not so unimaginable as just one team (The Colts) that the Bengals will play has a winning record), they might just land home field advantage.  Or at least a bye week as the number two seed since they already beat New England.

Yet, I don't feel comfortable at all waiting for today's late game.

Why?

One main reason: Andy Dalton.  To be honest, I watched a lot of college football yesterday with an eye towards who might be drafted to succeed Dalton.  There's McCarron out of Alabama.  Although he might just be a carbon copy of Andy Dalton (efficient college quarterback with a ton of experience who just can't transition well to the big stage of the NFL).  There's Brett Hundley out of UCLA.  He might just be available when the Bengals pick in the first round this May.  But he's just a redshirt sophomore, so he could very well go back to UCLA, which seems to have a very bright future.  Hundley is athletic with a big arm.  Two things Dalton just doesn't have.  Then there are a host of others, Zach Mettenberger (LSU) who is big and has a powerful arm.  Derek Carr who is terrific but doesn't have great arm strength.  Tajh Boyd who is incredibly athletic but when I've seem him play, he just has been too erratic to gamble on early in the draft.  Plus, he's short and no one has him down as the next Drew Brees or Russel Wilson.  There are some very talented underclassmen.  Teddy Bridgewater, Marcus Mariota, Johnny Manziel, and Bryce Petty.  But who knows who will declare for the draft.

All of this is moot anyway as it doesn't help the Bengals now.

Now, we're stuck with Dalton.

The good - he was great in October.  He has a ton of weapons around him (the amazing AJ Green, the very good Mohammad Sanu and Marvin Jones.  The great duo of tight ends, Jermaine Gresham and Tyler Eifert.  And a one two punch at running back in BGJE and the dynamic Gio Bernard).  He is pretty efficient in the red zone (having thrown only one INT inside the opponent's 20 yard line).

The Bad - he takes too many sacks.  He throws a pick six in what seems to be at least every other game.  He leaves points on the field by either missing wide open targets or being gun-shy to pull the trigger.  He lacks both great arm strength and accuracy on his deep throws.  This is a true shame because the Bengals have the most dynamic deep threat since Randy Moss in AJ Green.  And Dalton just doesn't have the cannon necessary to throw it deep enough to let Green make a play on the ball.

Mainly because of Dalton there is some real doubt that the Bengals will win against San Diego.

Yes, San Diego came up with a big last second win versus the Chiefs last weekend (in KC of all places).  Yet, it was a last second win and maybe people are realizing that KC isn't as great as previously thought.

Prior to that last second win, the Chargers had dropped three straight games.

And the Bengals?  They did lose two games in November, but both losses were on the road and in OT by a combined 5  points.

In their past two victories they have scored a total of 90 points (beating the Jets 49-9 and the Browns 41-20).

Yet, no one in Bengal nation feels good about this game.

If Dalton can be efficient and throw 3 or 4 touchdowns with just one INT (preferably not a pick six) the Bengals have a chance to win.  But realistically for how good their defense is and how strong their special teams are, there is a chance Dalton could stink the joint up and cost the Bengals a much needed win.

So here is my resolution.  If Dalton plays well and the Bengals win (even if they don't win but Dalton plays very well), I will continue to watch the Bengals.  But if Dalton stinks up the joint, then I'm done watching the Bengals as long as Dalton is their starting quarterback.