It may have been nice for Cincinnati Bengals fans to watch their team send the Pittsburgh Steelers home with a loss, but the folks in Cincinnati know what this team needs to improve on. Unfortunately, one of the Bengals’ biggest question marks is in fact their quarterback.
Sure, Andy Dalton might have one of the coolest nicknames in the NFL, — the Red Rocket — but he didn’t look like a guy that can bring a Lombardi Trophy to Ohio. Despite earning All-Pro honors in his rookie season, Dalton has stayed about the same since coming into the league as the 35th-overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft. It seems as if the Red Rocket was drafted as an established quarterback and isn’t really going to improve or take steps backwards.
This isn’t good news for the Bengals.
With a play-making wide out like A.J. Green and a plethora of young offensive weapons at Dalton’s disposal, he has no reason to complete just 55% of his passes. While Dalton might have thrown for 280 yards, the stat line surely doesn’t tell the whole story as the Bengals’ quarterback was missing wide-open wide receivers the entire night.
It’s not that Dalton had an awful night in the pocket, but he needs to play much better if Cincinnati hopes to someday have a Super Bowl champion.
Devin O’Barr is the Content Commentator for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @DevinOBarrRS, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
