Andy Dalton had the worst QBR you could possibly imagine in the Cincinnati loss to the Ravens on Sunday, and the reactions of pundits around the league will likely be very strong. Some will say that Dalton is just not good enough to play in the NFL, and others will want the Bengals to draft a new quarterback.
The problem with the Bengals is that they probably cannot find someone better. When you stumble on a quarterback, you have to keep him because they are so hard to come by. You may be a fan of a team that has been waiting for a quarterback, and you might kill to have Andy Dalton.
This is why we must back down and give the Bengals room to improve.
Everyone has bad games
This is hisorically bad in every way, but Andy Dalton is not actually that bad of a player. He will have plenty of time to improve, and he will figure out how to get back on track with help from AJ Green and Joe Mixon.
His offensive line has been depleted because of people who left in the offseason, and that has made it much harder for him to get the results that he wants when he passes the ball. Someone who is running for their life cannot play very well, and that was part of the problem.
The Bengals need Burfict
Vontaze Burfict will make this team play a lot better even though he is their defensive leader and not an offensive player.
The emotional leader of the team can make the team play much better regardless of what side of the ball he plays on, and that is why it is important for the Bengals to survive this stretch where Burfict is suspended.
Burfict was given an extension because the Bengals recognized his value, and they will see a significant uptick in play when he gets back to the team.
More Joe Mixon
Joe Mixon should be asked to run the ball more often than not, and he should learn how to establish the run game early in every matchup. The matchups that the Bengals have require them to run as much as possible so that they are not putting so much pressure on Dalton. They are paying Dalton like he is a good though not great player, and they should ask more of the people who were higher on the draft.
Joe Mixon is supposed to be a superstar in the making, and he should be given the ball as much as possible so that he can learn to work his magic in the NFL.
Bengals can improve
The Bengals can improve a lot when they are working on the little things that caused their team to fall apart against the Ravens. They got surprised after the losses of a couple offensive linemen, and they were not ready to use all their weapons properly.
