Bengals owner Mike Brown still has faith in Andy Dalton and believes he is “a good quarterback.” That’s despite Dalton’s mediocre career 7.0 yards per attempt average, 0-4 playoff record, and 1:6 postseason touchdown-to-interception ratio.
“You go round and about and Andy is perceived higher by some people than he seems to be all the time locally,” Brown told the Cincinnati Enquirer. “He is the style of guy who can function best when he has a good group around him. He needs that. Maybe he needs it more than some, but they all need it. There is no quarterback that goes out and has success without good players in the mix.”
The Bengals have just that. A good group of players around Dalton. It will be a big boost to get all three of A.J. Green, Marvin Jones, and Tyler Eifert back to full health after the trio missed 34 combined regular-season games in 2014. Add them to Jeremy Hill, Giovani Bernard, and Mohamed Sanu, in addition to a solid offensive line, and Dalton has one of the better supporting casts in the league.
Brown signed off on a “seven-year, $97.09 million” contract extension for Dalton last summer, but he has no more guaranteed money left on the deal. The Bengals are committed to Dalton for 2015 and have no plans to add a veteran backup. They’ll give second-year quarterback A.J. McCarron every opportunity to win the No. 2 job. If Dalton can’t get the Bengals over the hump with a playoff win this year, Brown and coach Marvin Lewis may be singing a different tune this time next year.
