The NFL is a rough business, and for Tuesday’s evidence of that; look no further than Cincinnati Bengals now-former starting quarterback Andy Dalton.
Indeed, on Tuesday Dalton was benched by first-year head coach Zac Taylor in favor of a guy named Ryan Finley. All too often, it feels like a coach who isn’t qualified reaches for the only thing he knows how to do; benching a veteran quarterback who can play a little bit just for the sake of it. In fact, some in Cincinnati may feel that Dalton has done as much positive for the Bengals organization in the last decade as any player.
Surely, the Bengals are 0-8, but Dalton is not that reason. More on that in just a moment.
Undeniably, Dalton has been one of the better signal callers in Bengals franchise history. Currently, Dalton is tied with Ken Anderson for the most touchdown passes in Bengals’ history with 197 and ranks second in career passing yards at 30,352.
Sources: The #Bengals are making a QB change after the bye. Andy Dalton goes to the bench. Rookie Ryan Finley expected to start. More right now on @nflnetwork
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) October 29, 2019
First off, this move took the Cincinnati locker room by surprise. For instance, take a look at what defensive lineman Carlos Dunlap had to say about it.
“There’s a short-term opportunity, a window for opportunity in this league and it seems like they have a sense of urgency upstairs and they’re sending a message to the locker room.”
Furthermore, Dunlap is right. That window of opportunity exists for every player and core in the NFL. Now, Dalton is an example that if you stay stagnant in ‘just good enough’ for too long; you become a casualty of the NFL monster.
Here’s what the head coach Zac Taylor had to say about making the move to Finley.
“It takes more than one game to figure out what you’ve got there,” Taylor said. “We’re going to give him a chance to prove that.”
Finally, Andy Dalton feels like a guy who can go into that Eli Manning or Phil Simms type of quarterback range. Incredibly solid, but never superb or elite. In the years the Bengals really had a shot, the entire team folded in playoff efforts. Now Dalton – who has a contract that is up in 2020 – will close out his Cincinnati tenure as a solid second round pick who is remembered fondly by many someday.
