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Phil Simms on Andy Dalton

kramer1

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Cincinnati won 34-17 despite a career-high four interceptions for Andy Dalton. Did that up-and-down performance cause Simms to reconsider his lofty expectations for the Bengals?

“It brought them up even higher,” Simms told me this week. “Seeing them in person again and watching them all week and really getting a feel for the football team – I get a very good vibe when I’m around the team. The players all get along. They’ve got energy – it’s real. I think Marvin Lewis has a great feel for the football team and I like the coordinators. What I saw on the field on Sunday just convinced me even more that maybe for once I might be pretty smart.”

But what about the four interceptions? Surely that had to concern Simms.

Quite the contrary for the former Super Bowl-winning quarterback.

“I really do believe this: The fact that Andy Dalton threw four interceptions is a good thing,” said Simms. “I played the position and when I had those games and threw those interceptions, I was mad all week and by gosh, I was going to show ‘em. I’ll never forget what Andy said to me before the Chicago Bears game to open the season. I brought up some of these things about the criticism of the quarterback and he said, ‘I can’t wait for the season to start because I’m going to shut everybody up.’ That was music to my ears. I said, ‘You tell ‘em where to go Andy.’ You want your quarterback to have a little bit of that in him, and I see it in him. After throwing those interceptions, I think he is going to ‘bow up’ this week and I think he is going to play well. We’re going to see a quarterback that is tighter and more efficient and I expect him to play very well.”

“Quarterbacks are going to throw bad passes – they’re going to turn the ball over, so I don’t overreact to them,” said Simms. “I hear people say, ‘Just don’t turn the ball over.’ I tell them, ‘Maybe the quarterback should just fall on the ball on every down. That way they would win because there would be no turnovers.’ You want them to be daring and do this and that, but don’t turn it over. It’s going to happen, so the criticism is unjust many times.

“I was watching TV this morning and the things they say about quarterbacks – they think they are going to go out there and play perfect games. It’s ridiculous.”

“His presence on the field has grown,” said Simms. “I think physically he’s grown too, which I think is a really big deal. He is going to be their franchise quarterback and he’s going to be there for a while. I think the experience and the fact that he’s physically better – and that he has a better team around him – his chances of winning and doing what everybody wants have gone up dramatically since last year.”

“With such great experience under his belt, he’s gotten better every season, he is the leader of this football team now, he knows what’s expected of him, he knows what’s ahead of us, and we really feel good about where he is right now,” said Marvin Lewis.

“It’s hard to develop quarterbacks,” said Simms. “The Bengals had a plan, and I give them a lot of credit. They drafted him, they put him in there, and he’s practiced and played for three years. They’re seeing those benefits, and it’s time now to march on for the next five or six years – whatever it is – and see how many games you can win and if you can get it done in the playoffs.”

http://blogs.bengals...-it-from-hoard/
 

cincygrad

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Nice praise coming from a tough critic.
 

DanBengalfan

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from now on, when Andy Dalton is hot, we will call him "Cayenne peppa" when he's not we'll call him douche drippings.
 

bengaldoug

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He is what he is. A sometimes very good and sometimes very bad quarterback. Where he is different(read better) this year is he has become aggressive, and stays aggressive even after making a mistake. It means that along with mistakes comes positive plays, and with our defense we can overcome a couple of mistakes as long as the offense does positive things when not making mistakes. Simms alluded to falling on the ball to prevent mistakes. Dalton used to do that. Not anymore. I think they could overcome a couple of mistakes and win this Sunday. But he's going to have to have a good day if the Bengals hope to win at New England and Denver.
 

cincygrad

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He is what he is. A sometimes very good and sometimes very bad quarterback. Where he is different(read better) this year is he has become aggressive, and stays aggressive even after making a mistake. It means that along with mistakes comes positive plays, and with our defense we can overcome a couple of mistakes as long as the offense does positive things when not making mistakes. Simms alluded to falling on the ball to prevent mistakes. Dalton used to do that. Not anymore. I think they could overcome a couple of mistakes and win this Sunday. But he's going to have to have a good day if the Bengals hope to win at New England and Denver.

I'll be interested to see how he comes out on Sunday..... You know he has a chip on his shoulder and I imagine he'd love to put up big numbers and have a big win. Hopefully he doesn't press too much.

I think Jay is under some pressure here as well..... He was heavily criticized after not targeting AJ once in the first half at Houston next year. If I'm SD, I'm rolling coverage to AJ on every play in the first quarter because you know it's coming his way.
 

bengaldoug

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A good game for Dalton Sunday would exorcise some more demons. And agreed, they'll be throwing to AJ early and often. Just hope he doesn't forget Marvin Lewis Jones, not to mention Gio, the tight ends, and even Sanu. In his better games Andy has spread it around, and SD's defense is susceptible to such an attack.
 

JBUCK66

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just eliminate the bone headed stuff. get ahead...run the ball...make 1st downs
 

CrashDavisSports

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A good game for Dalton Sunday would exorcise some more demons. And agreed, they'll be throwing to AJ early and often. Just hope he doesn't forget Marvin Lewis Jones, not to mention Gio, the tight ends, and even Sanu. In his better games Andy has spread it around, and SD's defense is susceptible to such an attack.

We are at home, where we do a good job of putting up points, and SD's passing defense is ranked 29th in the NFL. Not a good combo for SD.
 

Cincyfan78

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It's going to be cold, windy, snowy...I expect to see the run games feature.

SD's defense just isn't good enough to stop the run, and on the other side, SD isn't running all over the Bengals defense.

24-17 Bengals.
 

DanBengalfan

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we should stick with the run, but we don't, Cay enne pep pa throws 3 ints and 1 TD

Bengals 20
Chargers 17
 

kramer1

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we should stick with the run, but we don't, Cay enne pep pa throws 3 ints and 1 TD

Bengals 20
Chargers 17

You're goin down with the ship on that nickname, aren't ya?

Be vigilant. It may stick.
 

bengaldoug

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What do you get when you cross DanBengalFan with Mrs Chaney?
 

DanBengalfan

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or this guy:

st._pat_parade.09_t460.jpg
 

Cincyfan78

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From KC Joyner. If you don't have insider, here you go:


Last season, the Baltimore Ravens became the sixth team since the change to the eight-team division format to win the Super Bowl despite not qualifying for a No. 1 or No. 2 seed. For this year's playoffs, the AFC North offers up a club that could become the seventh to achieve that goal.



The game tape and metrics indicate the Cincinnati Bengals have across-the-board strengths that allow them to successfully adjust their game plan to any foe, thus making them capable of running a three-game table and representing the AFC in Super Bowl XLVIII.






Offense



It starts with quarterback Andy Dalton. Dalton has been given the nickname "Greedy Andy" for his sometimes overly aggressive play, but the last month of this season also saw him post some of his best overall performances, as he ranked third in the league in Total QBR (75.5) from Weeks 13-17. This upward trend could bode well for Dalton being able to replicate Joe Flacco's string of superb games last season that was key to Baltimore winning the Super Bowl.



One of the primary reasons for Dalton's success is the dominant play of wide receiver A.J. Green. According to ESPN Stats & Information, Green was the most-targeted wideout in the NFL this season (178) and had the third-lowest drop percentage among players with 125 or more targets (2.8 percent). He also ranked seventh in vertical receiving yards (888 yards on throws that traveled 11 or more yards downfield), third in vertical targets (81) and tied for first in vertical receiving touchdowns (8).



Green's presence is enough to keep defensive coordinators working overtime, but this season the Bengals have developed a very capable WR2 in Marvin Jones. Over the last four games of the season, Jones racked up 19 receptions for 254 yards and three touchdowns, numbers that would prorate to a very strong second-tier wide receiver over the course of a 16-game schedule. And that wasn't even Jones' best four-game stretch this season, as he posted 19 receptions for 316 yards and six touchdowns from Weeks 6 to 9.



Cincinnati's running game doesn't have a ground game-breaker, but Giovani Bernard did rank ninth among running backs in receptions (56), ninth in receiving yards (514) and ninth in yards per reception (9.18). The Bengals are quite adept at getting him into space via the air and therefore are still able to get a lot out of his big-play potential.



Another notable element of this offense is its drive-closing ability. Cincinnati ranked second in the league in red zone efficiency (73.3 percent) and first in goal-to-go efficiency (84.0 percent). These were key factors in the Bengals ranking fourth in the league in offensive touchdowns scored (47) and tied for sixth in points per game (26.9). They show that this team can keep up in the event that a contest turns into a shootout.
 

Cincyfan78

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Defense



As comforting as it is to know that they could keep up in a high-scoring game, it is even more reassuring to know that the Bengals' defense is so strong that shootouts are an unlikely occurrence.

[+] Enlarge
George Gojkovich/Getty Images
Vontaze Burfict and the Bengals D can hold up against the run or pass.It is very hard to find a weak spot on this unit, as Cincinnati had dominant defensive numbers both against the pass and the run.



Some highlights of its aerial defensive prowess include ranking fourth in Total QBR against (39.0), second in net yards per pass attempt (5.45) and seventh in interception percentage (3.3 percent).



This last number is actually even more impressive than it looks at first glance, as it has been posted despite the Bengals posting a 1.6 percent mark in the bad decision rate (BDR) metric. BDR gauges how often a quarterback makes a mental error that leads to a turnover opportunity for the opposing team and the league average in this statistic is usually around 2.0 percent.



The Bengals' relatively low showing here meant that they have had only 10 interception chances on bad decision plays this year, but they have made up for that via an opportunistic group of defenders who picked off 16 of the 25 interception chances that occurred as a result of something other than a bad decision. To rack up a 40 percent conversion rate is considered a solid number in this area, and Cincinnati has easily bested that number with its 64 percent rate.



Running against the Bengals is also quite difficult. They rank fifth in rush yards allowed per game (96.5), but their skill is illustrated even more distinctly via their 6.2-yard mark in the good blocking yards per attempt (GBYPA) metric. GBYPA measures how productive a ball carrier is when given good blocking (very loosely defined as when the offense doesn't allow the defense to disrupt a rushing attempt). The league average in this statistic is normally in the 7.5-yard range and to be at or near the 6.0-yard level is considered elite territory.



The Bengals defense mimics the offense by posting tremendous efficiency figures. According to ESPN Stats & Information, Cincinnati ranked second in third-down conversion rate allowed (32.9 percent), fifth in fourth-down conversion rate allowed (31.3 percent), fourth in defensive goal-to-go efficiency (57.1 percent) and tied for eighth in defensive red-zone efficiency (50.0 percent).



These numbers all look daunting, but they may not even fully reflect just how well this defense is playing right now, especially against the pass.



Since Week 11 -- without injured DT Geno Atkins -- the Bengals have allowed only two bomb pass (aerials thrown 20 or more yards downfield) completions and have taken zero defensive pass penalties on 11 targets, and one of those two completions was a 74-yard touchdown pass to Josh Gordon, who is arguably the best wide receiver in the NFL.



Cincinnati has been just as stingy against deep passes (aerials thrown 11-19 yards), as it has given up only one completion and taken zero pass penalties in 17 targets at this route depth since Week 8.
 
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