It’s elite plays like the one below that keep drives going and, more importantly, take advantage of one-on-one opportunities that Dalton puts up for him.
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At the start of training camp past year, he was greeted by a fan banner calling for his backup to start. He’s responding to treatment and he’s getting better and better.
“He’s been under a lot of pressure here from Day One”, left tackle Andrew Whitworth said. He feels that it is a “shame” for the Trojan players to not have a place to look to for leadership and that the timing couldn’t have been worse. The Bills would love a low scoring game, and the atmosphere at Ralph Wilson Stadium could help their cause. The fifth-year quarterback has been spectacular during the Bengals’ 5-0 run, ranking among the NFL’s top passers in every category.
The weekly NFL Films’ program “reviews Andy Dalton’s performance on Sunday and provides an analysis of his consistent play through the first five games of the 2015 campaign”. He also ranks fourth among quarterbacks with 187 rushing yards. “We’re 5-0 and that’s huge”.
“When you want people talking about you, you don’t want them talking negatively about you”, Dalton said. Despite spearheading Cincinnati to a 5-0 start, Dalton’s shaky track record – the playoffs are essentially his Gigli – has hindered his rise on DFS boards. Tyler Eifert has emerged as possibly the second-best tight end in the National Football League, dominating in the seam and finishing on plays away from his body against safeties and linebackers. “You’re your best and you can really trust what you’re doing out there”.
Dalton steadily improved over the course of the following two seasons, culminating in a 2013 campaign in which he completed 61.9 percent of his passes for 4,296 yards with a 33-to-20 touchdown-to-interception ratio. And to his credit, Dalton has thoroughly impressed in his ability to utilize all the weapons this Bengals offensive game-plan has at its disposal. He doesn’t blink, he doesn’t flinch. But I can show you tons of plays where offensive linemen are jumping on guys all the time and it’s not a big deal. “He is playing his tail off”. Quite frankly, without the threat of his running, I’m not sure he’s much better than EJ Manuel.
“Jeremy hasn’t had the success that he had a year ago, and I think that’s what everybody’s looking for”, Jackson said.
Dalton’s play merits a few MVP discussion, and it’s a needed change from the aggressive narrative that Dalton is a bad quarterback simply because of his playoff output.
Watkins said he needs to be out there on the field even though he knows he won’t be in the best playing shape. It is safe to say that Jones, at age 32, is Adam Jones off the football field, a man who is respectful of others and mindful of past errors he does not want to make again. More senior Field Gullers than I have made this point already, but Seattle led 24-7 after three quarters in the back garden of a potential Super Bowl participant.
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The Bills expect to get WR Sammy Watkins back in the lineup, but who will be trying to get the ball to him remains uncertain, as does who that quarterback will be handing off to. Hall was held out of Wednesday’s practice completely, so his limited participation was an improvement.
