Disaster in Cincinnati. Following an intercepted pass by Andy Dalton on Sunday, the Bengals’ franchise quarterback broke his thumb and the prognosis is murky. Offensive coordinator Hue Jackson said he’s not reluctant to let McCarron throw a lot if necessary.
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Dalton found out on Monday that the thumb won’t need surgery, so there’s a chance he could return this season if the fracture heals quickly.
“It’s easy to see the Bengals as a defensive minded team – as they have been most of Dalton’s career – but his impact on the Bengals” record this season can not be overstated. But the former Banks High School standout didn’t start any of those games, although he was involved in one of the most famous trick plays in Super Bowl history, stepping under center with the Giants in punt formation during the 21 Super Bowl and picking up a first down against the Broncos. Andy Dalton made a tackle after throwing an interception on the first drive that ended up with his throwing hand smashing against Stephon Tuitt’s knee.
“I think it’s just him knowing where he needs to be and me knowing where he’s going to be”, McCarron said. “That gave us the best chance to win”. He won’t play this week.
On Sunday the Bengals play against a 49ers defense which has not been able to get pressure and make turnovers so McCarron has a good match-up. A quarterback from Alabama hasn’t won an National Football League game as a starter since Jeff Rutledge in 1987, according to STATS. AJ McCarron is a quarterback out of University of Alabama, the same quarterback that led Alabama to three BCS Championships, was a 2 time SEC Champion, a Maxwell Award victor, and Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award victor.
McCarron was a fifth-round pick past year but missed all of his rookie season with a sore passing shoulder. Cincinnati is 5-1 against the spread against a team with a losing record, 6-0 against the spread in their last six road games, and 10-2-1 against the spread in their last 13 games. The real question though is, should we be anxious that he can’t lead this team? Without it, Cincinnati is once again a lame duck come playoff time. New England Patriots 4. None of those things happened, but Cincinnati has three games remaining to get the needed victory, playing San Francisco, Denver and Baltimore. They hooked up on completions of 6, 66, 4, 18, 21 yards.
Amazingly, the ESPN crew only dropped the Bengals one spot as they’re not ready to fault them too much before actually seeing what McCarron can do now that he has a full week to prepare as the starter.
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Notes: McCarron didn’t get the football from either of his first two NFL touchdown passes.
