But there’s good news for Cincinnati as the cast on Dalton’s hand was removed last Monday, according to reports, although it is uncertain if he is set to start again.
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But the Cincinnati Bengals head coach went out of his way on Tuesday to drop the Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver’s name into the league MVP conversation.
Call it a “Mean Joe” Greene moment, except McCarron was no child actor, and he got a wristband from the football star instead of a jersey.
“I’d love to be in there playing”, Dalton said.
It was an unlikely situation, all of it.
If Andy Dalton is ruled eligible to play this week or next, if they make it, who do the Bengals go with as their starting quarterback? The Bengals were finally in the playoffs and were riding high as the Steeler rolled in for Wildcard Weekend 2006.
If/when that happens, it will add another interesting chapter to the quarterbacks’ relationship-one that goes back more than a decade.
Is there one person on the team who can possibly stop Antonio Brown?
The problem in facing the Steelers is you’re going to get a battle as long as Ben Roethlisberger is alive and has at least one leg to throw from. Receiver Mohamed Sanu has taken snaps in wildcat formations and could be an emergency quarterback. The Bengals haven’t won a single playoff game since 1990, the longest active playoff win drought in the NFL. The Chiefs have won a league-best and franchise-record 10 straight games. The Chiefs haven’t won a single playoff game since 1993, when Joe Montana was the starting quarterback.
“That’s about when I found out was late, I wasn’t paying attention to the scoreboard, I had enough to worry about with what was going on on the field with us”, Roethlisberger said.
And then he gets a chance to show how far he’s grown in the past month.
Dalton has been sidelined since injuring the thumb in Week 14 trying to make a tackle after throwing an interception (ironically, against these same Steelers). It was the fifth time this season they recorded five sacks or more in a single game.
McCarron played another largely mistake-free game Sunday, passing for 160 yards and two touchdowns against the Ravens.
It could be argued that these three games, although they are the most recent games played, is too small of a sample size. But the reality is, when Denver hung on, it did become a lot about McCarron. “And when you have opportunity, take it away”, said Lewis, when asked what it will take to beat a division rival that has lost just three times in PBS since it opened in 2000. On the other hand, if they run the ball the clock will keep running even if they do not gain any yards on a certain play. That kind of led to our demise on offense and losing the game.
Notes: The Bengals have sold all of their single-game tickets for Saturday…. They’ll have one on Wednesday indicating which players are limited…. Rookie LB Trevor Roach was promoted from the practice squad. McCarron recalled that after the loss to Pittsburgh, he talked to Ben Roethlisberger and told him that he’d watched him play with Miami (Ohio) in the 2003 GMAC Bowl in Mobile.
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“I remember him giving me a wristband and just how cool it was”, McCarron said. I’m happy for him and happy for this team to be in this position.
