As I've always said, don't overreact to what happens in Week 1 of a given NFL season. Take the Patriots’ rebound performance against the Saints in Week 2, for example.
But what if a team's lousy opening game is followed by another ugly outing? That's when team executives really get concerned that it could be a long season with a crescendo of fan and media criticism.
After their dismal 0-2 start with a pair of home losses in which they didn't score a touchdown, the Bengals are in this undesirable position. They responded by firing offensive coordinator Ken Zampese and promoting quarterbacks coach Bill Lazor. The first move Lazor should make is to convince coach Marvin Lewis to bench quarterback Andy Dalton and give AJ McCarron a chance to spark a dormant offense.
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Bengals fans wanting Dalton out as the starter is nothing new. His 0-4 playoff record with one touchdown, six interceptions and two lost fumbles (and a dismal 57.8 passer rating) in postseason games have made him a target. The Bengals' decision to give him a $16 million-per-year extension starting in 2015 was considered questionable at the time and even more debatable after his lackluster 2016 season. And now there's the poor start to this year.
Dalton's current passer rating of 47.2 ranks dead last among NFL quarterbacks who started the first two weeks. He has no touchdown passes, four interceptions and one lost fumble. Yes, he has faced two good defenses in the Ravens and Texans, and his shaky offensive line has allowed eight sacks. But Dalton has been inaccurate (54.5 percent completion rate) and lacking in game-changing plays.
He has been unable to find star receiver A.J. Green at crunch time — Green had one catch for zero yards in the fourth quarter of the Houston game — which made the usually-quiet receiver speak out about his lack of targets. Yes, that's on Zampese for not being creative in how Green was utilized (rarely in motion, for example), but it's also on Dalton for not giving Green more chances to make the kinds of plays he made in the first half of the game.
Given what we've seen in the shutout loss to Baltimore and Cincinnati's 13-9 defeat on national TV against Houston, Brown should strongly suggest to Lewis, who is a lame duck in his last contract year, that it's time to find out what McCarron can do in extended duty. That's because this team needs to do something to change its negative mojo and calm the Paul Brown Stadium boobirds who don't believe in Dalton.
I've worked with many coaches who would pull the starting QB to try to spark a team. I remember Vikings Hall of Fame coach Bud Grant replacing starter Bob Lee with rookie Tommy Kramer in a 1977 game against the 49ers, and Kramer threw three fourth-quarter touchdown passes to bring the team back from a 17-point deficit and win 28-27.
During the 1985 season, Wade Wilson started a game in Philadelphia but was pulled by Grant in favor of Steve Bono as the Vikings fell behind 23-0. Wilson was reinserted after Bono struggled, and the original starter threw three fourth-quarter TD passes to lead the team to victory.
When the Bengals are getting beat 20-0 by the Ravens, why not make a change at the most impactful position? You have a fourth-year quarterback in McCarron who won two national titles at Alabama, so why not give him a shot when Dalton could not get anything going? Against Houston, it was three field goals and lots of missed opportunities, but still not one snap for the backup.
McCarron is an impending restricted free agent, so it behooves the Bengals to see whether he can reclaim his college magic or if they need to look again to the draft. Above all, in this quarterback-driven NFL, the Bengals are not going to be an elite team until they find a new franchise passer. Dalton obviously is not that guy.
Andy Dalton and AJ McCarron (Getty Images)
Three years into Dalton's current contract, Bengals owner Mike Brown is in a position to jettison his quarterback after this season and take a modest $2.4 million dead money hit to the 2018 salary cap. Cincinnati is not married to Dalton, as so many teams are after giving their starting QBs big deals.
Lewis treats Dalton as if he's a superstar who should never be pulled. Sorry, Marvin, but nobody is mistaking Dalton for Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers. Beyond his college success, McCarron has a decent NFL track record in his limited opportunities. When Dalton was out with a fractured thumb late in the 2015 season, McCarron played well with a 97.1 passer rating (six touchdowns and two interceptions) and nearly pulled off an upset of the Steelers in an 18-16 playoff loss.
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Next up for Cincinnati is a road game in Green Bay against the aforementioned Rodgers and the Packers — not necessarily a good place for Dalton to get the offense in gear. Then comes a trip to Cleveland, which would be a great place for McCarron to take over if Lewis doesn't give him a shot this week.
By the time the Bengals return home on Oct. 8 to face the Bills, if things continue as they've gone and McCarron is not the starter, Lewis will face a surly Bengals crowd and an unhappy team owner.
That’s not ideal for Lewis considering his precarious contract situation.
Jeff Diamond is a former president of the Titans and former vice president/general manager of the Vikings. He was selected NFL Executive of the Year in 1998. Diamond is currently a business and sports consultant who also does broadcast and online media work. He is the former chairman and CEO of The Ingram Group. Follow Jeff on Twitter: @jeffdiamondNFL.
