QB Andy Dalton’s return of form impresses Cincinnati Bengals coach Marvin Lewis – NFL News
A couple of consecutive losses during initial phase of the season frustrated Cincinnati Bengals coach Marvin Lewis so much that he issued an informal ultimatum to quarterback Andy Dalton and linebacker Rey Maualuga to lead their departments truly from front
and the result is that both leaders have remarkably improved since then.
The offence leader is a hero of the Bengals’ last year’s impressive show-off that helped them to progress to playoffs after many years, although they could not sustain pressure of the second phase and were ousted in very first game they played.
Andy was rather sluggish at the start of this season, which resulted in an embarrassing loss to the Baltimore Ravens in the opener. It was followed by their close-margin victories and four consecutive losses before the coach pressed the panic button.
Coach Marvin believes that his warning has paid them off timely enough that the Bengals are riding on a three-game winning streak and all the wins have come with a wide margin lead.
He said:
"Their play is hopefully a by-product of the reinforcement of their abilities that I gave them, the empowerment of their abilities, and the `at-a-boys' to move forward but take control of it all."
It is not just coach who sees the change on the surface but the numbers the quarterback has attained since being given the ultimatum speak of the transformation in the player’s performance.
Since the coach’s concern, the QB has been able to score 10 touchdowns, has completed 62 percent of passes and has a 105.7 passer rating. He just had an interception, which reflects on his ability of playing safe.
Offensive coordinator Jay Gruden has a different view of the offence leader, which is more to his character than the game.
Jay said:
"You know what? I don't see Andy as a changed player. I think Andy is always going to be Andy. He's going to lead by example and he's a very competitive guy, but he's not a very vocal guy. He's not the type of guy that's going to yell at guys for s******g
up. He's going to try to correct guys.”
Thanks to superb performance by Dalton, the Bengals have revived their playoff chance again this season. The way the Pittsburgh Steelers are struggling on the field with a number of their key players injured, the Bengals appear to be easing into the second
round steadily.
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