The Cincinnati Bengals will enter Week 15 without starting quarterback Andy Dalton. It will be the first time in his career that he will miss a start. That’s a huge blow for a team that is currently the second seed in the AFC playoff race. They have a big matchup with the Denver Broncos coming in Week 16, but that game is sandwiched by games against the lowly San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens.
The Bengals are trying to do several things over these last few weeks: 1. Clinch the AFC North, 2. Secure a first round bye, and 3. Get home field advantage throughout the playoffs. They’ll be doing all of those things with backup quarterback A.J. McCarron, the former Alabama standout.
Luckily for the Bengals, they can secure the AFC North title and a first-round bye without any help from other teams. And winning the AFC North, even with McCarron, shouldn’t be overly difficult. If they can beat the 49ers and Ravens, they’ll win the division. Beating the Broncos on top of those wins would secure them a first round bye. All of that is certainly possible, despite the doom and gloom talk surrounding the team that is now without its MVP-candidate quarterback. With a New England loss over the course of these final weeks, the Bengals can gain home field advantage.
Remember, the Broncos are playing without Peyton Manning (at least this week) as he tries to recover from several injuries. Could the Broncos decide to go with Manning against the Bengals? Yes. But I still give the Bengals a 50-50 shot at that game.
Denver’s offense has been suspect all season long. Manning still leads the NFL in interceptions, despite only playing in nine games. The running game has regressed a great deal this year. The battle between the Denver offense and Cincinnati defense has an obvious slant towards the Bengals defense.
So throughout these next three weeks it’s entirely possible the Bengals can win out, go 13-3, and secure that first round bye to give Dalton, and the rest of the injured players, a little bit of much-needed rest before the playoffs.
But to get to 13-3, the Bengals have to score points. That is, of course, the biggest concern until Dalton makes his return. Can McCarron lead this team?
Well, the simple answer is yes.
Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson said that despite McCarron’s lack of playing time (he had only thrown four professional passes before Sunday) the offensive game plan won’t change. The feeling around Paul Brown Stadium is that McCarron can, and should, win these next three ball games.
Head coach Marvin Lewis has given McCarron high praise since preseason. He has said multiple times that he’s been impressed with McCarron. The coaching staff and the players all expect McCarron to come in without too much of a hitch.
Expecting him to do what Dalton has done would be silly. But, expecting him to be good enough to win is fine. He had a successful college career and looked good in his first considerable playing time against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The game last Sunday was more violent than any of these next three will be. Both teams were out to prove a point. The hits were hard, the talk was loud, and the post-play antics were heavy. If you wanted to set last Sunday’s game up as an episode of WWE, you could’ve easily did it. From the pre-game scuffle to A.J. Green’s punt into the stands, to William Gay’s interception-touchdown celebration, the game was full of everything.
For McCarron to come into that type of game and complete nearly 70 percent of his passes, it shows he’s poised. With a whole week of preparation, he should look much improved against the 49ers. The costliest impact of last week’s game were the two interceptions, both looked like rookie passes (McCarron is essentially a rookie after missing all of 2014). Take those out of the question and convert on a couple of key plays and the Bengals could’ve possibly escaped with a win.
But McCarron’s success may not depend so much on him. Jackson said the scheme wouldn’t change. However, I am willing to venture a guess that the Bengals may use Jeremy Hill a little more than they have to this point. Hill hasn’t run behind a lead blocker very often as the Bengals have changed into a more passer happy system. I assume we will see a lot of Ryan Hewitt come Sunday. If the Bengals can get Hill running like he did in the latter half of 2014, it’ll take a lot of pressure off of McCarron and the offense.
Another key factor for McCarron will be the health of his star tight end. Currently, Tyler Eifert is in the concussion protocol after a vicious hit from Steelers safety Mike Mitchell, having him back would be huge for McCarron as he has proven to be a big safety net for Dalton.
More so than Eifert, the Bengals had a banged up defense on Sunday. Adam Jones didn’t play, and George Iloka missed considerable time with a groin injury. Vontaze Burfict left the game multiple times due to a neck problem, amongst other things.
Getting those three playmakers healthy will be important for the Bengals to dominate defensively like they’ve done this year. They didn’t allow Roethlisberger to throw a touchdown pass on Sunday, despite being so banged up. Even though, the Steelers were gifted with great field position throughout the day. The Bengals made it look routine to hold them to field goals.
With increased health and an increased role from Jeremy Hill, the Bengals can weather this storm. McCarron is more than capable of getting the job done. He comes in with a ton of confidence (how could you not with his college history) and looks to lead this team however far they need him to. Dalton may not be able to go to the playoffs even after the good news that his thumb would not require surgery. With that in mind, McCarron needs to grow with each week in case the team calls upon him to try to end the playoff drought.
So while many Bengals fans and pundits across the nation give Cincinnati little to no hope, don’t count them out just yet. This team is still dangerous.
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