Don't Just Blame Andy Dalton for Bengals' Latest Prime-Time Woes

The Cincinnati Bengals have lost two games in a row after an 8-0 start, causing some panic among fans. While Andy Dalton is usually the easy target in these situations, blaming him for the latest defeat would be a mistake.

Even in a 34-31 defeat to the Arizona Cardinals, the Bengals were very impressive. They took on a red-hot NFC contender in their own building and overcame a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit to tie the game with just over a minute remaining. It took an impressive final drive by Carson Palmer with no timeouts to earn the go-ahead field goal.

Amy Trask of CBS Sports discussed the high level of competition during the game:

Obviously, the players aren't too happy about taking a loss, especially after falling to the Houston Texans the week before. Cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick discussed the only thing that mattered after the game, per Coley Harvey of ESPN.com:

Despite this mindset, the truth is the Bengals didn't do much to lose the game; the Cardinals simply played better and won it. It was certainly a major improvement from a bad all-around showing against the Texans.

Dalton himself put up solid numbers Sunday night, totaling 315 passing yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions in the loss. A lot of that production came in the fourth quarter while keeping the team afloat despite a two-possession deficit. With the game on the line, he did almost everything he could to give the Bengals a chance to win.

Sure, this still goes down as a loss in the record books. Dalton now falls to 4-9 in prime-time games to add to his 0-4 playoff record, continuing the narrative that he struggles when the lights are brightest. Unfortunately, that would be oversimplifying the game.

It's true the quarterback made some mistakes. Most notably, a fumble deep in his own territory in the fourth quarter seemed like it would end the game right there. However, there was a lot of blame to go around to help explain this narrow loss.

One of the biggest issues Sunday was the defensive secondary, which had to go deep down the depth chart due to injuries. Adam "Pacman" Jones was inactive, while Darqueze Dennard and Shawn Williams picked up injuries during the game. Even Dre Kirkpatrick and Josh Shaw were banged up during the action, although their issues were not as serious.

Matt Williamson of ESPN easily summed it up:

These injuries forced inexperienced players into action, not something you want against one of the top passing teams in the NFL. Carson Palmer—who started the game with two early interceptions—eventually took advantage with four passing touchdowns. Not only did Larry Fitzgerald continue his strong season (eight catches for 90 yards), but J.J. Nelson came out of nowhere to total 142 receiving yards for the Cardinals in the win.

All of a sudden, a Bengals defense that entered the week No. 1 in the NFL with just 16.9 points allowed per game couldn't get a stop when needed.

Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Meanwhile, the offense didn't give Dalton as much help as usual. While the quarterback was able to scramble for 34 rushing yards on eight attempts, running backs Jeremy Hill and Giovani Bernard only managed 63 yards on the ground on 3.3 yards per carry. A.J. Green had a few big catches but could only bring in four of his 12 targets. Even the offensive line struggled at times to handle the Cardinals' blitzes, allowing four sacks.

When the team wasn't making physical mistakes it was making mental mistakes, finishing with 10 penalties for 108 yards. This included an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the final play that turned a potentially difficult field goal to win the game into a chip shot.

All these things went poorly, and yet the Bengals were right there to win the game against an elite opponent. Even in a loss, this is a good sign for the team going forward.

The seemingly insurmountable lead in the AFC North is down to just two games, but only two of the six remaining opponents have a winning record. Although the players shouldn't be happy about the loss, there is still plenty of reason for optimism about making the playoffs and beyond.

Dalton certainly makes his mistakes, but not every loss is simply because it was dark out. The quarterback made big plays when it mattered and just came up short. Although this might happen again in the future, Cincinnati will remain in good shape each week if the rest of the team does its job. 

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