Nov. 07--Andy Dalton signed a six-year, $115-million deal with Cincinnati during the off-season. Luckily for the Bengals, the majority of that money is not guaranteed.
OK, so that's a bit harsh. Sorry about that. I really shouldn't kick a guy when he's down.
And, boy, is Dalton down after his performance during the Bengals' 24-3 loss to the Cleveland Browns on "Thursday Night Football."
The fourth-year quarterback completed 10 of 33 passes for 86 yards with no touchdowns and three interceptions for a passer rating of 2.0 (out of a possible 158.3). It's the first time since 1983 and only the fifth time since 1960 that an NFL quarterback came out with a rating that low after attempting at least 30 passes.
His passer rating is also the lowest ever for a Bengals quarterback attempting 20 or more passes.
And then there's that completion percentage of 33%, which is the lowest in the NFL since 1992 for a quarterback attempting 30 or more passes.
Of course, it was very windy Thursday night at Paul Brown Stadium. But Cleveland's Brian Hoyer managed to complete 15 of 23 passes for 198 yards.
Plus, tons of NFL quarterbacks have had to play in some pretty awful conditions through the year. And few of them had nights worse than Dalton's.
But there I go being harsh again. It's pretty safe to say no one feels worse about it than Dalton, whose Bengals drop to to 5-3-1 and from first to third in the extremely competitive AFC North.
