He broke his thumb late that season and missed the playoff game against the Steelers - a two-point loss.ĭalton’s passer rating plunged to 91.8 the next season, and that’s the last time he has broken 90. The Bengals were in the top 12 in scoring defense in Dalton’s first six seasons, and Green averaged nearly 1,200 yards during that span, but they topped out at 12-4 in 2015 and couldn’t get past the first round of the playoffs.ĭalton was at the center of that 2015 success with the best statistical season of his career: 25 touchdown passes, seven interceptions, 250 yards per game and a 106.2 passer rating. 35 early in the second round.īut it never amounted to significant success.
It was a fortuitous draft class for the Bengals as they picked up future star wide receiver A.J. The Bears hope it means the difference between their offense meandering, like it has the last two seasons, and clicking under Dalton.ĭalton won the Bengals’ starting job as a rookie in 2011 - he was almost 24, compared to Fields coming in at 22 - and played well enough to help them reach the playoffs with a top-10 defense. He’s not perfect, but nothing shakes him or sends him into a panic. The Bears say he made exactly one mental mistake during the entirety of the preseason. He has taken 8,407 snaps in 148 games (playoffs included) and seen every imaginable defense. They believe they still have a playoff-caliber defense and they just need a quarterback who won’t waste it.Įnter Dalton. But, for better or worse, they’ve never been willing to concede this season as merely filler while everyone waits for the Fields era. They fought off at least the 49ers, if not others, to sign an almost-34-year-old who spent last season as a backup for the Cowboys.ĭalton will start the season opener Sunday at the Rams and is a placeholder for the Bears as they get first-round pick Justin Fields ready for what they hope will be a Chiefs-like ascent to championship contention.
#Chicago bears andy dalton free#
If they couldn’t trade for Russell Wilson, Dalton was at the top of their list in free agency. While most of the NFL would yawn at the opportunity to sign Dalton, the Bears pushed past other teams to do it.
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