HoosierCat Posted August 25, 2014 Report Share Posted August 25, 2014 With the starting units pretty much done for the preseason (at most they'll get a series each next week) I thought I'd take a look at how Dalton's numbers this year stacked up against his performance in the last three preseasons. The numbers turned out to be interesting, at least to me.2011: 35/60/328/1/3, QB rating 59.6, 60.0% completion rate, 5.5 yard average2012: 20/44/245/1/0, QB rating 70.7, 45.5% completion rate, 5.6 yard average2013: 25/38/283/1/1, QB rating 85.7, 65.8% completion rate, 7.4 yard average2014: 24/34/372/1/0, QB rating 116.3, 70.6% completion rate, 10.9 yard averageNow, the numbers aren't quite apples to apples as the prior seasons include the fourth game, but that game accounts for only a small number of passes (6/9 in 2011, 3/4 in 2012 and 1/1 last year). Unless he throws an unprecedented number of balls in the finale, which is highly unlikely, he will have thrown the fewest or second-fewest preseason passes of his career. I suspect that's the commitment to the run showing up.Despite few throws, his average has skyrocketed. The big beneficiaries have been Green, averaging 18.7 yards a catch versus a career 14.7, and Sanu, up to 18 yards a grab versus a career 9.7. Obviously the sample size is tiny and the averages will almost certainly decline, but any way you slice it it's a stark change for the better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cincyhokie Posted August 25, 2014 Report Share Posted August 25, 2014 It looks promising, for sure.I hope he can have more pocket presence as seen in the pass to Gresham, as opposed to the ones in the flat where he looks scared. If he can shake his tendency to get rattled when the line is having a bad day, he'll take giant leaps. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skyline Posted August 25, 2014 Report Share Posted August 25, 2014 Yep, there is absolutely nothing to be upset with this preseason as far as Dalton as concerned.You can argue that we're just seeing "Good Andy" right now and that "Bad Andy" is due for an appearance. If that's your stance, then fine, but it doesn't leave much to discuss at this point. We'll just have to wait and see.Personally, I see a combination of growth as a player and a new offensive system that doesn't put too much on his shoulders. And this isn't to say that we need to have him throw the ball less to hide his deficiencies. This is saying that EVERY NFL QB is going to benefit from a balanced offense, which has been sorely missing from these parts ever since Andy joined the team.I've been pleased to see VERY accurate passes from Dalton. We've seen some beautiful deep balls. My favorite play last night was Dalton hitting Sanu across the middle while under pressure. He stood strong in the pocket, threw a perfect spiral, and put the ball exactly where it needed to be. It was really an elite level type of pass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoosierCat Posted August 25, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 25, 2014 I've noticed a couple things about Andy's play this preseason. One, he's not running away from pressure. Commonly in the past, the second things start to break down he would roll out and end up either throwing out of bounds or running out of bounds. This year he has seemed a lot more willing to hang in the pocket.Related, he's also stepping up in the pocket more, which might be because there's space to do so. For all the grumbling about Bodine's shortcomings in run blocking, his pass protection already looks stouter than Cook's IMHO.Finally, overall, pass protection looks better. Yeah, it's preseason, vanilla defenses and all that, but I am routinely seeing space around Dalton. His pocket is bigger and cleaner and holding up a tad longer. There were a couple times last night where he was holding the ball and holding the ball and holding the ball...and he got time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cincyhokie Posted August 25, 2014 Report Share Posted August 25, 2014 I've noticed a couple things about Andy's play this preseason. One, he's not running away from pressure. Commonly in the past, the second things start to break down he would roll out and end up either throwing out of bounds or running out of bounds. This year he has seemed a lot more willing to hang in the pocket.Related, he's also stepping up in the pocket more, which might be because there's space to do so. For all the grumbling about Bodine's shortcomings in run blocking, his pass protection already looks stouter than Cook's IMHO.Finally, overall, pass protection looks better. Yeah, it's preseason, vanilla defenses and all that, but I am routinely seeing space around Dalton. His pocket is bigger and cleaner and holding up a tad longer. There were a couple times last night where he was holding the ball and holding the ball and holding the ball...and he got time.Good god, and Boling even looked good last night. Boling. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
COB Posted August 25, 2014 Report Share Posted August 25, 2014 I've noticed a couple things about Andy's play this preseason. One, he's not running away from pressure. Commonly in the past, the second things start to break down he would roll out and end up either throwing out of bounds or running out of bounds. This year he has seemed a lot more willing to hang in the pocket.Related, he's also stepping up in the pocket more, which might be because there's space to do so. For all the grumbling about Bodine's shortcomings in run blocking, his pass protection already looks stouter than Cook's IMHO.Finally, overall, pass protection looks better. Yeah, it's preseason, vanilla defenses and all that, but I am routinely seeing space around Dalton. His pocket is bigger and cleaner and holding up a tad longer. There were a couple times last night where he was holding the ball and holding the ball and holding the ball...and he got time.Take Andy's letter jacket off please. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoosierCat Posted August 25, 2014 Author Report Share Posted August 25, 2014 Take Andy's letter jacket off please.Well, OK, but only 'cause I have to take it to the cleaners to get all the stains out... Seriously, both his style of play and the protection have looked improved to me. Does that carry over into the regular season? I dunno. My rule of thumb for preseason has always been that if something is working, that's good but it may not carry over; if something is not working, it won't work once the season starts, either. Which is why the most alarming thing to me from last night is the lack of pressure from the defense. Hall needs more time to get back to football shape, Dennard is a rookie, Newman is savvy but clearly slowing down and Kirkpatrick can't be relied on because he sprains his knee taking a leak. If we can't get pressure they can be taken advantage of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skyline Posted August 25, 2014 Report Share Posted August 25, 2014 Take Andy's letter jacket off please.Well, OK, but only 'cause I have to take it to the cleaners to get all the stains out... Seriously, both his style of play and the protection have looked improved to me. Does that carry over into the regular season? I dunno. My rule of thumb for preseason has always been that if something is working, that's good but it may not carry over; if something is not working, it won't work once the season starts, either. Which is why the most alarming thing to me from last night is the lack of pressure from the defense. Hall needs more time to get back to football shape, Dennard is a rookie, Newman is savvy but clearly slowing down and Kirkpatrick can't be relied on because he sprains his knee taking a leak. If we can't get pressure they can be taken advantage of.Agreed regarding the pass rush, but vanilla gameplans do play a part in it all. Hopefully Guenther will prove himself capable of keeping offenses guessing and on their toes once the real defensive schemes come out.And hopefully Geno will regain his form sooner rather than later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
COB Posted August 25, 2014 Report Share Posted August 25, 2014 Geno seemed to be unable to beat his man, a fact Collinsworth repeatedly highlighted. But this early in his comeback from that injury, I am glad just to see him play. And he didn't limp off or reinjure his knee. Fact - I am just plain scared of Geno Atkins. Dude is a menace, and I think by mid season he'll be crushing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArmyBengal Posted August 25, 2014 Report Share Posted August 25, 2014 Hall is my big concern for the defense right now, followed by Geno in need of shaking off the rust.Hall has looked behind plays in each of the preseason games to this point and makes me wonder.There's still time, but I will continue watching him come along. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingwilly Posted August 25, 2014 Report Share Posted August 25, 2014 Hall didn't look sharp, nor did Akins. still time for them to get right. And there is some depth to shore it up till then.The WR depth is a bit of a concern. Gresham is still a puzzle of ability and consistency. Eifert could be an animal a la Graham or Gronk but he's still kind of green. RB group is probably the most solid, at this point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
essexjohnson Posted August 25, 2014 Report Share Posted August 25, 2014 Being there to see the team last night, I was really impressed with Andy. Just watching him throw in pre-game I didn't see a single bad pass. They had horrible field position. He never looked in a panic to me. The crowd was loud pretty full house. Arizona has a good defense. Some of those throws he made had plenty of zip. I'm more concerned with our ability to run. With the D in general and our depth. It was great to finally see them live Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gregcook68 Posted August 25, 2014 Report Share Posted August 25, 2014 One thing ive noticed that is different is that Green is fighting for the ball so far this year, which was one of Jackson's goals he challenged Green with. There was one pass last night that he went TO the ball, that last year he wouldn't have done, resulting in an incomplete pass or pick.Only because of stats ive seen here and other forums, was I able to get the trivia they had last night on the comparison of the stats on the first 3 years of Peyton and Andy.Did anyone guess correctly on that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShulaSteakhouse Posted August 26, 2014 Report Share Posted August 26, 2014 Dalton isn't throwing INT's so far - more than anything that's what I care about with him (needs to cut those in half, at least). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArmyBengal Posted August 26, 2014 Report Share Posted August 26, 2014 Agree about liking VERY much in not seeing Dalton throw any picks to this point in time.Hopefully, as Hoosier mentioned, it translates to the regular season.If he doesn't throw a pick against the Ravens in the opener, I give the Bengals a better than average chance of leaving with the "W". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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