The Bengals will have to take their lumps this year with rookie quarterback Andy Dalton. That includes during the preseason.
Cincinnati went into halftime against the Lions Friday night down 24-3, in large part because Dalton couldn’t stretch the field. Dalton completed 11-of-15 passes, but only for 69 yards. On his first play, he threw an interception off his back foot while he was getting hit.
Dalton made decent decisions otherwise, but every throw was underneath. (His longest completion was 11 yards.)
That’s the bad news. The good news is that first-round pick A.J. Green looked like he belonged. He looked very smooth catching four passes for 29 yards. Jerome Simpson also had two grabs.
The game is at halftime and we expect Dalton to be on the sideline in the second half. Or else we have to re-write this damn thing.