The biggest knock on Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton after his rookie year was that his arm wasn’t strong enough for the job.
Dalton said this offseason that he’d worked on his footwork to help him throw better deep balls this season. It looks like the work has paid off.
Dalton hit A.J. Green for a 50-yard touchdown in the second quarter against the Falcons on a pass that no one would call lacking something in the zip department. Green beat Falcons corner Asante Samuel with a double move and was wide open for Dalton’s pass, which was delivered exactly where it needed to be for six.
It wasn’t the only time Dalton let the ball fly downfield and all of the throws, even the ones that didn’t find their target, were strong enough. Dalton was done for the night in the second quarter after going 8-of-14 for 125 yards and the Bengals offense might have put up more than 10 points if not for a fumble by fill-in tailback Brian Leonard.