Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton is no stranger to criticism of his play, but he’s able to celebrate a commendation on Wednesday.
Dalton has been named the AFC’s offensive player of the week for his play in the Bengals’ 27-24 Week Six victory over the Bills. Dalton went 4-of-4 for 55 yards in overtime and was able to guide the team into position for Mike Nugent’s game-winning field goal on the team’s second possession of the extra quarter.
Dalton was 26-of-40 for 337 yards and three touchdowns -- the first he’d thrown since Week Three -- as the Bengals improved to 4-2 on the season. It is the second time that Dalton has picked up weekly honors in the conference.
Bengals receivers picked up a good chunk of their yards after the catch on Sunday as the Bengals continued to eschew throws down the field against Buffalo. Those throws have been a frequent trigger for the aforementioned criticism of Dalton over his three years in the NFL and they’ll likely continue to be if defenses start taking away the short stuff without Dalton making them pay for it.
That’s a question for another time, though, because the Bills didn’t take those passes away and Dalton was able to exploit the opportunities often enough to pull out a road win in overtime.