If you watched Thursday Night Football this week, you got to see what happens when the Red Rifle has an off night -- Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton was a complete trainwreck against the Browns.
That feels kind, as does any of the criticism levied by my colleagues Josh Katzowitz (10 Things to Know) and Ryan Wilson (Grades; F). We like Dalton, too; he gets a bad rap and is treated like pre-Super Bowl Joe Flacco with different-colored hair and less eyebrow.
Everyone has a bad day at the office. But you can't show up to work for the biggest meeting of the year unshaven, reeking of Rumple Minze and not wearing any pants.
Unfortunately, Dalton (metaphorically, we think) did just that. Step into my office, bro.
| Worst Passer Rating, Bengals QBs 20+ Pass Attempts, History of Time | ||||||
| QB | Year | QB Rating | Att | Comp | Yards | Yards/Att |
| Andy Dalton | 2014 | 2.0 | 33 | 10 | 86 | 2.6 |
| David Klingler | 1994 | 6.2 | 30 | 10 | 115 | 3.8 |
Just two men in the long, proud history of the Cincinnati Bengals have produced a stat line like last night. More importantly: Dalton's quarterback rating was 2.0. As in two. Dos. Deux. UTAH.
Speaking of the number two: someone created a video of every Dalton interception. It's two minutes long!
But Dalton wasn't just terrible from a local perspective.
| These Are Very Bad Games | ||||||
| QB | Year | Comp % | Yards | TD | INT | Rate |
| Andy Dalton | 2014 | 30.3 | 86 | 0 | 3 | 2.0 |
| Kordell Stewart | 1998 | 31.4 | 84 | 0 | 3 | 5.1 |
| Vince Ferragamo | 1984 | 33.3 | 82 | 0 | 4 | 2.8 |
| Gary Marangi | 1976 | 26.7 | 83 | 0 | 3 | 0.0 |
| Jack Concannon | 1969 | 34.3 | 79 | 0 | 3 | 7.4 |
The specific P-F-R search criteria we used here? All-time NFL, less than 35 percent completions, more than 30 pass attempts, less than 90 passing yards and 3 or more interceptions.
Not that it really matters: the point being we're talking about one of the absolute worst games you've seen a quarterback play in NFL history. And, yeah, there was some wind out there but Brian Hoyer did OK for the Browns.
Putting up a game like this as a $100 million quarterback (yes, we know about guarantees, please stop mentioning that) in today's pass-happy NFL. Maybe Comic Book Guy is onto something.
