Despite a rookie season that stomped on any reasonable expectations, Andy Dalton still hears questions about his arm strength.
And sure, before he was drafted and through his first year with the Bengals, he was lauded mostly for things like leadership, decision-making and intangibles. Maybe he wasn't out there launching any Jeff George-style 70-yard frozen ropes.
But it's not like he had the arm of a little girl, either. It's not like he's out there throwing like Carl Lewis. His arm is at least adequate, as he showed last night on this 50-yard touchdown pass to A.J. Green.
That's a pretty throw. About 50 yards in the air, it got there quickly enough, and it didn't look like Dalton had to muster every bit of strength in his body to make it.
And after the game, Dalton made sure that those who think he's got a noodle-arm knew about it. Via Cincinnati.com:
The normally reserved Dalton, who is not known for colorful quotes, did take delight in the touchdown: "My arm feels great, and you can tell everybody that it's not even close to what I've got if I need it."I'd like to think that at that point, Dalton got up, ripped his shirt off and asked Mean Gene what he was going to do when the 24-inch pythons ran wild on him. There's no mention of it in the article, though. He probably didn't do that.
While we're here, let's make sure to credit A.J. Green, too, for making that throw pretty easy. He beat Asante Samuel with a little stutter step, then blew past him like Samuel was running in a pool of maple syrup.
Dalton went 8-of-14 on the night, for 125 yards and the touchdown. It's a nice bounce back from a lackluster first preseason game, in which he went 4-of-9 for just 54 yards. The Bengals took a 10-3 lead on Dalton's last play of the game (the touchdown to Green) and went to beat the Falcons, 24-19.
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