Andy Dalton has not been having his greatest season. His interceptions are higher than usual and his completion percentage is down from a year ago. The Cincinnati Bengals may lead the AFC North by 2 ½ games, but the quarterback is in the middle of a terrible three-game stretch for the team. As the Bengals head into their bye week, the quarterback is reassuring everyone that his confidence has not been shaken despite recent struggles.
Dalton put up exactly 93 passing yards against the Cleveland Browns while tossing two interceptions in the process. AJ Green took some of the blame off Dalton, claiming he was responsible for the picks. He posted a career-low 3.7 quarterback rating as many fans booed his poor play. Dalton is not letting the reaction from the fans hurt his confidence. In fact the quarterback believes he is playing better than ever right now.
"We've done some good things and we've struggled in some areas," Dalton said, via ESPN.com. "For us, the biggest thing is consistency. We've got to find ways to keep scoring points and to give ourselves a chance to win games. I'm a lot better than I was the last two years. There's some things that I've done this year that I didn't do the last couple of years. For me, I've got to keep improving and keep trying to get better."
While Dalton has fallen under heavy criticism for his streaky play, head coach Marvin Lewis has nothing but confidence in his quarterback. The coach is not phased over the booing from fans saying, "Fans do what they do, because they don't know what was supposed to happen."
Naturally, Lewis was asked about the possibility of Dalton earning a contract extension in the range of $100 million. That has become the new starting salary for franchise quarterbacks. Last offseason, Aaron Rodgers, Tony Romo, Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco all got extensions over the $100-million mark. Now granted both Rodgers and Flacco has Super Bowl rings on their fingers, but Romo and Ryan have limited success making many wonder if Dalton is the next to get paid.
"He's our quarterback and he's going to be our quarterback for a long time," Lewis said in response to the contract questions.
So, does that mean he getting a large pay raise? Dalton is 0-2 in the postseason in his career, but he is well on his way to making his third appearance, putting together a resume much like Ryan's. As long as Lewis remains confident that Dalton will be the guy for a long time, he could see a nice contract headed his way soon enough.
