NFL Winners and Losers of Wild Card Weekend: Romo, Dalton, officials and more
By Andrew Garda
Losers: Andy Dalton
Meanwhile, off in Indianapolis we have Andy Dalton working hard to fulfill his “Dalton can’t win big games” narrative.
Personally, I have never been a big Dalton fan. I didn’t much like him coming out of college and while he has improved his game, I’m still not completely sold.
That said, he’s going to get unfairly killed for this loss to the Colts and for once I disagree.
Why is he in the loser column then? Because losing this game fed further into the story that Dalton cannot win a playoff game. The stats are damning to be sure – 0-4 record, six interceptions with just one touchdown pass and 873 passing yards is an ugly group of numbers.
That said, how much of this last loss can be realistically laid at his feet? He did fumble the ball and threw for just 155 yards and no touchdowns, but was without A.J. Green and had a banged up backfield. When your best receiver is Mohamed Sanu, you might be in trouble even against a shaky Colts defense. And when your leading receiver is a running back (Gio Bernard with 8 catches for 46 yards) it’s not a good sign.
A great quarterback would elevate the players around him – we’ve seen guys like Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers and in this game, Andrew Luck, do it. But not being a great quarterback isn’t the end of the world and won’t kill your Super Bowl chances.
This is one playoff game where the entirety of the loss cannot be placed on Dalton’s shoulders. It will be though, and that puts him in the loser column today.
Next: Winners: Baltimore Ravens