The Cincinnati Bengals are not known for hitting the deep ball with anybody other than A.J. Green, but they went up top on Sunday afternoon to Marvin Jones against the San Diego Chargers. Winning 7-6, Dalton took a deep drop and unloaded a perfect deep ball to Jones, who torched Brandon Flowers and skipped into the end zone.
Dalton is rolling early, hitting of 11-of-14 for 132 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The former second-round pick in 2011 out of TCU has been pretty solid for the most part in the regular season, even making the Pro Bowl last year despite a down season. The problem with Dalton has always been his ability to win in big moments, losing all four of the playoff games he has played in.
Cincinnati has looked really good thus far on offense throughout its first game and a half. The Bengals scored 33 points in Week 1 against a supposedly improved Oakland Raiders team before winning by 20 points on the road. Dalton has looked like a different player early on, trying to get the ball downfield to Green, Jones and tight end Tyler Eifert.
The Bengals are in a division that could take 10 or 11 wins to take. Cincinnati is trying to make the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season, something that has never been done in franchise history.