Andy Dalton’s pivotal year

What started as a common misconception has evolved into an epidemic. With all of the hype the National Football League attracts, the roles surrounding it have been skewed.

The fans are no longer just fans; they’re critics and “experts.” The writers are no longer just there to learn information and tell stories. They’ve become firing squads and prophets.

The NFL has somehow transitioned into a Game of Thrones atmosphere where even the smallest of missteps can get your character killed off the show. But that’s the problem with the majority of personalities who preach knowledge of the game but are not in the locker room or in front office.

Their opinions are too polarized.

If a wide receiver hasn’t been able to bust through coverages like he did the season before, he’s lost it. Let’s not pay attention to the fact that the coaches are paid to make adjustments and keep that wide receiver from going off again.

Larry Fitzgerald was considered “done” after only catching two touchdowns and racking up just 784 receiving yards last year. And now he’s on pace for 1,000 receiving yards and double-digit touchdowns.

Polarization has become one of the NFL’s biggest weaknesses, and many talented players don’t get the benefit of the doubt because the writers in the press box have already swung their gavels. From Fitzgerald to Jay Cutler… all the way to Brandon Marshall and Darrelle Revis. Remember when Revis was “exposed” as a Tampa Bay Buccaneer? Yeah, now how does he look?

Success in the NFL is about more than talent. It’s about schemes, relationships, trust, percentages, etc. There are plenty of factors that go into who wins the game, but that hasn’t stopped the polarization of one of the NFL’s biggest victims: Andy Dalton.

First of all, let’s acknowledge what Dalton was “supposed to be” for the Cincinnati Bengals. Everyone seems to forget the Bengals were vulnerable when they drafted Dalton at No. 35 overall in the 2011 NFL Draft. Carson Palmer hung that team out to dry by demanding a trade. A 32-year-old Chad Johnson was their biggest offensive threat.

In came Dalton and A.J. Green in what was supposed to be a throw-away year. Who expected a rookie quarterback from TCU to lead the Bengals to a 9-7 record and a playoff appearance? That was not supposed to happen. Dalton was aligned to be a placeholder until they had a chance to draft a “franchise quarterback.” Nope, he thew 20 touchdowns and just 13 interceptions. He completed 58 percent of his passes and threw for 3,398 yards.

Three more years have passed since Dalton unglamorously made a name for himself, but the expectations sky rocketed from Dalton being a temporary solution to him leading the Bengals to a Super Bowl.

Listen, it’s a rare chance for any quarterback to play in a Super Bowl. Most never have that luxury.

But the judges and juries — typing away on their laptops and fixing their fantasy lineups — called for Dalton’s head after the Bengals lost to the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC Wild Card game last year.

“How can he be a good quarterback when he’s 0-4 in the playoffs?”

“Dalton just isn’t a good quarterback. What’s he done in the postseason?”

“The Bengals will never compete if Dalton is their quarterback. He doesn’t show up when it counts.”

It’s quite amazing how the entire world forgets that Peyton Manning didn’t win a playoff game until his fourth season with the Colts. He was 3-6 in the postseason until the Colts won the Super Bowl in 2006.

Do you realize Manning had 111 passing touchdowns through his first four seasons. Dalton had 99 through the same number of games. Manning threw 81 interceptions during that time while Dalton threw 66 picks. Yet, with the help of Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne, Manning stepped up as the leader and did what we all knew he could do.

Why can’t Dalton do the same? His statistics are actually somewhat favorable to Manning’s through their first four years. But no, we want to burn Dalton at the goal post because he hasn’t won a meaningful game.

Don’t play a fool to the mystery of the NFL. Don’t mistake what has yet to occur for an inability to do so.

Dalton has emerged so far this season. He’s thrown for 1,761 yards and completed 67 percent of his passes through six games. He’s slung 14 touchdowns to just two interceptions. More importantly, the Bengals are still unbeaten.

Not many people have been calling for Dalton’s head this season. Do you hear that? It sort of sounds like a million lips being bitten simultaneously, but if you listen closely, you can recognize it as the sound of foots being stuffed into mouths.

Even if Dalton is unable to win a playoff game this year, does that make him a bad quarterback? No.

No disrespect to them, but if Brad Johnson and Trent Dilfer can win Super Bowls, Dalton should be able to win one, too. So, don’t label him a failure just yet. After all, the legendary John Elway can serve as another example.

Remember when Elway couldn’t win the big game? In eight postseasons, Elway was 7-7 and had not won a Super Bowl. Nope, he didn’t win his first Super Bowl until he was 37 years old. Dalton turns 28 at the end of October, so let’s slow down the clock just a tad.

Oh, and remember how Dalton’s first four years compared to Manning’s? Well, Cincinnati’s quarterback also had 33 more touchdowns and only one more interception than Elway did in his first four years.

There are so many other examples of Super Bowl winning quarterbacks who didn’t have success early on but discovered it later.

“Well, those are just statistics. Dalton still isn’t a clutch quarterback. What has he done?”

What has Dalton done? How about the fact that he’s led the Bengals to 11 fourth-quarter comebacks and 15 game-winning drives. That’s through four seasons. In Elway’s entire 16-year career, he had 35 fourth-quarter comebacks and 46 game-winning drives. We can all do the math there. Proportionally, Dalton has been more clutch than Elway. It sounds impossible, but it’s true. And when you compare their first four seasons, Elway had 11 fourth-quarter comebacks and nine game-winning drives.

The purpose of this isn’t to say, “Stop hating on Andy Dalton. I guarantee you he’ll be a Hall of Fame quarterback.” That’s not what’s going on here. What is going on is too many people have held Dalton to an unfair standard that not even the NFL’s best quarterbacks have been able to live up to.

Will Dalton win a Super Bowl? There’s no way to know that, but it doesn’t mean he can’t do it. Will he be a Hall of Fame quarterback? Again, it’s impossible to know, but he can do it.

Stop declaring who in the league can and cannot play. There’s a difference between being a good player and playing well. How many times have we seen a no-name quarterback win a big game? Sometimes worse players play better, and sometimes great players don’t show up.

Talent does not automatically translate to success in the NFL. Don’t polarize Dalton as a loser — a guy who can’t get it done. Stop chomping at the bit to claim Dalton’s career as a failure. Why does that decision need to be made now… in the middle of his fifth year?

Let him play out his career. The day Dalton retires is the day we can fairly and accurately judge the job he’s done as a quarterback in the NFL. Anyone who tries to write Dalton — or any other player — off before that time comes is just doing it to be noticed , or because it’s the popular thing to do.

What does matter is the Bengals are 6-0, and Dalton is the biggest reason why. Yes, he has some big-time targets. Green is a monster on the outside. Tyler Eifert is a top-1o tight end. Giovanni Bernard and Jeremy Hill seem to be settling into their roles.

What can be said is this season, for Dalton, could be a pivotal one. If he wins a playoff game this season, maybe some of that pressure is released. If he wins a Super Bowl, he doesn’t have to worry about the naysayers again.

But if the Bengals fall flat, those self-appointed judges and juries will be back at it to bury Dalton alive.

Stop sentencing the man. Let him play. See what he does. You might learn something. Hell, maybe even Dalton will learn something about himself.