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Super Bowl Watch: Are the Cincinnati Bengals Contenders?

Andrew McKagan |
September 5, 2013 | 11:17 a.m. PDT

Staff Writer

Andy Dalton is off to a slow start, but don't count out Cincinnati yet. (Batson/Wikimedia Commons)
Andy Dalton is off to a slow start, but don't count out Cincinnati yet. (Batson/Wikimedia Commons)
Andy Dalton has been inconsistent, to say the least. His accuracy and pocket presence are questionable, and his arm strength leaves something to be desired.

But he’s also shown flashes of brilliance. Although he hasn’t been able to win a playoff game in his career thus far, he has still led the Bengals to the playoffs two years in a row and, if not for a record-breaking performance by Cam Newton, would have been Rookie of the Year in 2011.

Here’s a stat line: 19-13 over first two full years of his career, 48 touchdowns, 35 interceptions and 7,006 combined yards. Here’s another: 19-13 record over first two full years, 47 touchdowns, 29 interceptions and 7,067 combined yards. The first player? Two-time Super Bowl champion and MVP Eli Manning. The second? Andy Dalton.

Manning had plenty of questions about his status as the face of the franchise before he went and rattled off two Super Bowl victories. So after seeing a hall-of-fame quarterback put up eerily similar numbers in the same era as Dalton, it’s easy to see that Dalton still has plenty of time to finish writing the story of his own career.

A trait that the 2007 title-winning Giants had, and what every Super Bowl winning team has been able to do to at least some extent, is dominate in the trenches. The 2007-08 Giants had extraordinary continuity on the offensive line (no starting offensive lineman missed a game that year) and a notorious pass rush. The 2012-13 Baltimore Ravens reshuffled their offensive line, which enabled them to be dominant in their playoff run. The 2005-06 and 2008-09 Steeler teams had great defenses up front and offensive lines that were able to either pave the way for the likes of Willie Parker in the first Super Bowl or protect Ben Roethlisberger enough in the latter for those players to make plays.

This year’s Bengals team has the potential to dominate up front with elite talent on both sides of the ball.

The offensive line is clearly a Top 10 unit in the league, especially with elite left tackle Andrew Whitworth getting healthier by the week while capable swing tackle Anthony Collins has provided solid play in Whitworth’s absence. Right tackle Andre Smith has finally come into his potential, and add former first-round pick Kevin Zeitler to the shuffle and the Bengals have a nasty offensive line that can run or pass block at high levels. If Dalton is going to take the next step like Manning did, there’s no doubt that his offensive line will play a large role in giving him time and comfort in the pocket.

The even more dynamic unt though, one that is perhaps the best the NFL, is the Bengals defensive line. This front four is chock-full of talented athletes who are capable of dominating the players across from them on any given play. Included in these stud players are Carlos Dunlap, who just signed a six-year extension, Michael Johnson, who is the team’s franchise tag player, and Geno Atkins, who just signed a five-year extension and was the best defensive lineman not named JJ Watt last year. These three signed for a combined $105.925 million last offseason, and with 65.5 career sacks in a combined total of only 10 years of NFL experience, they are worth every penny.

All of these talented players are without mentioning 2008 NFL Defensive Player of the Year James Harrison, a hybrid strong-side linebacker/defensive end who the Bengals appear to be pacing snap-wise early in the year in order to save him for later in the season. Harrison can still play, evidenced by his preseason play and his appearances on the television show Hard Knocks, where he repeatedly obliterated blockers and bull-rushed offensive linemen to make impact plays.

The 2007 Giants were mentioned previously as a team of comparison because of the similarities at the quarterback position as well as in the trenches. More specifically on the defensive side, the Giants have followed the philosophy over the years of building an elite pass rushing defensive line in order to make it easier for the rest of the defense to succeed. The defensive line of the Giants essentially carried the entire defensive unit through the playoffs because the secondary didn’t have to cover for as long because of the quick pass rush while the linebackers were free to make plays because the defensive line was dominating the oppositions’ offensive fronts. The Giants’ defensive front therefore masked any potential weaknesses of the rest of the defense.

The Bengals defensive line has the same potential, but the rest of the defense simply doesn’t need to be masked. Their secondary with elite cornerback Leon Hall leading the way is also capable of making game-changing plays. This combination should theoretically make for one of the best defenses in the NFL if everybody does their job. And if the Bengals make the playoffs, the defense will definitely have to step up against quarterbacks like Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, (playoff) Joe Flacco and Andrew Luck if they are going to win. If that defensive line plays the way they’re capable, Cincinnati will definitely be able to compete with any of those teams.

The Bengals are a very talented team. Unlike last year, the additions of players like Giovani Bernard and Tyler Eifert make Cincinnati more explosive and multi-faceted offensively, and they should get a boost with the addition of shifty and underrated wide receiver Andrew Hawkins coming back off short-term IR later this year. But even though they undoubtedly have a capable foundation, a lot rests on Dalton’s shoulders as the most important player on the field. And in the probable scenario that the Bengals get an opportunity at the playoffs, he, like Manning, will have the chance to prove doubters wrong once and for all.

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