Upcoming opponent's major decision has Bengals on track to play against a familiar face yet again
An upcoming opponent for the Cincinnati Bengals is making the biggest change they could make. Per NFL Media's Tom Pelissero, the Carolina Panthers have benched former first-overall pick Bryce Young and will start former Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton starting in Week 3, which has Dalton on track to face Cincinnati in Week 4. Dalton's first […]
An upcoming opponent for the Cincinnati Bengals is making the biggest change they could make.
Per NFL Media's Tom Pelissero, the Carolina Panthers have benched former first-overall pick Bryce Young and will start former Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton starting in Week 3, which has Dalton on track to face Cincinnati in Week 4.
Dalton's first start will be on the road next week against the Las Vegas Raiders. Provided he doesn't get injured, it's a virtual certainty he will remain the quarterback when the Bengals go down south to Charlotte on September 29.
Before Joe Burrow came to town, Dalton was the Bengals' franchise quarterback for almost all of the 2010s. He was the team's second-round pick in 2011, the same year Carson Palmer threatened retirement, and started immediately as a rookie.
Dalton went on to start 133 regular season games in nine seasons for the Bengals. He's the franchise's all-time leader in passing touchdowns (204), and is second in passing yards (31,594) and wins (70).
Since being released and replaced by Burrow, Dalton has faced Cincinnati three times for three different teams in three consecutive seasons. He won against them as the starter for the Dallas Cowboys in 2020, and played almost half of the game for the Chicago Bears in another victory in 2021. The Bengals finally got a win against him in 2022 when he started for the New Orleans Saints.
Two years later, Dalton will start for another NFC South team and play host to his former AFC North team.
It's always a bit surprising to see a former first-overall pick at quarterback get benched so early in his career, but the Panthers didn't really have a choice here. After an abysmal rookie season, Young has not looked improved two games into his second season with a new head coach and system in place. The Panthers have to evaluate the rest of the roster with a semi-competent quarterback in place.
This is also what Zac Taylor attempted to do back in 2019 when he benched Dalton in the middle of the season. The Bengals were 0-8 at the time and on track to landing the first pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. Dalton was only benched for a few weeks before coming back to finish his Bengals career on somewhat of a high note.
Dalton has lived the backup/spot starter life since his time in Cincinnati came to an end, and he just can't seem to avoid playing against his first team. This will surely make Week 4 a lot more interesting for the Bengals.
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