Two Thoughts

A Silver Crock

The idea that Andy Dalton is given preferential treatment within the Bengals organization is almost certainly true. But it is also true for every other pro quarterback with relatively safe job security.

First of all, Michael Silver is the least substantiated football writer on the planet (besides myself, of course) and his insights to Dalton being babied are almost certainly Hard Knocks driven.

Secondly, any dumb bell can figure out that his practices are inconsistent thanks to the always-flowing stream of tweets that pour from training camp. We heard countless times that Dalton wasn't exactly sharp and we could see it with our own eyes in preseason games and in the last three regular-season contests.

It's okay to bash him for his play on Sundays, but ratcheting up some coaching controversy that no outsider can be sure of is dumb and needless. It's exactly this kind of grade-school gossip that drives the sports industry more than it should and we are to blame for that. I encourage you to pay no attention to such drivel.

Baby Saints?

After watching the Saints fillet the Dolphins in the Superdome last night, I wondered why the Bengals can't be the poor-man's version of that fancy New Orleans offense. Let it be clear that I am not saying Andy Dalton is on any level with Drew Brees, and I know that it's Brees that makes them great, but there are other decent prototypes on both rosters.

I think Giovani Bernard could be a Darren Sproles kind of guy. He looks like he catches the ball pretty well—though probably not as well as Sproles—and both are small, very quick men who are hard to bring down in the open field. Marvin Jones is like Lance Moore in that both are burners and vertical guys (yes, I am aware Moore has moved on from the Saints). Lastly, I know this one is going to be tough to swallow, but A.J. Green may turn out to be more Marques Colston than Jerry Rice.

Before you get upset at a perceived slight to Green, let's rather agree that Colston is a pretty damn talented and underrated receiver that has been getting the job done for a long time in the Big Easy. Truth is, until Green is paired with a big arm or supreme accuracy, he will not be the very best in the league, and even then he still may not be. Nonetheless, both men described above are their team's leading receiver and can be used in similar ways.

Mojokong—quick hitters.