FP also examined the seasons for every Super Bowl-winning quarterback one year before he hoisted the Lombardi Trophy and found 12 who weren't coming off great years even if they had been great at some point in their career.

This descriptor would also fit Dalton, who was third in the league in ANY/A two years ago but has not finished in the top 10 in any other season.

Last year with many of his best weapons hurt or gone via free agency, Dalton’s ANY/A slipped from 8.17 in ’15 to 6.53. His quarterback rating went from 106.2 to 91.8 last season.

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Does this all mean Dalton and the Bengals are poised to break through?

Well.... that might be stretching it, but it is interesting to see numbers that make it seem less unlikely than the general narrative around Dalton’s career — and quarterbacking in general in the NFL — might.