Doc: Bengals' Andy Dalton comes of age in Baltimore

BALTIMORE – A lot of dreams came into clearer focus here Sunday, a lot of doubts got shoved to the background. The Bengals' win over the Ravens made it OK to believe in all your best suspicions.

They trailed and they trailed again, in the fourth quarter against a desperate team playing its home opener. Baltimore nearly stole a game in which it lacked an edge in talent and for a half at least, much of a homefield advantage. Then Andy Dalton won it for the visitors.

Think about that. How many times across the previous four seasons have you begged the quarterback to lift up his team, to make it special when nothing less than special would do?

Andy Dalton was a game manager and a good enough QB to win 40 times in the regular season. He would get you the W in Cleveland in November, but not at home against San Diego in January. The organization would surround him with a sinfully supreme collection of talent. Then it would hold its breath with the rest of us, hoping this would be The Year Dalton would elevate that talent with his confidence and his leadership.

We might look back at 28-24 and see that it amounted to nothing greater than a big division win on the road. Or we might see it as Andy Dalton's coming-of-age moment. History isn't written before it happens.

But here's what Dalton did Sunday:

Answered a disastrous sack-fumble-touchdown by the Ravens with an 80-yard TD bomb to A.J. Green, on the very first play after the disaster; directed an 80-yard, six-play cruise that resulted in a 7-yard touchdown throw to Green, with 2:10 to play.

The final TD prevented what would have been a devastating loss. Not so much in the AFC North standings, but in the collective psyche of the public, the fans and, possibly the players themselves. A team does not survive January wondering if it's still not quite good enough. The Bengals avoided the Same Old Bengals on Sunday afternoon.

As Vinny Rey put it, "It was a character win. Every week we take another step. This was another step.''

The clinching TD throw was entirely a Dalton creation, and showed the progress he has made. The Bengals already had driven from their 20 to Baltimore's 7. Dalton was 3-for-4 on the march, with completions to three different receivers. On 2nd-and-goal from the 7, Dalton's newest security blanket, tight end Tyler Eifert, lined up wide right.

Eifert had single coverage, but Dalton noticed a second Ravens defender cheating Eifert's way. The quarterback changed the play and the formation, then threw a beautifully nuanced pass to Green in the middle of the end zone.

That's how you elevate your team. "A great opportunity to assert himself'' was how Andrew Whitworth put it.

Dalton low-keyed it. "I've been around this offense for awhile,'' he said. "Hue (offensive coordinator Jackson) trusts me.'' That might be so. But there is something different this year about the way Dalton carries himself, and expresses himself to the media. It might be as tangible as the invisible plane of the goal line. But it's real. And whatever it is, it helped the Bengals win the game Sunday.

"That fourth quarter put chills down everybody's spine,'' Marvin Jones said. "That's the kind of resolve we need to have. When they turned it up, we turned it up.''

Scoffers could suggest that the Ravens aren't who they've been. With one guy who could catch the ball – the amazingly skilled and gutsy hombre Steve Smith – and no one who could run it, they still led 24-21 late in the game. With a secondary that couldn't cover a white wall with black paint, they still had the lead at home until two minutes remained.

The Bengals gave away at least six points in the first half, and probably more. Dalton threw a red-zone interception. Eifert failed to hold the ball while crossing the goal line on fourth down. They let the half expire near midfield with two timeouts unused. They committed nine penalties. The Ravens were close to being buried by halftime. The Bengals couldn't do it.

But when it came to winning time, the Bengals were all over it.

"The progression of this team,'' said Whitworth. "To never lose confidence is a great accomplishment.'' As for Dalton, "He is one of the best I've ever seen at being able to feel something, to see something and adjust.''

And now, just maybe, Dalton has the mental sand to make it all matter. Sunday offered as close to a coming-of-Andy moment as we've seen.