The Bengals are 0-2, have yet to score a touchdown, and have already fired their offensive coordinator, but Cincinnati isn’t considering a change under center, as Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com reports Andy Dalton is not in danger of losing the club’s starting quarterback job.
Backup signal-caller A.J. McCarron is well-regarded by both the Bengals and the rest of the NFL, per La Canfora, an unsurprising sentiment given that the Bengals were reportedly offered a second-round pick in exchange for McCarron this offseason. And while Dalton isn’t on a “short leash,” Cincinnati head coach Marvin Lewis recently indicated changes could come to the Bengals’ roster following the ouster of offensive-play caller Ken Zampese.
“This is not magic,” Lewis said, per Jim Owczarski of the Cincinnati Enquirer. “You have to do the work. Offense, defense and special teams all alike. Changing; I said we got Kenny out of here. Not Kenny. We did. And they gotta understand that. They’re part of that. And the next time, look around, there will be different guys sitting there. And they realize that, too.”
Through two games, Dalton has posted a quarterback rating that’s nearly half that of his career average while throwing four interceptions against zero touchdowns. Cincinnati’s offense has struggled as a whole, as the running game has sputtered while the club’s beleaguered offensive line ranks 29th in adjusted sack rate. All told, the Bengals are dead last in Football Outsiders’ DVOA ratings.
Franchise owner Mike Brown isn’t necessarily blaming the Bengals players for the team’s poor start, however — prior to Zampese’s firing, Brown told the Cincinnati staff that on-field talent wasn’t the club’s problem, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com.