Before Dalton, fans had to suffer through 3 seasons of a very mediocre Carson Palmer. Once a top draft pick, and a savior to the city Palmer had suffered a terrible knee injury in the 2005 playoffs, and had never been the same since then. After the 2010 season, an unhappy Palmer demanded a trade, but of course the always stubborn Mike Brown refused to trade his franchise quarterback. Palmer decided not to play, he chose to sit out all off season and even into the 2011 season. While Palmer sat at home pouting, and probably overthrowing neighborhood kids in pick up games, the Bengals selected his replacement. They were tired of waiting on Palmer and signaled a changing of the guard by selecting the redheaded quarterback from TCU in the second round. Dalton was named the starter, and in week 9 the Bengals finally traded the disgruntled Palmer to the Raiders. With Carson gone, Andy became the big shot in Cincinnati. The quarterback spot was his for hopefully his entire career, and with a spectacular rookie season where he led the Bengals to a playoff berth, he made sure the city could forget all about Carson Palmer. The Red Rifle was born.
A.J. Green was a humble, hardworking, quiet, young receiver. Something that Cincinnati had not seen in a long long time. Instead, the had Chad Johnson. In the 2005 and 2006 seasons, Johnson was one of the best receivers in the league, and ans put up with his touchdown dances, his mouthing off, and his pouting. Once he stopped putting up numbers, the city and the team grew tired of his act. After multiple trade demands his skills diminished and Cincinnati found itself without a legitimate number one receiver. We thought we had something in T.J. Houshmandzadeh, but he bolted for the Seahawks and hasn't been heard from since. Before the draft, Johnson was shipped to the New England Patriots, and we fell in love with a tall receiver from Georgia named Adrial Jeremiah Green. He was drafted in he first round, and it didn't take long to see that the Bengals had found themselves a freak athlete, reminiscent of Randy Moss.
In a whirlwind of a few weeks the Bengals went from a baby of a quarterback to a young gun who the city could get excited about. Palmer had fallen from grace, shown his true colors and cut and run from is team. He proved what we had suspected, that he would never be the leader we wanted him to be. He was across the country, and the wide receiver that he and Marvin Lewis had to baby sit for 6 years was in New England bringing Gatorade to Tom Brady. Now they had a humble receiver who was the dynamic play maker they had been looking for for years.
Throw in the likes of Benjarvus Green-Ellis, the young Andrew Hawkins bursting onto the scene, and a revamped defense led by Mike Zimmer, and you can barely recognize any old faces from he Palmer years. This team looks like a young hungry team, looking to improve upon last season and a team that finally has the red headed leader they always yearned for. We expected that red head to be Carson Palmer, but we got Andy Dalton. What looked like a mess was quickly turned into something exciting. Old problems were flipped into new hope, and the players we worried about getting along were finally sent on their way.
It took too long. We had to be dragged through the mud, but it was worth it. The reset button was hit in 2011 and it has worked wonders. Now tied for the lead in the AFC North the Bengals look to be set up for another year of success.
'
As for Palmer? He is overthrowing no name receivers in Oakland and making Kansas City defensive backs very happy. Chad Johnson? He was cut by the Dolphins before the season even started and is probably with T.O. taping a talk show in his basement.
I would say the Bengals made the right decision
Who Dey
No comments:
Post a Comment