3: Week 3 vs. the Buffalo Bills
September of 2019 feels like a lifetime ago, for many reasons. But back in Week 3, the Bengals traveled to Orchard Park to take on the Bills. In the closing moments of this game, before they were a time that would finish with the worst record in football, the Bengals had a chance to pull out a victory. They trailed the Bills 21-17, and were driving. After Dalton hit running back Giovani Bernard to pick up five yards on a first-and-10, the Bengals got to the line of scrimmage:
Now, the Bengals still had a timeout remaining, but they wanted to save that for perhaps designing up one final play if necessary. But now facing a 2nd and 5 on the Bills’ 28-yard line, with 20 seconds remaining, they had a shot at winning this game.
Situation: 8 points. This is in the closing seconds of a one-score game, with a chance to take the lead.
Decisiveness: 7 points. There was some question about whether the Bengals would burn the timeout, but Dalton got the offense to the line quickly without wasting much time.
Style: 9 points. Hard to top what Dalton does on this spike. He implements the one-handed spike to the turf but pay particular attention to what he does after catching the ball after it ricochets off the turf. You see that swaggy flip to the ref? This is a quarterback playing with confidence.
Result: 0 points. The NFL is a results-based league. On the very next play Dalton’s pass intended for Auden Tate is intercepted. Ballgame.
Total score: 22