Bengals planning to start McCarron
“They don’t like us”, Steelers offensive lineman David DeCastro told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in December.
“I’m sticking with the process of it. I’m doing treatments and rehab and trying to get back as soon as I can”, Dalton said. We played off of each other.
The last time McCarron threw an interception was January 2, 2014. Dalton had the cast on his thumb removed on Monday. Considering how the Steelers can ring up points on anyone, plus their strong postseason pedigree with leaders such as Ben Roethlisberger, Heath Miller, Cam Heyward, revitalized James Harrison and coach Mike Tomlin, the Bengals can’t be thrilled with Saturday night’s matchup.
“Oh man, I’d love to be able to play for this team”, Dalton said. From the huddle calls to where he’s going to be – and all those kinds of things.
So can the Bengals win with McCarron at quarterback? Receiver Mohamed Sanu has taken snaps in wildcat formations and could be an emergency quarterback.
McCarron wasn’t sure if that mattered as much, though, other than the fact he will see Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler’s look for a second time in live action.
While they haven’t been around long enough to feel the wear of postseason losses like the Bengals fans have, the Cincinnati players have played the Steelers enough to know they want to be the ones to boot the AFC North rivals from the playoffs.
– Lewis is tied with the Giants’ Steve Owen (1939-50) for most consecutive playoff losses with one team.
McCarron thinks his bowl experience while winning two national titles at Alabama will help him in the playoffs. “I think if you don’t turn the ball over in this league, you put your team in a situation to win the ballgame and that’s what it comes down to”.
And then he gets a chance to show how far he’s grown in the past month. First off, as noted above, Dalton broke his hand while playing the same Steelers team. Particularly susceptible through the air, Pittsburgh can take some comfort in facing A.J. McCarron instead of Dalton. There should be a lot of points scored in this game.
The defense can rush the quarterback, they have a good secondary, and their offense is balanced. If they can find a nice balance between the ground and air game, they could keep pace with the Steelers nicely. “Obviously he’s done a really good job of not turning the ball over”.
On the surface, the Packers got a decent consolation prize for losing to the Vikings with a game against Washington, the champions of the weak NFC East. The Packers had the same record on the road (5-3) as they did at Lambeau Field. McCarron to lead to offense. I anticipate McCarron starting and playing this week.
Notes: The Bengals have sold all of their single-game tickets for Saturday….
There was none of that Wednesday, when he stood around and watched rather than preparing to play. They signed LB Jayson DiManche to the practice squad.
BC: “In his two games against the Bengals this season, he had one with six receptions for 47 yards and seven receptions for 87 yards”.
McCarron doesn’t remember what he did with the wristband given to him by Roethlisberger, who passed for 376 yards and four touchdowns that day.