This year’s Bengals team is loaded with talent, and there has been great debate about the man who is the key to our success: Andy Dalton. Many question whether he has what it takes to lead this team to the Super Bowl. There is no question that he has the talent around him, but there is doubt that he will be the one to lead them to the title.

Dalton has not helped himself at all this season, throwing only five touchdowns while tossing four interceptions, and also losing a fumble. He has completed a mediocre 63.5% of his passes, and is ranked 17^th in the league with a 52.9 quarter back ranking. None of his numbers are necessarily bad, but he isn’t doing what he needs to do to separate himself from the middle of the pack. Dalton doesn’t need to be one of the best quarterbacks in the league in order for the Bengals to win the Super Bowl, but he probably needs to be in at least the top ten.

Though Dalton hasn’t had spectacular statistical seasons, he has done something the Bengals haven’t done since 1982: make the playoffs in back to back years.  He has had his struggles, but the bottom line in he has done well enough to get us to the play offs, which was one the main reasons we drafted him. He has been successful in getting to the playoffs, but his play in the playoffs has been a whole different story.

He has failed to score a single touchdown in his two playoff appearances. He has though, managed to throw four interceptions and lose a fumble. He’s completed a lousy 55% of passes with a dismal 49.4 quarter back rating. He missed out on a great opportunity to get his first playoff win when the Bengals were matched up against the Houston Texans, who were forced to start their third string quarterback. Even then Dalton could not lead us to victory and was arguably outplayed by the third stringer.

The fate of Dalton’s future really can’t be decided yet, as we are only four games into his third season. But this year will be a deciding one in the career of Dalton. He could roar back and have a great rest of the season, lead the Bengals to the playoffs, and cement himself as the long-term starter, or he could let the pressure get to him, take the Bengals to the bottom of the division, and find himself packing his bags.

The future of his career as the Bengals’ starting quarterback is not yet clear, but if Dalton doesn’t start playing well soon, it may be shorter than expected.