Seeing this pop up on Twitter has been the highlight of my day and I got to watch my dog run around with other dogs. The idea that the Bears are possibly looking to duplicate what the Titans did with bringing in Ryan Tannehill to compete with Marcus Mariota is hilarious to me. Not because it’s impossible to create a Titan like situation but that that is exactly what the Bears are thinking about when they think of Andy Dalton backing up Mitch Trubisky. According to Paul Dehner of The Athletic, the Bears have reached out to the Bengals about the availability of the nine-year veteran.
It goes without saying (though I’m saying it anyway) that the Bears need a Plan B for if and probably when Mitchapalooza gets canceled and the team actually wants to make something of their season. It makes sense that the organization would want someone there to pick up the pieces. Dalton would be a decent guy to come and steady the team. Actually, if you’re a Bears fan, wouldn’t you want Dalton as your starter right now? Based on everything we know about these guys, don’t you feel better with Dalton? With Mitch in, there’s an extreme possibility that he consistently puts up games where he doesn’t top over 150 yards passing, in this league. With Dalton, at least you get the idea that a professional is under center.
At Dalton’s worst, he threw for over 207 yards a game. Last year the Red Rifle threw for 268 yards a game. That’s not too bad. That’s 59 yards more than Mitch. A big difference is what that is. And with the type of defense the Bears have, this might be the last year where you can honestly say that this is a win-now team. After this year, you’re probably going to start hearing thoughts of blowing it up. The Bengals are all set on taking Burrow with the first overall pick and even though they, traditionally, are as trade happy as a prude at a swinger’s party. Getting anything you can for Dalton is the smart play.
So, it makes sense that you try and go the Titan route. Go ahead and throw Trubisky out there as your opening day starter and maybe he exceeds your very low expectations. But bring in Dalton and even though you want to start him right away, have him get prepared for around Week 6 to take over and see if he can catch fire. Beats sticking with Mitch the whole year.
By the way, I can’t overstate enough how much I love that teams are actually trying to duplicate something that involved Ryan Tannehill. The Bears should just go and sign Tannehill if they want that situation. They definitely won’t regret that at all. Nope, that will work out for everybody and never blow up in their faces.
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