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Andy Dalton is having the best season of his career.
In his fifth year, Dalton is having by far the best season of his career, with his numbers up virtually across the board.
Through eight games, Dalton has over 2,200 passing yards, eighth in the NFL, with 18 touchdowns and four interceptions. His 67% completion percentage, 7% touchdown percentage, and 111 passer rating are career-highs while his 1.6% interception percentage and 4.1% sack percentage are career-lows, according to Pro-Football Reference.
Part of Dalton's explosion is credited to his work with quarterback guru Tom House, who has helped refine Tom Brady's game, among other quarterbacks, and was credited with fixing Tim Tebow in the offseason.
Dalton has worked with House in prior offseasons, but according to the Cincinnati Enquirer, Dalton increased his work with House this past year.
Dalton's time with House wasn't a complete overhaul on anything Dalton does; it was more about fine-tuning. Dalton says they didn't work on arm strength, but they focused on his mechanics and tried to improve his accuracy from all over the field.
Dalton told Bengals.com in April:
"The motion is still mine. It's not like it's completely changed. We tweaked a few things just to make sure all of your momentum, all your force, everything you have is going toward the target of where you're trying to throw. We tweaked it a little bit. It happens so quickly, I don't think the average person will notice it."
...
"I just wanted to fine tune the accuracy and get the most out of every throw and when you're doing it right, it just becomes effortless when the ball comes out of your hand. One of the big things is getting all your momentum and all your force of throwing the ball right at the target, rather than having any kind of swinging motion that can make you inaccurate. A lot of that stuff is making sure my shoulders, hips and everything else are going at the right time."
Thus far, the results have been clear. The Bengals have the most lethal passing offense in the NFL, according to Football Outsiders. Additionally, Dalton is 5-11 on throws over 30 yards for a completion percentage of 45%, up from 42% on 8-19 last season.
Dalton's deep-ball, thought to be a weakness, has looked smooth this year, and he's connected with the Bengals' talented receivers for several big plays this season:
Via NFL.com
Via NFL.com
There are other subtleties of Dalton's game that have changed, too. According to Seth Wickersham of ESPN, Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson says Dalton is now "winning games with his mind." Dalton is reportedly calling audibles about 40% of the time this year, showing Dalton's growth as an overall scheming quarterback in the mold of Tom Brady or Peyton Manning.
Dalton reportedly worked on the mental aspect of his game with House and House's colleague Adam Dedeaux. As Wickersham notes, House won't spill what, exactly, they worked on, citing "the quarterback version of doctor-patient privilege," but it's clear through the first half of the season that Dalton is a different player.
And while the NFL world is pleased with Dalton's progression thus far, he's ultimately going to be judged for his postseason. As Dalton told Wickersham about Cincinnati fans booing him, "it's not like we've had losing seasons. Yes, we haven't won in the playoffs. We get it."
In four playoff appearances, Dalton has seen his efficiency fall off a cliff. He's 0-4 in the playoffs with a 56% completion percentage, and has just one touchdown to six interceptions. Until Dalton shows he can play well in the postseason, whatever improvements he's shown this season will simply be a mirage.
Through eight games, Dalton looks like a different quarterback, capable of changing his reputation in the playoffs. How much of that is a result of House's work versus Dalton's natural maturation is unclear, but the Bengals look like a legitimate Super Bowl contender this year, thanks in large part to Dalton's explosion.