The Cincinnati Bengals' Super Bowl hopes may have just taken a big blow
In a huge AFC North matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Cincinnati Bengals lost Andy Dalton in the first quarter and the injury looks like it could keep him sidelined for a while.
The injury to Dalton's thumb came after he threw an ugly interception in the red zone and then tried to tackled the defender.
As Dalton went in for the tackle, the thumb on his throwing hand appeared to snap back as it hit the defender's leg.
Dalton was taken to the locker room and was ruled out for the rest of the game as AJ McCarron took over the Bengals.
Later in the first half, Dalton came came back to the sideline in street clothes and with a cast on his right hand. This led to speculation from Dr. Mark Adickes of DirectTV that Dalton either has a broken thumb or a torn ligament in his thumb.
Either injury would be costly to the Bengals as they are in a 3-team race with the Denver Broncos and the New England Patriots for one of the top two seeds and the first-round playoff bye that comes with it.