Homecoming: Sweet Victory for Andy Dalton in His Return to Paul Brown Stadium
Andy Dalton led the Cowboys to a 30-7 victory over the Bengals on Sunday in his first game back at Paul Brown Stadium.
Dalton completed 16-of-23 passes for 285 yards and two touchdowns. He was given the game ball following the game.
“This one was special. Obviously, a team I played for, for a long time. A lot of range of emotions from just being back in the city, to being in the stadium, being on the other side of it.” Dalton said. “It feels good to come back to a place I was with for a long time to win. Like I said, it felt good.”
Dalton spent nine years in Cincinnati. The Bengals took him with in the second round (35th overall) of the 2011 NFL Draft.
He's the Bengals’ all-time leader in completions (2,757), touchdown passes (204), passer rating (87.5) and 300-yard passing games (28). Dalton holds the team’s single-season records for passing yards (4,293 in 2013), touchdown passes (33 in ’13) and passer rating (106.3 in ’15).
The three-time Pro Bowler posted a 70-61-2 record in 133 regular season starts and helped the Bengals reach the playoffs in each of his first five seasons (2011-15). Although he went 0-4 in the playoffs, the Red Rifle had many memorable plays in orange and black.
Dalton was benched by the Bengals on his birthday last October and released a week after the team drafted Joe Burrow with the No. 1 overall pick in April's NFL Draft.
There was some added fuel to the fire for Dalton Sunday. It was his best performance of the season since taking over for injured Dak Prescott. Dalton kept a clean sheet in the turnover column. He had seven completions of 10 or more yards.
Dalton’s seven-yard touchdown pass to Tony Pollard capped the game on the first play after the two-minute warning. It was the icing on the cake for Dalton in his return to the Queen City.
From the moment Dalton arrived at the Cowboys’ hotel in Cincinnati to the end of the game, he was well received and embraced by the community and fans.
“The biggest thing coming in here was the reception I got. One of the coolest things was the sign that was up there [in the stands] that said, ‘Thank you Andy and JJ for changing lives.’ Dalton said. “That’s what we tried to do while we were here—use our platform for good and show God’s love to a lot of people. That was a great reception to come back [to] and feel that today.”
Dalton and his wife Jordan created the Andy and JJ Dalton Foundation after he was drafted in 2011. Their foundation provides support, resources and experiences to seriously ill and physically challenged children and their families. They've impacted the lives of over 3.8 million people.
"There’s been a lot of support from this city, for not only what we’ve done on the field, but what we’ve done off of it,” Dalton said after what was ultimately his final game with the Bengals, a 33-23 win over Cleveland last December. “This city’s meant a lot to me and my family. I’ve spent my whole married life here, and my three kids have been raised here. The city has meant a lot to us.”
Despite all that Dalton faced during his career with the Bengals, those challenges never changed the impact that he and his family had in the community. His legacy in Cincinnati is about much more than football.
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