The Bengals knew drastic changes were in order after they finished last in the league in offense and Andy Dalton suffered through his worst season since he was a rookie.They changed the playbook Youth Jordan Evans Jersey , bolstered the offensive line and decided to set Dalton loose.One month into the season, he's back in a comfort zone and producing as well as ever.Dalton's resurgence has been the most notable aspect to Cincinnati's 3-1 start. He was nearly perfect in the first half of a 37-36 win at Atlanta on Sunday, missing only two passes while throwing for 211 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He also led a winning 16-play drive, connecting with A.J. Green on a 13-yard touchdown with 7 seconds left.Dalton has thrown for 11 touchdowns in his first four games, the best opening stretch of his eight-year career. He also has more completions and attempts than in any previous four-game start as coordinator Bill Lazor puts the onus him to lead a reconfigured offense still learning nuances of the playbook."We work really hard to be consistent ... and to be clear with what we want," Lazor said. "I think that's the part that right now is starting to click and hopefully we can get even better at it."It would be difficult to be better than Dalton was in the first half Sunday . He completed 14 of 16 passes and had a passer rating of 158.3, the highest possible. The Bengals ran 24 plays and scored 28 points, averaging 9.9 yards per play.On the winning drive, Dalton completed passes on third-and-6, fourth-and-8 and fourth-and-6 before hitting Green for the touchdown."He pulled us out of a heck of a situation," cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick said.The Bengals had losing records the past two seasons because they were unable to pull out games at the end. The winning drive marked a notable step forward."We didn't flinch," Dalton said. "We just kept going. That's what you need to be a really good team and to be a good offense."Dalton is known for getting into a rhythm and getting rid of the ball quickly in Cincinnati's West Coast offense. He never got into a rhythm last season because he rarely had time to set and throw. The offensive line was so inconsistent that there was little running game, either, leaving Dalton as a target.He was sacked 13 times in the first four games of 2016 and 14 times over the same span last year. He's been dropped only seven times this season despite throwing more often.Overall, Dalton is off to his best four-game start since 2015 http://www.cincinnatibengalsshop.com/cheap-kevin-huber-jersey , when the Bengals won the AFC North and Dalton finished with a passer rating of 106.3 that led the conference. He's been overshadowed by the performances of other quarterbacks off to fast starts, which is how Lazor and Dalton like it."I'd rather people not talk about us," Lazor said. "We were doing just fine. Nobody talked about us all offseason, all training camp. We're fine. We'll just be quiet and just do our thing."BURFICT'S WEEK: Linebacker Vontaze Burfict is expected back at practice Wednesday after completing his latest suspension 鈥?four games for violating the NFL's policy on performance-enhancers. The Bengals have a one-week roster exemption, but are expected to activate him for a game Sunday at Paul Brown Stadium against the Dolphins (3-1). He's played a significant number of plays in his first games back after injury and suspensions the past three years.4 things we learned from the Bengals’ win over the Ravens If you’re into crunching numbers, here’s a doozy: The Bengals are on pace to go 16-0 and win all of their games 34-23. Statistics and probability tells us that this will happen.Just kidding. The rest of the season will probably not shake out like that (but don’t rule it out!).But this game is very interesting from a numbers standpoint.First of all, the 34-23 score is the same score the Bengals had in their Week 1 win against the Colts. Not only was the score the same, but both games ended in almost exactly the same way. Needing a touchdown, the trailing team has momentum and is trying to score in the dying minutes of the fourth quarter. Then either Shawn Williams’ replacement or Shawn Williams himself forces a fumble, and the Bengals score one more time to put the game away.Also, Tyler Boyd almost replicated his exact stat line from the last time the Bengals played the Ravens. Can all of this be a coincidence? Or is there something else going on?Maybe the Bengals are just really good and the universe is not prepared for that.Anyways, enough of that. Here’s what we learned:Tyler Boyd is emerging as the No. 2 receiverWhile A.J. Green had three touchdowns on his first three catches, continuing his legacy of humiliating the Ravens’ defense, Tyler Boyd actually had more receptions and more receiving yards than Green. Boyd only had one touchdown, which would normally be noteworthy if he was not teammates with Green. But Boyd’s statline in this game (six receptions Bengals Jessie Bates III Jersey , 91 yards, one touchdown) is almost identical to his statline from the Bengals’ Week 17 upset of the Ravens in 2017 (five receptions, 91 yards, one touchdown). It looks like Green isn’t the only Ravens killer on the Bengals roster.Green is on pace to gain over 1,200 yards and 32 touchdowns (he will probably fall just short of that one) this season. But Green is one of the best receivers in the NFL and a Hall of Fame lock, so that’s no surprise.But Boyd had a very underwhelming season in 2017. He’s back to his full potential, building off of a couple great games at the end of last season. If he continues this trend, he will be a great slot receiver, especially on third down, where about half of his targets came.The offensive line is finding a wayIn their Week 1 rout of the Bills, the Ravens had six sacks, nine quarterback hits, and ten tackles for a loss. Against the Bengals, the Ravens were held to no sacks, four quarterback hits Bengals Dre Kirkpatrick Jersey , and six tackles for a loss.Yes, the Bills are a very bad team and are one of the few teams with a worse offensive line than the Bengals. But the Bengals gave up five sacks in the season opener against the Ravens in 2017, so they were on the same level a year ago.It’s no coincidence that the cleanest pocket Dalton has had in ages was the same game as his four-touchdown first half. The running game had room to breathe, Dalton had time to make good throws, they offense wasn’t constantly finding themselves behind the sticks, and the defense didn’t have to play more than their fair share.The amazing thing is that there were not really any amazing performances on the offensive line. Billy Price looked good before he was sidelined with an injury, and Cordy Glenn had a pretty good game. But Clint Boling struggled occasionally. Trey Hopkins, who came in for Price at center, gave up some pressure. Alex Redmond and Bobby Hart both made some rookie mistakes, even though Hart is a third-year starter.But it really doesn’t matter how well the individual units performed. The important things is that Frank Pollack and Bill Lazor have found a way for the offense to function without a great offensive line. They’re taking the pieces they have and making the best out of them. If this line can keep the pressure to a minimum against a defense like the Ravens, then they should be miles ahead of where they were last season.Teryl Austin is getting his turnoversThe Bengals have won the turnover battle in each of the last two games, and in both cases it has made the difference. Not only have the Bengals won both of their games 34-23, but they have sealed both games with scores coming off of late fourth quarter fumble recoveries. Jessie Bates is looking good in his rookie season, and got the game started with an interception in Ravens territory. This pick set up a short field for the offense, and they got the first score of the game following the turnover.Shawn Williams came in and stepped up after being ejected early in the game last week. Not only did he intercept Joe Flacco to stop their momentum in the third quarter Youth Andy Dalton Jersey , but forced a fumble to seal the game before the two-minute warning.Whatever Teryl Austin is preaching, the defense is swallowing whole. Austin’s goal was to force more turnovers, and it appears to be working.The defensive line is insanely deepMichael Johnson will not be able to suit for a few weeks due to a knee injury he sustained during the game. Whether or not Johnson is even one of the four best defensive linemen on the team is debatable, but with all the injuries that happened on Thursday his will be the easiest to absorb.Behind him, Sam Hubbard played very well in his second NFL game. Only recording seven snaps last week, he made up for it with five combined tackles, two for a loss, and a sack.Then you have the Pro-Bowlers on the line, Geno Atkins and Carlos Dunlap. Atkins had five tackles and two sacks, while Dunlap was a force in the passing game with three passes broken up, including one that was picked off by Williams.Jordan Willis and Carl Lawson had quieter games, but still made valuable contributions. Even without Michael Johnson, this defensive line should be very scary moving forward.
