They gave him three large bags of I.V. fluids Sunday morning and by the time they got back to Cincinnati Sunday night the gag was maybe he would have thrown four interceptions if they had given him the fourth bag.
But the joke was on the rest of the AFC North, because if “Andy 2.0,” showed up here Sunday at Raymond James Stadium, then Road Warrior Andy Dalton pushed him aside in the second half and put on one of the gutsiest displays in Bengals’ history during the 14-13 victory over the Buccaneers.
Literally.
“He didn’t say a word all morning,’ said left tackle Andrew Whitworth. “He was puking his guts out.”
The 24-hour flu bug that suddenly invaded Dalton Saturday night kept him up virtually all night and took him out of the meetings and it had him feeling the worst he’s ever felt on the field. Wide receiver Mohamed Sanu estimated he saw him vomit 20 times Sunday morning. As they went out on the field for the game, Whitworth noticed Dalton in another conversation with a trash can.
“I didn’t puke on the field. Coming in from warmups (and) right before we went out there for the game, I tried to get everything out as much as I could,” Dalton said.
On a remarkable day the crazy-quilted AFC North regurgitated, Dalton re-grouped from three first-half interceptions long enough to jack his career road record to 18-12 and put them in striking distance of their second straight division title that would make him just the second man in NFL history to make the post season in the first four seasons of his career.
At 8-3-1 the Bengals still may not make the Wild Card round with 10 victories. But by the time the media informed them everybody else in the division had lost and were now 7-5 with four games left, the AFC North title looked very doable. If the Bengals split their four December games, the other teams are eliminated from title contention if they lose once.
But isn’t this what Dalton does? Especially on the road? A wretched offensive performance. Curious clock management at the end of the first half. A mystifying failed on-sides kick in the third quarter. He finds a way.
At least three players missed practice time last week with illness, but Dalton was fine until the bug bit just before the Saturday night meetings.
“I told him after the game, ‘Way to battle through, man,’” said safety George Iloka. “A lot of guys have the bug in here. I don’t know what it is. Back up. Back up. He did a good job of sticking through it and putting us in position to win.”
Dalton needed to throw four balls in the second half and he threw four strikes. The big one was a 13-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver A.J. Green turning into a muscle man in the slot when he went Hulk on cornerback Leonard Johnson and snatched the winning points with 2:04 left in the third quarter.
In that same drive Dalton converted two third-and-sixes, one on a crossing route to rookie wide receiver James Wright and another to the inexhaustibly clutch Sanu when he made a 15-yard catch in traffic over the middle at the Bucs 15.
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