Former Bengals QB Andy Dalton loves playing against his old team

From 2011 to 2019, Andy Dalton was the starting quarterback of the Cincinnati Bengals. The team spent a second-round pick on Dalton after he took the top off of defenses at TCU and the Red Rifle went on to spend nearly a decade with the team who drafted him.

During his time in the Queen City, Dalton led the Bengals to the playoffs five times. After the 2015 Wild Card loss to the Steelers, however, the stripes never got back to the postseason with Dalton at the helm.

After the Bengals won just two games in 2019 and landed the rights for the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, the writing was on the wall for Dalton. Joe Burrow came to Cincinnati and just like that, Dalton was no longer a Bengal. It didn’t stop him from seeing his old team though.

Andy Dalton is slated to face the Bengals again in 2022

Dalton ended up signing with the Dallas Cowboys to serve as a backup behind Dak Prescott. The Red Rifle ended up seeing a fair share of playing time during his lone year in Big D, as Prescott was injured early in the season. Dalton appeared in 11 games total and made nine starts in the 2020 season with one of those games coming against Cincinnati.

In that game, Dalton threw for 185 yards and two touchdowns in a blowout Cowboys win. Burrow wasn’t playing in that game for the Bengals but even if he had been, Dallas probably still wins pretty convincingly since that year’s team wasn’t what they are now.

Dalton spent just one year with Dallas and signed with the Bears last offseason to become their starting quarterback. That lasted all of a month, as the Bears traded up to nab Justin Fields and soon, Dalton and Fields traded off as the starting signal-caller in the Windy City.

Dalton faced the Bengals in Week 2 of the 2021 season, making it the first time he squared off against Burrow. Dalton and Fields swapped places frequently in that game and the former Bengal only completed nine passes for 56 yards but he did throw for a touchdown in a 20-17 Bears victory.

Once again, Dalton is a free agent and has recently signed with the New Orleans Saints, who are his fourth NFL team and third in three years.

While Dalton could have avoided playing the Bengals by signing with an NFC team each year, it’s been quite the opposite. Both the Cowboys and Bears were on Cincy’s schedule in that year and the Saints will be on the schedule in 2022, making it Dalton’s third game against his former team.

Now, it’s worth noting that Dalton might not be starting this game, as the Saints signed Jameis Winston as their backup but it’s a funny tidbit. He must love going up against the Bengals and why wouldn’t he? He’s undefeated against them after all.