Do the Pittsburgh Steelers own Andy Dalton?

The Pittsburgh Steelers own the Cincinnati Bengals. There is no doubt about that. They have won eight of their last nine meetings and have won their last four trips to Paul Brown Stadium. When Ben Roethlsberger starts, the Steelers are 20-7 against Cincinnati. In Andy Dalton’s career, the only team that he has played five times or more, and has a worse record against is the Houston Texans at 1-4. Dalton is 3-10 when he starts against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Do the Pittsburgh Steelers own Andy Dalton?

However, football discussion has evolved now to the point where we can separate wins from the quarterback. Was Dalton responsible for these woes against the black and gold, or are there outside variables that he cannot control?

While it may not completely be on him, his statistics correlate positively with their poor record against the Steelers. Of the nine teams that he has thrown 100 passes against, he only has a lower completion percentage against the Baltimore Ravens. He is a 58.2% passer against the Steelers and 57.5% against the Ravens. A poor game on Sunday may even give the Steelers that edge.

In yards per attempt, his worst games come against the Steelers. He averages 6.23 yards per attempt against the Steelers. The Texans are close at 6.28 and the Ravens trail allowing 7.13 yards per attempt.

In touchdown to interception ratio, He has 15 touchdowns with 13 interceptions against the Steelers. Against the Ravens, he has 12 touchdowns and 17 interceptions and three touchdowns and three interceptions against the Texans.

When it comes to sacks, Cleveland actually leads with 33, but Baltimore and Pittsburgh are obviously not too far behind with 27 and 24 respectively. However, in terms of sacks per dropback, the Texans just narrowly nudge out the Ravens behind Cleveland.

Overall there are very clearly three teams that dominate Andy Dalton. In the chart below that the top column is Andy Dalton against the Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Houston Texans. The bottom is every other opponent.

The troubling aspect is that Baltimore and Pittsburgh are in the division. He is going to see these teams twice per year until he changes teams, or the team changes from him. So while it is not a clear domination and one that sets them apart from others, it is fair to say that the Pittsburgh Steelers, along with the Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans do have the number of Andy Dalton. Sunday will be another chance for Dalton reverse the narrative, but the sample size is getting rather big against him. It is starting to feel more likely that Dalton is going to bring below average performance every time he steps on the field against the Steelers.