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Bengals awards from their 34-23 win over the Ravens What a game! The Bengals came out strong and finished the same way Malik Jefferson Jersey , getting their secondwin of the season. Which were some of the best performances in the team’s 34-23 win against the Ravens? Cast your votes and sound off on your winners for this week’s awards!Most Valuable Player:All three phases of the Cincinnati Bengals’ team worked well on Thursday, with some of their biggest stars having the biggest impacts on the game. Who gets your vote for the Week 2 MVP?Andy Dalton: What a game from the Bengals’ signal-caller. He had one of the best first halves by a Cincinnati quarterback ever, throwing for four touchdowns in the win. Though he fizzled a bit in the second half, Dalton still finished with 265 yards and hit clutch throws throughout the contest. A.J. Green: Three of those four aforementioned Dalton touchdowns went to their star receiver. While all were pretty nice throws from No. 14, Green’s second touchdown was largely on Green, who fought through traffic for some 25-plus yards and shot into the end zone. No. 18 finished with five catches for 69 yards and the three scores, as he continued to torture the Ravens. Joe Mixon: The second-year back is relishing in his higher-profile role this season. It wasn’t as pretty or consistent as last week against the Colts, but we knew the Ravens’ defense would provide a bigger test. Mixon finished with 84 tough yards on 21 carries (4.0 yards per carry), along with one catch for three yards. He also fought through a knee issue that caused him to leave the game twice on Thursday. Randy Bullock: Another nice game from the veteran kicker. The two field goals he hit were totally clutch, as they were in the second half when the Bengals’ lead was dwindling. He also hit his four extra point tries to give him 10 total points for the game, as he remains perfect on the year. Shawn Williams: Talking about atoning for last week. Williams played like a man possessed on Thursday night Mark Walton Jersey , accumulating a sack, forced fumble, an interception and eight total tackles. Geno Atkins: The interior of the Ravens’ offensive line had no answer for No. 97. Even when Joe Flacco was completing second half passes, Atkins seemed to almost always be in his face or taking him to the ground. The big lineman accumulated five tackles, two sacks and numerous pressures/hits. After signing his big deal this offseason, he has three sacks in two games. One could say that the arrival of a new head coach for the Bengals was when the scribbling on the wall began for veteran quarterback, Andy Dalton. Regardless, Zac Taylor is looking to provide a spark for his team and made the decision to bench the longtime starter after an 0-8 start in 2019. Opinions on the decision seem to be mixed among players, pundits and fans, but the fact remains that rookie fourth-round pick, Ryan Finley John Ross Jersey , is now the guy under center. We’ll see if he can provide that coveted spark that has seemed to be missing so far this year. On this week’s episode of The Orange and Black Insider, John Sheeran and I played a little game called “Who has the edge?”, as it came to the Bengals’ quarterbacks. In five different categories, he and I looked at Dalton and Finley as to who has the advantage in certain traits. It was relatively even, with some of the positives leaning towards Dalton’s experience and the negatives pointing to his recent regressions as a passer. Nevertheless, the preseason tape and pre-draft scouting processes of Finley gave us a baseline as to what he’s bringing to the table, as he ostensibly gets set to start the remaining eight games.There are some major questions to Finley’s ability to be an NFL starter, namely in his questionable arm strength and sometimes-shyness in pushing the ball down the field for a big play. These and other intangibles learned via overall NFL experience are definitely factors that favor Dalton in a quarterback comparison. Nevertheless, here are some of the areas that point to promise with Finley under center for what looks to be the rest of 2019. AnticipationIf you watch Finley’s preseason performances, he knew where a lot of his passes were supposed to go. Because he doesn’t have a cannon, he relies more on touch Jordan Willis Jersey , knowledge of the route tree in a given play and often throwing the ball before his receiver turns to look at it. There were times where Finley ad-libbed upon escaping pressure, but a lot of his success was in “throwing guys open”. There is risk associated with this trait, namely in predictable throws or miscommunication with a younger receiving corps that hasn’t had many reps with the new quarterback, but this usually results in high-percentage plays to move the chains. AccuracyOne of the facets to Finley’s game in which a lot of teams were drawn is his ability to complete passes at a high rate. In his final two years at NC State, Finley had a completion rate of over 65 percent (65.1 percent in 2017, 67.4 percent in 2018), while also completing 73.4 percent of his 64 preseason passes. A lot of this speaks to Finley’s awareness as a passer and his aforementioned ability to “throw guys open”. We don’t expect to see many truly poor/missed throws from Finley—in fact, any interceptions he concedes will likely be a cause of a defender jumping predictable routes and play-calls. Pocket presenceUnfortunately for Dalton, the Bengals’ offensive line began its continuous erosion back in the 2017 offseason with the losses of Andrew Whitworth and Kevin Zeitler, the former starter’s poise as a quarterback suffered. We’re not entirely sure that Finley has a massive upper-hand in this regard, but really Carl Lawson Jersey , it couldn’t be much worse than what we’ve seen from Dalton in recent weeks.In the preseason and playing behind a line that was as bad or worse than the one that the Bengals have employed through the first eight games, we saw some promising plays from Finley showing headiness in the pocket. On many occasions, Finley avoided the rush and/or navigated the pocket to make solid throws. Of course, the flip side of this argument is that Finley was also going up against non-starters on defense in the preseason. Teams also use vanilla coverages, so Finley’s promising preseason tape may have an element of “Fool’s Gold”. Still, he didn’t seem to be rattled by poor protection.System fitThis is pretty cut-and-dry, as Finley was the only drafted quarterback the Bengals brought in for a pre-draft visit. This clearly points to his being a guy Taylor envisioned being a solid fit in the system.Finley should be able to work well off of the play-action (if the Bengals can somehow learn to run the ball effectively this year), while being able to throw those intermediate and yards-after-the-catch routes well. Finley has some perceived shortcomings as an NFL signal-caller, hence his being a day three pick, but this system could play more to his strengths and move his ceiling upward.Also on this week’s episode:Was the timing and way the Bengals handled Dalton’s benching appropriate?Dalton now seems pretty ticked off at the decision (it’s only natural for him). Unfortunately, it’s another tough situation and/or distraction Taylor has had to deal with in his first season as head coach. Are there any scenarios in which Dalton is the starting quarterback for this team again?What happens if Finley wins a significant number of games for the second half of the season?Did the Bengals employ the correct strategy at the trade deadline?What does the future hold for Cordy Glenn Tyler Boyd Jersey , A.J. Green and others with the Bengals since they were not dealt?If you’re unable to join us live for here at Cincy Jungle or YouTube every episode, all Orange and Black Insider content is available here on CJ, the Stitcher, Spotify and Google Play Music apps, our YouTube channel, as well as through Megaphone and, as always, on iTunes! You can tweet us @BengalsOBI or get in touch with us via email at theobinsider@gmail.com. Thanks for listening and go subscribe to our channels!