The Cincinnati Bengals perhaps have been the healthiest team in football this season. There's no real reason that had to correct itself, but it certainly did on Sunday, as quarterback Andy Dalton broke his throwing thumb on the team's first possession of a 33-20 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Dalton was quickly ruled out for the rest of the game and Week 15, and there are rumblings that his season could be over.
Andy Dalton breaks thumb; remainder of season in doubt for Bengals, fantasy owners
The Cincinnati quarterback suffered the injury on his first possession Sunday. We break down the fantasy implications.
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Dalton had only five passing attempts Sunday before his injury, completing three of them for 59 yards and also throwing an interception. He was replaced by AJ McCarron, a fifth-round draft pick in 2014 out of Alabama. McCarron completed 22 of his 32 pass attempts for 280 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions in the first meaningful game action of his career.
Fantasy impact: Dalton wasn't even the only injury to strike the Bengals' fantasy-relevant players Sunday; tight end Tyler Eifert left the game with a concussion as well. It's a brutal pair of losses for a team that entered Sunday in line for the AFC's No. 1 seed and now is just wondering how far it can go with a patchwork offense.
McCarron was the only other quarterback on the Cincinnati roster, so expect the Bengals to sign a new backup early in the week. Either way, the job belongs to McCarron for at least the next week or two -- the most optimistic rumblings about Dalton were that he might be able to make it back for the playoffs, and even that might be too hopeful. Dalton's absence hurts the fantasy outlook for all the Cincinnati players. A.J. Green will still be a WR1 most weeks, but Eifert, Marvin Jones, Jeremy Hill and Giovani Bernard will all see their respective rankings dinged a few spots.
