NFL

Dalton loses his stripes

CINCINNATI — Andy Dalton better prepare for months of questions about his future.

The Bengals quarterback had three second-half turnovers and played terribly Sunday in the team’s 27-10 AFC wild-card loss to the Chargers.

Dalton has made the playoffs in all three seasons of his career. The problem is, he is 0-3 in those games with one touchdown and six interceptions.

He has one year remaining on his contract, and immediately after the game the questions began about whether the Bengals should stick with Dalton.

“I’m willing to take every shot that’s said to me,” Dalton said. “That’s part of playing the position. You have to have thick skin.”

Bengals coach Marvin Lewis, who dropped to 0-5 in the playoffs himself, stuck by his quarterback after the game.

“I don’t have any questions about Andy’s role in this thing,” Lewis said. “We just have to keep working. We have to make sure we do everything to help Andy all the time. He’s going to be very disappointed today, obviously, in himself. He is the football team and I’m sure he’s very disappointed.”

Dalton had an inconsistent season, looking great at times (33 touchdown passes) and terrible at others (20 interceptions). On Sunday, he completed 29 of 51 passes for 334 yards with one touchdown, two interceptions and one fumble. The Chargers got to Dalton with pressure off the edge, and he looked confused by some of their coverages.

Things fell apart for him in the third quarter when he fumbled on a scramble, as he dove headfirst instead of sliding and lost the ball when he hit the ground. The Chargers turned that turnover into a field goal. When the Bengals got the ball back, Dalton threw an interception to Chargers cornerback Shareece Wright that ended up becoming three more points for San Diego. Dalton threw another interception in the fourth quarter and the game was all but over.

“Obviously quarterbacks are going to be judged by how they play in big games,” Dalton said. “Unfortunately the last three years we haven’t been able to win one of these playoff games. There’s going to be a lot of criticism, there’s going to be a lot of talk and until we win a playoff game there’s going to be that. That’s the way it works. Until you prove people wrong, people can say whatever they want. It’s part of playing the position.”