Dalton ops to throw to Steeler instead of fellow teammate on last pass of Pro Bowl

"I can no longer defend Andy Dalton."

I immediately text messaged that sentence to my friend and lifelong Bengals fan after Andy Dalton threw his last pass during last night's Pro Bowl.

On a night where every other quarterback threw with reckless abandon, Dalton struggled to the tune of 9-of-20 passing for 69 yards, as Team Carter lost to Team Irvin, 32-28.

I completely understand it's the Pro Bowl, an otherwise glorified scrimmage. Dalton's Sunday stat line is not the reason why I finally decided to turn my back on Dalton (editor's note: any time I can reference a "Goodfellas" line, I'm going to). But unlike Paulie did for Henry, I'm not giving Dalton $3,200 for a lifetime. I'm joining the masses of Bengals fans that seriously wonder if their QB 1 is the one to finally get Cincinnati over the hump.

On fourth down at their own 19 with just under a minute left, Dalton threw to Steelers receiver Antonio Brown instead of his Pro Bowl teammate, A.J. Green. So, not only did he not throw to his own teammate, the guy that he knows better than anyone else in that stadium, he opts to throw to a member of arguably his team's most hated rival. What's worse, is that the pass was so horrific that you can't even say with conviction who he is throwing to on the play. Check out Brown's reaction to the throw; he can't contain his frustration, throwing up his arms in disgust (and probably counting his blessings for having Ben Roethlisberger as his quarterback).

You can't tell whether or not Green is open on the play, but the fact that Dalton didn't even look his way is what's really puzzling. To me, unless he's triple-teamed, a quarterback throws to his guy in that stage of an All-Star game. You think Steve Young is throwing to Michael Irvin instead of Jerry Rice in a Pro Bowl 20 years ago? While I know Green isn't Rice and Dalton is far from being Young, I think you see where I'm coming from. Above that, I'm sure Green felt good about himself watching his quarterback throw to a Steelers receiver over him on the last play. It's just another example of the frustration Andy Dalton puts Bengals fans through, and another reason for Steelers fans to smile on Monday morning.