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I just want to get an opinion on what other NFL fans think outside the cincinnati area.

As of now, with the team he has, no. Maybe in a few years he could develop into a Joe Flacco or Matt Ryan level QB, but I don't think he'll ever be Peyton Manning or Tom Brady good.

He is a decidedly average starting QB. You can win with that if you have a stacked team around him, but that ain't easy.

He's a championship caliber quarterback the moment that he wins one. That sounds like an annoying thing to say, but that's how fans and media perceive players. Look at Flacco. Played well over the last couple of years. People didn't consider him a championship caliber quarterback until this season.

Not yet, but he could yet grow into the role. If he does he'll follow the Eli/Flacco route where he goes from game manager to eventual stud. I don't know if he'll ever be able to truly carry a team at the level of a Manning/Brady/Rodgers/Brees though, but those are once in a generation/lifetime type QBs.

Some are putting Flacco into that group after the Super Bowl.

I'd put Flacco in the Matt Ryan category of very good but not quite elite, at least not yet.

As for Dalton...I'd agree with the assessment that he's about average. He can be the starting QB on a successful team, but he's not going to carry a team to wins.

Some folks are putting Flaccos name in there. Im sayin Flacco owes half of his new contract to Ray Lewis and that defense of his. Why? Flacco was literally carried and lifted up for several years. He was given a cushion. Flacco blew a ton of those games, with the defensive guys shakin their heads in private. That is not a luxury that Dalton has. Flacco blew tons of games, while Ray and the defense were just sayin "damn it, not another year! . . . Again Flacco you son of a &^% *$%R&*^"

So Flacco was carried to the 2nd and 3rd rounds of the playoffs. FINALLY . . . THIS YEAR . . . flacco came more into his own, but still, the defense had to pull it out for him in the end with kaepernick and the 49ers blowing it 4 plays in a row on the 5 yardline.

Flacco was DOMINANT in the playoffs. The D was good, but they also gave up 30+ points in two of the four postseason games. Flacco threw 11 TDs and no picks in the playoffs.

Is Flacco elite now? No. He's not in the Rodgers/P. Manning/Brees/Brady territory. But he's a notch below. He's basically the Eli of the AFC. A little inconsistent but when the game is on the line he will go out and win it more often then not.

Also people are underselling the Bengals D. Their D is excellent, actually ranked higher than the Ravens last season. Dalton on the other hand has been terrible in two playoff games(QB ratings of 44 and 51).

with a defense circa the Ravens in 2000, AND a 1,300 yard rusher, then yes

He's more Brad Johnson than Trent Dilfer.

Worm Guts wrote:He's more Brad Johnson than Trent Dilfer.

in that case, replace the words "Ravens in 2000" with "Buccaneers in 2002"