former head coach of the Raiders. He had observed Dalton when he was in charge of Bengals defensive backs, and then running backs. Jackson opened Dalton's eyes to the forest that the trees were a part of.

Always, he has had Zampese, who has been coaching Bengals quarterbacks since Jon Kitna was under center. Zampese was bequeathed quarterback wisdom from his father, Ernie, a general in the Air Coryell army and a 28-year veteran of NFL wars, and could teach with stories of Dan Fouts, Troy Aikman, Brett Favre and Kurt Warner.

And another set of eyes could push Dalton further still. In the spring before the 2014 season, Dalton decided to spend a week with independent throwing gurus Tom House and Adam Dedeaux, former pitchers whose methods had clickedwith Tom Brady and Drew Brees. This offseason, the decision was made to spend more time with them—three weeks—and to bring along other Bengals quarterbacks and skill-position players.

The Dalton who showed up for the season-opening win against the Raiders was a Dalton the NFL had never seen before. In that game, he led his team to 33 points. He did not oversee an offense that scored 33 points. He led his team to 33 points.

In that game, one of Dalton's touchdown throws to Eifert was an audible. Two weeks later, the game-winning touchdown pass to Green against the Ravens also was a play Dalton changed. Against the Seahawks the week after that, Dalton changed a fourth-quarter play to a QB keeper and bulled in for a five-yard touchdown