Andy Dalton started out hot in the first half of a Thursday Night Football showdown with the Arizona Cardinals. Despite a red zone interception, he’d pushed his New Orleans Saints to a 14-6 lead behind 169 passing yards and a pair of touchdowns.
But Andy Dalton is Andy Dalton. He is the physical ginger embodiment of Marvin Lewis’s Cincinnati Bengals. So when things went wrong, it wasn’t just a flat tire slowing down his Formula 1 racer. Oh no, those wheels came all the way off.
After the Cardinals tied the game 14-all with 2:28 to play, Dalton had the chance to push the Saints back into the lead going into halftime. Instead, New Orleans trailed 28-14 thanks to back-to-back Dalton pick-sixes.
The first one, a carom off Marquez Callaway’s hands and to a waiting Marco Wilson, ended with a shot that should win some technical director an Emmy next year.
this camera angle is absolute poetry pic.twitter.com/BuDZXLC1eA
— Christian D'Andrea (@TrainIsland) October 21, 2022
That’s Dalton, embracing his agony as Wilson executes a genuinely impressive, Suni Lee floor exercise-style running flip into the end zone. The Cardinal cornerback went full Swanton Bomb over the goal line. He did so with such height and grace the Hardy Boyz, not even watching, smiled and nodded knowing the universe had acknowledged them.
And Dalton missed it, because once you’ve seen one pick-six, you’ve kind of seen them all. Even if they end as beautifully as Wilson’s did.
Catch ya on the flippity flip. @MJW_era#NOvsAZ on Prime Video
Also available on NFL+ https://t.co/aKjbRcE0ca pic.twitter.com/0FBLUaXvmu— NFL (@NFL) October 21, 2022
