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Former Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron will officially start for the Cincinnati Bengals in their AFC Wild Card game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday.
Andy Dalton, who broke the thumb on his throwing hand against the Steelers on Dec. 13, was ruled out of the game following the team’s workout on Friday.
McCarron has started the last three games for the Bengals, leading the team to a 2-1 record over that span. The only loss in that stretch came to the AFC’s No. 1 seed Denver Broncos 20-17 in overtime.
Since taking over for Dalton in that contest against Pittsburgh, McCarron has gone 76-for-115 passing (66.1 percent) while averaging 208 yards per game with 6 TDs and 2 INTs.
According to AL.com, McCarron is the first Alabama quarterback to start in an NFL playoff game since 1983, when Richard Todd was the starter for the New York Jets against the Miami Dolphins in the AFC Championship Game.
The Jets lost 14-0 as the Dolphins went on to lose to the Washington Redskins 27-17 in Super Bowl XVII.
Born and raised in Gainesville, Talal joined SDS in 2015 after spending 2 years in Bristol as an ESPN researcher. Previously, Talal worked at The Gainesville Sun.
