A poised, confident quarterback who could use his savvy and leadership to be a competent No. 2 in the league. And McCarron delivered that kind of performance Monday night in his NFL debut when he led the Bengals to their only touchdown of the game on an otherwise dreadful night of offense.
It was so bad that by the time the Bengals got the ball with 7:43 left in the game, they were down, 25-3, after allowing a safety that came on only McCarron’s seventh snap after taking over at halftime. But McCarron persevered through three holding calls, an illegal formation and the safety when he hit eight of 10 passes for 66 yards while taking the Bengals 80 yards and running back James Wilder’s five-yard touchdown run with 2:45 left in the game.