A.J. McCarron wants to pull a Tom Brady

AJ McCarron calls a play in the first half of an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Gary Landers/AP

By Henry McKenna @McKennAnalysis

December 13, 2015

1 minute to read

Wally Pip. Tom Brady. And A.J. McCarron?

The Bengals backup quarterback expressed lofty aspirations Sunday after replacing starter Andy Dalton in the Bengals’ 33-20 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

“Tom Brady was in the same situation,’’ McCarron said after the game, via NFL.com’s Aditi Kinkhabwala.

In 2001, former sixth-round selection Brady relieved an injured Drew ledsoe, and like McCarron, he lost that game. But Brady went on to lead the Patriots to Super Bowl XXXVI, where they beat the St. Louis Rams.

A fifth-round pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, McCarron is armed with a number of weapons on the 10-3 Bengal,s who should ease his transition while Dalton recovers from his fractured thumb on his throwing hand. Taking over an 0-2 Patriots team in 2001, Brady’s surrounding cast, comprised of Antowain Smith, Troy Brown, and David Patten, wasn’t quite as favorable. The defense was alright, though.