From his early days with the Packers, Brett Favre forged a name for himself by taking risks on the field and turning broken plays into high drama.
Texans coach Gary Kubiak sees that same magic in Cincinnati rookie quarterback Andy Dalton, who faces Houston this weekend in a game that could go a long way to deciding the 7-5 Bengals' playoff chances.
"He obviously threw the ball a lot more than Brett did coming out, but just the way you watched him play the games, the way you watched him find a way to win, find a way to make a play," Kubiak told The Cincinnati Enquirer on Wednesday.
"That's what it's all about in this league. You've got to be able to improvise, and he can definitely do that. I don't see any throws he hasn't been able to make. I've got one in my mind down in Seattle where he moved to his left and hit (A.J.) Green down the middle of the field. I see him making every throw you need to make, and that's all that matters."
The Dalton-to-Green strike can be seen in the video above. It's the kind of quarterback play that felt far away in August, when Dalton appeared lost on the field during preseason affairs.
Like Favre in his heyday, however, Dalton turned it on when the real games began, helping Cincinnati's long-tormented fan base forget about Carson Palmer and see down the road with a dose of hope.