Andy Dalton has admitted that there are no excuses for the Cincinnati Bengals not to improve on their 2012 results in this year's NFL season.

The Bengals were knocked out of the playoffs in the wild card round for the second consecutive year, but the franchise added highly-rated tight end Tyler Eifert in the 2013 draft, along with running back Giovani Bernard and wideout Cobi Hamilton.

The quarterback told the team's official website: "Well, there shouldn't be any excuses. The players we already have and adding these guys is just going to make the offense better. So I expect us to take the next step.

"I expect us to improve from where we were last year. Time will tell, but we've got the right attitude going in and the way we've been working, I don't expect any less.

"Hopefully making the improvements will help with the win-loss record and we win more games and we get back to the playoffs and we win games in the playoffs. I think that's what it comes down to, if you're winning games or not."

Dalton was drafted by the Bengals in 2011.