NFL
By: Greg Rector
Cincinnati Bengals (0-1) vs Dallas Cowboys (0-1) AT&T Stadium 4:25 PM
Joe Burrow and the rest of the Super Bowl runner-up Bengals head to Arlington to face the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday. Both teams will be looking for their first win of the season. Let’s break down this contest. If you want to listen to my feelings after week one and the Prescott injury listen to my latest “Greg’s Gripes,” podcast, the episode is on the Nuts and Bolts Sports homepage.
Bengals Offense vs Cowboys Defense
Joe Burrow will be primed to rebound after his rough season opener against the Steelers. The Bengals can hit you in various ways with one of the best trio of wide receivers in the league in Chase, Higgins, and Boyd can all make big plays. the real engine of the Bengals’ offense is dual-threat running back Joe Mixon, and the Dallas defense better get a whole lot better on the right edge of their defense than they were in week one or Mixon will have a huge game. In turn, the Cowboys last season’s league leaders in turnovers watch the Steelers/Bengals game and will be licking their chops to get themselves in on some for themselves. Two other guys on the Cowboys the Bengals will need to deal with are Demarcus Lawrence and Micah Parsons, both of whom will like nothing more than to make ex-Cowboy’s right tackle La’el Collins day just as miserable as TJ Watt did in week one. The loss of safety/linebacker Jayron Kearse will be felt by Dallas and Dan Quinn will need to mix and match his unit more than he would like. The Bengals offense will be focused and angry after their loss and the Cowboys defense as well know they have to be absolutely focused on getting as many three and outs as possible. Giving up chunk plays simply can’t happen this week.
Cowboys Offense vs Bengals Defense
It was an ugly performance in week one for the Cowboys offense long before the injury to Prescott. Kellen Moore inexplicably stopped calling running plays when the game was still close, he tried trickery over creativity twice with Tony Pollard (Failed miserably) and the receivers weren’t getting any separation at all especially one CeeDee Lamb who had 2 catches on 11 targets for 26 yards.All game long he was double and tripled covered. It didn’t help that a lot of passes were also thrown behind them. For all the Ezekiel Elliott haters, sorry but he had 52 yards on just 10 carries. Last I looked any back averaging over 5 yards is doing well. The Bengals edge rushers Sam Hubbard and Trey Hendrickson will be coming after backup QB Cooper Rush like sharks smelling blood. Rookie LT Tyler Smith did pretty well in his first start, can’t say the same for RT Terence Steele, and he will have to be much better in this game. Matt Farniok was forced to play left guard after Connor McGovern went down with a high ankle sprain and the results weren’t pretty. I don’t think the recently signed Jason Peters will be ready until week three so this is a serious issue for this game.
Outlook and Prediction
Everything has to go right for the Cowboys and given their recent history I am inclined to believe that won’t happen. You can’t count on another 5 turnover game from the Bengals. If the defense can stand on its head and possibly get 2 or 3 turnovers they have a slim chance. I really think though with the injuries to the Cowboys this is going to be a very long afternoon in Dallas. Between the offensive line woes, the backup quarterback starting and a group of receivers that looked terrible against Tampa let’s be realistic here folks, I believe the Bengals will win this game handily by 30 – 13.
As always you can find me on Twitter @GregCowboys
