Dallas Cowboys trail Cincinnati Bengals 17-10 at halftime on Monday night, get ball to start second half

The Cowboys trail Cincinnati after the first half on Monday night.

2nd Quarter

Unfortunately disaster struck right as the second quarter began for the Dallas Cowboys.

Cooper Rush was looking for CeeDee Lamb on a slant route and the wideout got caught in traffic. A tipped ball is never a good thing for the offense and in this case it was the worst possible one as Geno Stone came away with an interception for Cincinnati.

It was looking as if the Bengals were going to be able to fully capitalize on the turnover as their offense got to midfield with no real issue. To this point in the game the Cowboys defense was generating consistent pressure, but the Bengals offense was thriving as they have in recent games.

As noted Cincinnati got to midfield and was short on a third down attempt. Instead of letting them decide on fourth down the Cowboys accepted a penalty against Cincinnati, only for the Bengals to pick up enough yardage to basically get back to where they were going to go from on fourth down had Dallas declined.

However it happened the Bengals went for it on fourth and short and were ultimately denied! Micah Parsons had the pressure, but DeMarvion Overshown was the one who made the full on stop.

A turnover on downs is not quite the same thing as an actual turnover, but capitalizing on them and turning them into points is essential if you want to win football games. The challenge was set for Dallas.

Rico Dowdle carried the ball 3 times on the drive in question for 34 yards. Ezekiel Elliott got his first touch of the game for a yard. Ultimately things stalled a bit as the Cowboys got close and they had to settle for a Brandon Aubrey 35-yard field goal. Points are points.

The Bengals offense took over once more and showed absolutely zero signs of slowing down. Despite the Cowboys generating a pretty consistent pass rush, Joe Burrow was continuing to find ways to evade it long enough to connect with his players for big gains, even on third downs.

At long last the dam broke and the Bengals took their first lead of the game after a Chase Brown touchdown that took a bit to be fully confirmed.

The next Cowboys drive went nowhere fast. After an incompletion to Jonathan Mingo on first down the Cowboys picked up a little bit of yardage on second. Unfortunately Jake Ferguson false started before third down and Cooper Rush was ultimately sacked before Dallas punted it away. It marked their first 3 and out of the game offensively.

The Bengals continued to live up to their reputation on offense and move the ball with relative ease. Thankfully the Cowboys were able to generate enough pressure on a 3rd and 7 on their side of the field and forced Cincy to settle for 3.

The Cowboys took over at their own 30-yard line with 30 seconds on the block and all 3 timeouts in their pocket. Given that they deferred to start the game the opportunity for the double dip was right in front of them.

Unfortunately that did not happen as the Cowboys went 3 and out for a second time in a row. They punted and the Bengals sent the game to intermission.

1st Quarter

The Dallas Cowboys won the toss on this particular night and what do you know, they deferred!

To be clear this is the ideal way to approach football, but it worked out in the best possible way as the Cowboys defense forced a three and out.

What’s more is that things got even better for the Cowboys after that. All told the good guys traveled 60 yards in 9 plays on their first possession of the game and cashed in on a CeeDee Lamb touchdown pass from Cooper Rush. It even came on 4th and 1 to make it all the more incredible.

As we discussed all week though… the Bengals are a good football team despite their record. Cincinnati buckled down and traveled 75 yards across 11 total plays for their own score. It was Joe Burrow finding Ja’Marr Chase for the game-tying touchdown on a play that you simply can’t defend.

It seemed like the quarter was going to end with all square and it ultimately did, but with Dallas in position to take the lead once more thanks to this huge gain from CeeDee Lamb.

Through the first quarter… a lot of fun was had!

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Notable Recent News

Prior to the Thursday night game this past week between the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers, it was reported that the former’s offensive coordinator in Ben Johnson has a list of demands (so to speak) with regards to teams who might want him as their head coach.

Namely, Johnson would like alignment between himself (as the presumptive head coach) and the team’s general manager on matters pertaining to the football team.

You can see how this would effectively remove the Cowboys from consideration.

Injury Updates

Last week brought with it the news that Zack Martin would undergo season-ending surgery. It remains to be seen whether or not we will ever seen him suit up for the Dallas Cowboys again.

NFL News Relevant To The Cowboys

The games leading up to this were not incredibly kind to the Cowboys’ playoff hopes, but they did pick up some help. A win would put them at 6-7 alongside the Atlanta Falcons, Arizona Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers. At the moment the third Wild Card spot belongs to the Washington Commanders, who Dallas already beat and still plays again, with a record of 8-5.

Up Next For The Cowboys

With the Cowboys playing on Monday night they will be on a short week, their third in four game weeks, and will hit the road on Sunday for a visit against the Carolina Panthers.

Should the Cowboys win against Cincinnati and Carolina they will get back to .500 for the first time this season since Week 2.