No need to re-hash Amani Oruwariye’s muffed attempt at recovering a live-ball blocked punt. And DeMarvion Overshown’s catastrophic knee injury was painful enough to watch the first time. Those moments were both bad and ugly for Cowboys fans watching the 27-20 loss to Cincinnati in Week 14, but they’re a little too obvious and have already been detailed to death.
This installment of Good, Bad, and Ugly will dive a little deeper into some of the game’s subplots that may have been overshadowed by the headline-worthy stories but contributed all the same to the disappointing outcome. Like Mike McCarthy’s insistence on force-feeding the least successful part of his offense when the play calls mattered most. Or watching Micah Parsons get put in a high-definition chokehold in the middle of a pass rush while the officials were… um… blinded by the sun, maybe? Or the secondary quietly giving up more passing yards than they have in over three years.
But even though Dallas got the L, there were plusses to be taken away. Think back to September and how ridiculous it would have sounded to suggest that Rico Dowdle, Brock Hoffman, and T.J. Bass would be the bright spots in a December primetime matchup. But it’s just par for the course in this wacky season.
Here’s the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly from Monday night’s nail-biter.
[affiliatewidget_smgtolocal]
Good: Run game under Rico
It’s hard to watch Rico Dowdle over the past few weeks and not wonder what might have been if the organization hadn’t been so hellbent on forcing Ezekiel Elliott early in the season. Dowdle has averaged 19.6 carries and 109.7 yards per game over the past three outings, and he notched a career-high 131 on the ground Monday night. Over the past six weeks, he ranks second in the league in rushing yards and- at his current clip- is on pace to log his first 1,000-yard season. His rise likely won’t be enough to keep the team from bolstering the RB room in the draft (as they should), but Dowdle has proven he can be a lead back and could make up half of a very potent one-two punch at the position in 2025.
Bad: Calling for Rush to rip it late
The Dallas ground game was working against Cincinnati, to the tune of 6.2 yards per rushing play on the night. The passing attack was far less effective. Yes, Cooper Rush threw a pair of touchdown passes, but coming into the fourth quarter, he had completed just 60.8% of his attempts. Yet with the score tied and six minutes to play- and after a gashing first-down run by Dowdle– Mike McCarthy went to the Rush well three straight times. All three passes- all targeting receivers not named CeeDee Lamb- fell horribly incomplete; the entire drive used one minute of clock and covered just the 14 yards that Dowdle had gained to start it. (Rush ended the night with a completion percentage just barely over 50%.) With loads of time still to play, the Cowboys gave the ball back to the Bengals for the fateful possession that led to the deciding special-teams blunder, but it was this utterly wasted drive and McCarthy stubbornly going away from the highest-probability playmakers on the team that set the table.
Ugly: Giving more gifts in the red zone
There’s shooting yourself in the foot, and then there’s pointing a cannon at your size 12s Yosemite Sam-style and taking everything below the knee clean off. The Cowboys lead the league in the latter. They scored a touchdown on their opening offensive possession for the first time all season, and then had the chance to follow it up on the next drive. Instead of taking a 14-7 lead on the first play of the second quarter, though, Rush’s pass- in the vicinity of two Cowboys and five Bengals defenders– ended up turning into the quarterback’s third interception of the season. Dallas already has the 31st-ranked red-zone offense, having converted less than 44% of their drives inside the 20 into touchdowns, but their seven red-zone turnovers in 2024 are the most in the NFL.
Good: Offensive line depth coming up huge
Chuma Edoga started over Tyler Guyton. Brock Hoffman was in at right guard for Zack Martin but had to slide over to center after Cooper Beebe couldn’t continue. Suddenly, Terence Steele was the most experienced O-lineman for Dallas, and it was Hoffman and T.J. Bass anchoring the front five. Not exactly a who’s who, but the kids were alright, allowing just three sacks on the evening and helping plow the road for Dowdle in the run game. Hoffman’s midgame shift to center was seamless. Perhaps even more impressive, the group accounted for only one penalty flag all night, a holding call on Bass that was declined anyway. Hearing that Matt Waletzko was the only lineman left in reserve was scary, but the Cowboys’ motley crew up front more than held their own.
Bad: Letting Burrow carve up the secondary
The Bengals quarterback is leading the league in attempts, completions, yards, and touchdowns, and he’s second in QB rating. If were playing for a team in playoff contention, he’d be in the MVP conversation. Yes, the Cowboys knew he’d be a problem, but even with four extra days to scheme for him- and the combined trio of Trevon Diggs, DaRon Bland, and Jourdan Lewis making their first collective start ever- the secondary had zero answers for containing him. Burrow tallied 369 passing yards, his most in any game this season except for Cincinnati’s two shootouts with the Ravens and the most the Dallas defense has allowed in over three calendar years.
Ugly: Everybody loves holding Micah
Death, taxes, and offensive linemen holding Micah Parsons. It happens every week, and it seems to rarely get called as opponents struggle to contain the Cowboys’ brilliant pass rusher. Two of Cincinnati’s 10 called penalties on the night came as a result of linemen holding Parsons; many more instances were missed. Bengals rookie right tackle Amarius Mims had multiple flagrant arm-wraps around Parsons’s throat that were obvious to the millions viewing on television, but officials standing a few feet away saw it only once. Left tackle Cody Ford also got nabbed for it late in the game. Parsons finished with no sacks and just two QB hits credited to him. He has 6.5 and 17 in those respective categories so far this year, but one has to wonder how much higher those stats would be if he weren’t being held, seemingly, more often than not.
