Dallas Cowboys lose to Cincinnati Bengals recap: Special teams error costs Cowboys late

It can be argued that they played a better game than the Cincinnati Bengals. I won’t make that argument, but maybe someone will.

The Dallas Cowboys played hard on Monday night and had a chance to win the game until disaster struck them in the most heartbreaking way (you know what I’m talking about). With the loss the Cowboys fell to 5-8 on the season and what little hope they had for a potential playoff berth dissipated all the more.

It really was a shame that Dallas lost the way that they did because they fought like crazy to get to a point where they could beat a Bengals team with a very impressive offense. But the score is what it is and the Cowboys now have a short week to prepare for the Carolina Panthers.

Below you will find our recap of the game written in quarterly installments.

Sometimes you really can’t believe it.

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!

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.

3rd Quarter

The Cowboys deferred to the second half which meant that they began the third quarter with the football. They made good work of it.

Rico Dowdle did a lot of the heavy lifting and KaVontae Turpin got involved on offense, but it was Brandin Cooks who ultimately got into the endzone. It marked the second week in a row that Cooper Rush found him for a touchdown.

Giving the ball to Cincinnati continued to feel like hoping for some sort of miracle to happen as they had been able to move with relative ease all night.

They continued to do so, but then that miracle happened! Joe Burrow overthrew a pass and Malik Hooker was able to come away with it for an interception!

The Cowboys moved a bit and got within Brandon Aubrey field goal range as the quarter came to a close.

4th Quarter

The first action of the fourth quarter was Brandon Aubrey converting on his 47-yard field goal. This gave the Cowboys the lead as the final period got fully underway.

Cincinnati took over and with a clear intent to avenge the possession prior to where Joe Burrow tossed an interception. They moved the ball with relative ease (we have said this a lot) and unfortunately things took an even worse turn for Dallas when linebacker DeMarvion Overshown appeared to be injured near the end of the drive. He needed help getting to the locker room and very quickly after he was assisted the ESPN broadcast reported that the Cowboys had ruled him out of the game.

As far as the football of it all though the Cowboys defense managed to hold the Bengals to a field goal to tie the game once more.

The Cowboys gave the ball right back to Cincinnati though which put the Bengals in position to go and take the lead. After looking like they would initially the Bengals stalled and almost fumbled the ball away on a second and long. Unfortunately for Dallas the fumble was ultimately ruled an incomplete catch.

Never fear though, Marist Liufau (replacing Overshown) was there to save the day. Along with the rest of the blitz that Mike Zimmer sent, Liufau got home and jarred the ball loose from Joe Burrow on third and long. Cincinnati recovered, but they had to punt it away.

This was the moment where Dallas could have taken full control. It looked like they would as Rico Dowdle ran for 14 yards on the first play. After that though the Cowboys decided to commit to the pass, strangely so, and saw 3 incompletions in a row fall before punting.

Amazingly, the Cowboys forced a punt. But unfortunately for them after Nick Vigl blocked it… Amani Oruwariye touched it and made the ball live once more.

The Bengals wound up scoring and that was effectively the game.

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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.