The Dallas Cowboys hosted the Cincinnati Bengals at home Sunday afternoon, but to say that they were gracious host would be an understatement.
The Cowboys took the Bengals out back to the woodshed and gave them an old-fashioned whooping, coming away with 28-14 victory.
The final score doesn’t really indicate how dominate the Cowboys were in all phases of the game. They completely shut out the Bengals in the first half and the only touchdowns Cincinnati was able to score were really during trash time.
This Cowboys squad is really starting to come into their own and perform like one of the better teams in the NFL.
This game was supposed to be a good measuring stick to help determine exactly what type of team the Cowboys have, but if we learned anything from yesterday’s game, it is that this team is the real deal.
Below is this week’s version of The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly. I hope you enjoy.
The Good
There was a lot of good that happened against the Cincinnati Bengals Sunday afternoon for the Dallas Cowboys, but after narrowing down the options, I decided to go with Ezekiel Elliott.
There were many of us fans that were worrying about Elliott’s workload so far, but on just 15 carries he was able to rack up 134 rushing yards and scored two touchdowns. He also had three receptions for 37 yards.
Elliott’s 60 yard touchdown run was the longest play from scrimmage for the Dallas Cowboys offense all season, proving that he is capable of taking it to the house every time he touches the ball.
#21 was able to accomplish all of this against arguably the best defensive front he has faced all season, which made it even more impressive.
The Bad
There wasn’t a lot of bad that happened for the Dallas Cowboys against the Bengals. There were however two separate plays that I think tied for this category.
The first play was when Lucky Whitehead muffed the punt deep on the Cowboys side of the field. Thankfully, he was able to recover the ball because it could’ve been a game changing play and given the Bengals the momentum.
The second play was when Dak Prescott was stripped of the ball, which was eventually recovered by the Cincinnati Bengals. Again, the Dallas Cowboys were lucky that things didn’t turn out worse. It could’ve easily been scooped and scored for a TD.
This may seem like nitpicking, but these two plays could have changed the entire dynamic of the game if things hadn’t gone the Cowboys way.
The Ugly
Okay, I may have cheated a little bit with this one, but the pass rush for the Dallas Cowboys made things ugly for Andy Dalton the entire game.
I expected DeMarcus Lawrence to make a couple of impact plays in his return and help boost the pass rush. But, I never expected them to harass Andy Dalton the way they did the entire game Sunday afternoon.
The Dallas Cowboys defensive front pressured Dalton the entire game and finished with four QB sacks. Lawrence might have been a little rusty, because he could’ve possibly added two more.
Regardless, it was encouraging to see the Cowboys defense perform as well as they did, especially pass rush. Let’s just hope this is a sign of things to come for the rest of the 2016 season.
What would your Good, Bad, and Ugly be for the Cowboys against the Bengals?
Please feel free to use the comment section below to share any thoughts or opinions you have about the game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
I don’t know whether to call it bad or ugly, but it looked to me like the Cowboys took a siesta after Zeke scored on the Cowboys first play of the second half.
Txpatriot, I noticed that as well. I think the entire team kind of took their foot off the gas and just kinda coasted in for the win. I personally would’ve liked to seen them play with that killer instinct, but as long as they come away with the win I’m okay.