FRISCO, Texas — After a quick turnaround from Tuesday to Sunday, the 3-9 Dallas Cowboys will travel to Cincinnati to take on the 2-9-1 Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium. Both teams have had injury-ravaged rosters in 2020 and are moving in the same downward spiral. For those that are ‘team tank,’ this matchup is for you. The loser will be the candidate to receive a third overall pick in the upcoming NFL Draft. The Bengals currently have the third overall pick and the Cowboys hold the fourth, a loss for Dallas would flip the selection order.
Andy Dalton will return to the city that was his home for nine seasons. He will take the field against his former team, likely an emotional day for the Cowboys’ quarterback. Due to COVID-19 protocols and regulations, Dalton will not have the reunion he hoped for in Cincy. The Bengals selected Dalton in the second round of the 2011 NFL Draft and the Texas native became the franchise’s all-time leader in completions (2,757), passer rating (87.5), and touchdown passes (204).
“I basically spent my whole married life there, “ Dalton remarked to media on his tenure with the Bengals. “We got married right before my rookie year. We grew a lot as a family in Cincinnati. I had three kids while we were there and everything. It meant a lot to us.“
Dalton will return to his former place of residence on Sunday but despite his ties to the Bengals, Dalton says the preparation is not any different this week than previous weeks.
Around last year’s draft following a 2-14 season, the Bengals began a rebuilding phase centered on the organization’s No.1 overall draft pick Joe Burrow. Dalton was released days later and signed a one-year deal with Dallas in May 2020 to add veteran experience to the QB room.
When asked about his departure from Cincinnati, Dalton stated, “ There’s some things that happened at the end that I wish would have been different but that led me here to Dallas.”
Following Dak Prescott’s devastating season-ending ankle injury in week five, Dalton has started in five games and amassed 1,155 passing yards, seven touchdowns, six interceptions for a 79.5 quarterback rating. He had his highest output with 285 passing yards against the Ravens in week 13 behind a banged up offensive line that only allowed a single sack.
On Dalton’s performance against Baltimore, Mike McCarthy told media “ In my opinion, I think last night [Ravens week 13 matchup] was clearly one of his better performances against the defense, it’s an uncommon opponent with the ability to mix personnel groupings and I thought Kellen [Moore] was calling the game with a lot of tempo as far as the play entry. There was a lot going on in and out of the game and I thought Andy handled that very well as far as the schematic challenge and his ball distribution I thought was excellent. ”
The Cowboys’ offense seemed to find a better rhythm against Baltimore but stalled outside the red zone and could not finish drives. Once again, Dallas had to settle for field goals as opposed to capitalizing with touchdowns. The squad only managed 17 points and Greg Zuerlein missed three of his four field goals.
On Friday during practice, Ezekiel Elliott (calf) did work on the side with resistance cords according to the team’s pool report. In addition, Aldon Smith (foot) participated after being added to the injury report on Thursday and both Cam Erving (knee) and Donovan Wilson (groin) did not practice. With a short turnaround, the coaching staff could opt to keep players out as a precautionary measure with more time to heal following Sunday’s game in Cincinnati on a normal week.
The Bengals’ have battled key injuries as well in 2020 like the Cowboys, with injuries to both starting rookie quarterback Joe Burrow and the team’s featured back Joe Mixon. Burrow tore both his ACL and MCL in week 11 against Washington and Mixon has been inactive since week six with a foot issue. Both backup quarterbacks Brandon Allen and Ryan Finley have seen playing time since Burrow’s season-ending injury. Allen bypassed Finley on the depth chart as the starter, a role he will likely hold on Sunday against Dallas.
Over the past three games since Burrow’s injury, Cincinnati’s offense ranks last in the league in points per drive. In two starts, Allen has completed 58.3% of his passes for 289 yards and two touchdowns. Second-year head coach Zac Taylor is the former quarterbacks coach for the Los Angeles Rams and his offense is mirrored after that of Sean McVay’s. He uses a lot of 11 personnel groupings (three WR’s, 1 RB, and 1 TE). The Bengals’ rushing attack has struggled without Joe Mixon but given the Cowboys’ horrendous run defense and Allen/Finley’s inability to beat defenses through the air, Baltimore will likely try and pound away with the ground game.
The Bengals use less pre-snap motion and misdirection so Dallas should (key word is should), have better gap discipline to shut down rushers before reaching the second level. However, after the Cowboys’ 294 rushing yards given up in week 13 to the Ravens, there are no guarantees with the Dallas defense that continuously allows career high days for both running backs and mobile quarterbacks. At least this week, the Cowboys will not have to worry with the latter and can focus on stopping the run.
