ARLINGTON, TX – Brett Maher saved the day in Dallas and hit a 50-yard field goal with three seconds left in the fourth quarter to bring victory for the Cowboys (1-1) in a 20-17 win over the Bengals (0-2).
Dallas dominated the first half on both sides of the ball, especially offense, which is a totally different story than last week against Tampa Bay. Dallas’s first two drives of the game resulted in two touchdowns, one from quarterback Cooper Rush to Noah Brown and one from Tony Pollard. This was the first time the Cowboys scored a touchdown on each of their first two offensive drives since Week seven in 2019 against the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Cowboys finished the first half with 227 total yards of offense while the defense held the Bengals to 85 total yards. Quarterback Cooper Rush threw 13-of-19 for 168 yards and one touchdown in the first half.
Wide receiver Noah Brown led the Cowboys in the first half with 79 total yards receiving with one touchdown. Rush’s connection to Brown on the first drive of the game was the Cowboy’s first touchdown this season as well as Brown’s first career touchdown.
Micah Parsons and the Cowboys defense did not disappoint in the first half as expected. The defense held the Bengals to 85 total yards of offense and one field goal. Parsons first sack of the game came on third down for Cincinnati which forced the Bengals to settle for a field goal.
Dallas’s defense had four sacks in the first half, one from Parsons, two from Dorance Armstrong Jr., and one from Donte Fowler Jr..
The defense continued to sack quarterback Joe Burrow the remainder of the game. At the end of the third quarter Dallas had six total sacks between four players; Micah Parsons (2), Dorance Armstrong (2), Donte Fowler Jr. (1), and Leighton Vander Esch (1).
The Bengals managed to get another field goal in the third quarter to shorten the deficit to 17-9. The Cowboy’s were in field goal range in the next series but Dalton Schultz fumbled the ball leaving Dallas scoreless the entire third quarter. The defense rallied and held the Bengals to just nine points entering the fourth quarter.
Cincinnati rallied in the fourth quarter and after an eight minute drive the Bengals scored a touchdown and a two-point conversion to tie the game at 17-17 with 3:45 left in the game.
All of a sudden Cooper Rush found himself in a similar position as last year during week eight against Minnesota where he helped Dallas in a comeback drive to beat the Vikings. Rush and the offense made it down field but couldn’t get a touchdown. Brett Maher saved the day and hit a 50-yard field goal with three seconds left to take it home for Dallas.
Rush finished the night 13-of-19 with 235 yards and one touchdown on the night. Noah Brown led in receiving yards with 91 yards and one touchdown.
“I see from Cooper Rush what I see every day. He’s a great guy. He’s got a high IQ. He knows where to go with the ball, and he knows how to get it there. Everybody in this locker room has confidence in him.” Brown said about Rush after the game.
Parsons finished the night with two sacks. He now has four sacks in the first two games of the season. That makes it sack no. 17 in the last 18 regular season games for the lion himself. He now leads the NFL with that stat.
Bengals right tackle La’el Collins on Parsons, “He’s just a hell of a player. That’s what it is. That’s probably one of the best defensive fronts we are going to see this year, if not the best. Just gotta get back to work.”
The Cowboys now have eight days until their next matchup against the New York Giants on Monday Night Football.
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