ARLINGTON, TEXAS — What Dallas Cowboys’ (5-8) quarterback Cooper Rush said was a “missed opportunity.”
“We [held] a really good offense to 20 points, and we turned it over,” he said.
Those 20 points quickly turned to 27 in the final two minutes of the game—Dallas losing to the Cincinnati Bengals (5-8), 27-20.
The Bengals went 3-and-out on their first drive, while the Cowboys scored on theirs. Dallas went for it on 4-and-2; quarterback Cooper Rush lofted one to wide receiver CeeDee Lamb in the right corner of the endzone for an 11-yard touchdown. Kicker Brandon Aubrey’s point-after-touchdown was good.
Cincinnati would tie it when QB Joe Burrow found Chase for a five-yard toe-tap TD to finish their next drive. There was a delay of game prior to the ball being snapped, which pushed K Cade York’s PAT back five yards, but his second attempt was good.
On Dallas’ second drive, Lamb took off on a 43-yard pass-and-catch from Rush to get the Cowboys within 25 yards of the endzone. But when play resumed in the second quarter, the Cowboys ended the drive with Rush throwing an interception to Bengals’ safety Geno Stone on the 4-yard line.
The Bengals went for it on fourth down, but Burrow’s pass was broken up by linebacker DeMarvion Overshown and gave the Cowboys the ball on their own 44-yard line. Dallas would then go down and score on Aubrey’s 35-yard field goal to retake the lead.
Cincinnati’s Chase Brown jumped into a Salvation Army red kettle thinking he scored a TD on the next drive, only to throw his hands up in disbelief when it was called back when it was thought that he stepped out of bounds. The Bengals then challenged the play. After review, the referees deemed that Brown remained inbounds. York’s PAT was good to give the Bengals their first lead of the night.
Cincinnati scored a 37-yard FG before the end of the half to increase its lead to seven.
The third quarter only saw one score—Dallas went on a 70-yard drive, of which culminated in a TD from WR Brandin Cooks and PAT from Aubrey to tie it all up.
Aubrey could have hit a 47-yard FG to add to the score in the third, but his attempt would have to wait until the beginning of the fourth. His make gave Dallas a 20-17 lead.
Overshown went down under Cincinnati’s center Ted Karras some plays later, but was able to walk off the field with assistance. He was later ruled out with a knee injury.
On the same drive as Overshown’s injury, York tied it back up with his 29-yard FG.
A pass to WR Andrei Iosivas was hit out by cornerback Trevon Diggs and recovered by S Donovan Wilson, but it was ruled an incomplete pass. How did Wilson respond? By sacking Burrow and forcing a fumble on the next play. Although the Bengals recovered it, they then punted it away.
Just before the two-minute warning, LB Marist Liufau sacked Joe Burrow. It forced Cincinnati to punt, of which Dallas’ LB Nick Vigil blocked, then CB Amani Oruwariye touched it and made it a live ball and the Bengals ultimately recovered it. With one minute left to go, Chase hauled in a 40-yard TD, and York kicked it through the uprights to make it 27-20.
Cowboys’ RB Rico Dowdle finished with 18 carries for 131 yards, his second-straight game with 100-or-more-yards on the ground; Chase led all the receivers with 14 receptions for 177 yards and two TDs, and Brown had 123 scrimmage yards and a TD.
Burrow had 369 yards and 3 TDs; Rush with 183 yards and two TDs.
The Cowboys will head to Charlotte in Week 15 to face the Carolina Panthers
