ben baby
ben baby
ESPN Staff Writer
Ben Baby covers the Cincinnati Bengals for ESPN. He joined the company in July 2019. Prior to joining ESPN, he worked for various newspapers in Texas, most recently covering college sports for the Dallas Morning News. He provides daily Bengals coverage on ESPN.com, while also appearing on SportsCenter, ESPN’s NFL program and ESPN Radio. A native of Grapevine, Texas, he graduated from the University of North Texas with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. He is an adjunct professor of journalism at Southern Methodist University and a member of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA).
tod archer
tod archer
ESPN Staff Writer
Todd Archer is an NFL reporter for ESPN, covering the Dallas Cowboys. Archer has been covering the NFL since 1997 and Dallas since 2003. He joined ESPN in 2010. You can follow @toddarcher on Twitter.
ARLINGTON, Texas — The playoffs may be a distant dream for the Cincinnati Bengals, but at least they beat the Dallas Cowboys 27-20, ending their losing streak after a special teams error late in the fourth quarter.
The Cowboys deflected a punt but touched the ball, and the Bengals recovered the ball at their own 43 with 1:53 left. Three plays later, Joe Burrow completed a jammer chase for a 40-yard TD to win the game.
Cincinnati’s win over the Cowboys ended a three-game drought for teams that are mathematically still in playoff contention, even if their chances of making the postseason are slim.
It shouldn’t have been this difficult to play against a Cowboys team without starting quarterback Dak Prescott, who is on injured reserve. But through 13 games, Cincinnati proved that nothing can be taken for granted.
Their defense has often been inconsistent this season, and they struggled to concede points on Monday night. As the blows piled up, Dallas pressured Burrow all night, forcing him to wear a compression sleeve on his left leg.
A win would be great considering the circumstances in what has been a disappointing season. However, this performance was a reminder that Cincinnati needs a lot of work to play meaningful games again in December and January.
QB Breakdown: Cincinnati is at a point in the season where Burrow needs to be near perfect to beat sub-.500 teams. Burrow avoided pressure and continued to play throughout the game. Midway through the fourth quarter, he slipped his sleeve through his left leg. He completed 33-of-44 for 369 yards and three touchdowns, with one interception.
A worrying trend: The Bengals’ efforts this season leave a lot to be desired. That was evidenced by CeeDee Lamb’s quick throws and better-than-expected catches for 42.8 yards, resulting in a 43-yard gain. Entering this week, Cincinnati allowed the third-most yards after contact in the league, according to ESPN Research. Despite replacing starters and adjusting the rotation, that problem hasn’t been resolved.
Surprising stats: Chase loves getting national attention. He currently has four consecutive games of 100 yards receiving on Monday Night Football, becoming the first player to have 100 yards receiving in each of the first four games of his MNF career. Overall, Chase tied Randy Moss, Davante Adams, and Cooper Kupp for the most yards in MNF history with 100 yards. The Bengals fed Chase throughout the game and helped strengthen the All-Pro’s case, which looks pretty strong. He had 14 catches for 177 yards and two TDs. Chase also leads the league in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns, and is looking to win the Triple Crown. Not too shabby for someone looking to make a lot of money on their next deal.
Biggest hole in the game plan: Stopping Rico Doodle. The fourth-year player hasn’t exactly attacked defenses throughout his career. However, the Bengals had a hard time containing him. He averaged 7.3 yards per carry, which was a career high. The Bengals’ run defense has continued to be unstable this season. Entering Monday night, Cincinnati ranked 30th in the league in defensive rushing success rate, according to ESPN Research. — Ben Baby
Next game: Titans (1 p.m. ET, Sunday)
It might be a miracle for the Cowboys to make the playoffs for the fourth straight season after such an unbelievable loss.
Riding the momentum, the Cowboys looked poised to win the game late in the game until their special teams once again took their toll. Initially, special teams nearly gave the Cowboys a short field when Nick Vigil deflected a Ryan Lehkow punt, but Amani Oruwariye, who was placed on injured reserve earlier in the day, fed the ball. He fumbled while trying to do so.
Three plays later, Burrow and Chase scored a 40-yard touchdown with 1:01 left.
The 5-8 Cowboys will almost certainly have to win their final four games and will need help from teams like the San Francisco 49ers and Atlanta Falcons, who already have direct tiebreakers in the wild-card race. It will be.
But of all the losses this season, this one may be the hardest to understand.
In addition to special teams mistakes, the Cowboys can reflect on red zone woes that have been an issue all season, including Cooper Rush’s second-quarter interception on the Bengals’ No. 7 that prevented Dallas from scoring. And the Cowboys couldn’t consistently put together drives against a defense that was allowing 28.3 points per game.
Defensively, the Cowboys finally relented after doing a solid job of keeping Burrow’s high-powered offense out of the end zone until 1:01 left.
Eye-popping stats: Lamb has made a number of big catches in his career, but only twice this season have he covered more distance than his 43-yard reception in the first quarter. According to Next Gen Stats, Lamb ran 73.5 yards down the field after the Bengals first broke the bubble screen. Running back toward the Cowboys’ sideline, Lamb was able to reach the Cincinnati 24. Unfortunately for the Cowboys, the drive ended in Rush’s interception.
Promising trend: The Cowboys didn’t have to wait long for their second 100-yard rushing performance of the season. Dowdle became the first Cowboys running back to reach 100 yards in consecutive seasons since Tony Pollard in 2022, with a career-high 131 yards on 18 carries. On Thanksgiving against the New York Giants, Dowdle had 22 carries for 112 yards and a touchdown, ending a franchise-long 25-game drought. In the third quarter Monday, Dowdle had a 27-yard run, the Cowboys’ longest run of the season. This was the third time this season that Dallas had a carry of 20 yards or more.
Troublesome trend: Offensive line can’t catch breaks. Earlier Monday, Pro Bowl right guard Zach Martin was placed on injured reserve pending season-ending ankle surgery on Thursday. In the second quarter, rookie center Cooper Beebe suffered a concussion. He entered Monday’s game having played all but one snap this season. The only offensive lineman who did not miss time due to injury is right tackle Terrence Steele. Rookie left tackle Tyler Guyton was active Monday but did not start due to ankle and knee injuries. — Todd Archer
Next game: Panthers (1 p.m. ET, Sunday)
