Simpsons broadcast or no, Bengals fans are simply hoping the Monday night matchup with the Dallas Cowboys doesn’t turn into a laughingstock. There hasn’t been much to smile about this season for Joe Burrow and company anyways. Yet another loss on a national stage, and against might be enough to make even the most stalwart fans think twice about tuning in. Subscribe to our Newsletter!
The Cowboys are suffering through a disappointing season of their own. They sit at 5-7. Their coach could be on his way out and is perhaps taking even more flack than our own Zac Taylor. But they have won two straight. Albeit one of those was against the lowly Giants and the other was on a last second touchdown versus the Commanders.
The Bengals on the other hand, have lost three straight. All of those losses have been in frustrating and/or brutal fashion. With each defeat the playoffs have slipped farther and farther out of reach. As of now their chances sit at around two percent (and even that is being generous).
The key players on the Bengals’ side are well known to Cincinnati fans, but here are three Cowboys players that fans of the Orange and Black should be on the lookout for on Monday night.
Micah Parsons
Micha Parsons has had his share of injuries this year. But he’s back and has been tearing it up in the past several weeks. The Cowboys’ defensive standout has 5.5 sacks in his last four games, along with 23 pressures.
That’s terrible news for Cincinnati. With Orlando Brown Jr. ruled out for this game, it will fall on Cody Ford to protect Joe Burrow’s blind side. TJ Watt and the Steeler’s defensive line punished Burrow last week to the tune of four sacks. That included a strip sack leading to a key Bengals turnover.
The Cowboys are going to move Parsons all over the line, looking for the most advantageous matchup. With him heating up the Bengals line needs to account for him on every play. If they don’t, we could see a repeat of the pressures and struggles from last week.
CeeDee Lamb
Russell Wilson torched the Bengals secondary for 414 yards last week. George Pickens was a large part of that, hauling in three catches for 74 yards and a touchdown. Cincinnati allowed the Steelers to operate at will through the air.
While Dallas’ Cooper Rush isn’t on the same level as Wilson, he’s got an elite wideout to target. CeeDee Lamb is seventh in receiving yards this year. Rush looks to him often as he’s got 10.2 targets per game, good for second in the league.
As we all know by now, the Bengals defensive backs have failed to stop any decent receiver this year. They are 27th against the pass. In past weeks they allowed 123 yards to the Chargers’ Ladd McConkey, 115 yards to the Ravens’ Tylan Wallace and 105 yards to Las Vegas’ Jacobi Meyers. And all are not in Lamb’s league at the position.
Cincinnati must do all it can to bracket Lamb. Although Dallas’ other receivers are capable, Lamb is their biggest threat. There’s no doubt that Rush and company will go to him early and often to exploit every hole in this Bengals defense.
Rico Dowdle
The Cowboys average just 85.8 rushing yards per game. That’s second worst in the league. However, Dallas is optimistic that running back Rico Dowdle can continue to turn that around. He has a season high 123 yards last week against the Giants. Dowdle almost eclipse the century mark the week prior against the Commanders as well.
The Cowboys had been extremely one dimensional prior to those games. But seeing how Cincinnati’s defense has also struggled against the run at times, Dallas is surely hoping that Dowdle can capitalize on his improvement.
Whether it’s been the quarterback or running backs the Bengals have been gashed by nearly everyone. But they simply cannot allow Dallas’ anemic rushing attack to get going.
Credits: Shoutout to Dallasinovates.com for the featured image mock.
