Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys had another efficient preseason showing.Andy Dalton bogged down a bit with his Cincinnati Bengals.Prescott led a pair of scoring drives in three possessions
Maliek Collins Jersey , capped by a scrambling 6-yard scoring pass to Terrance Williams, before the Bengals rallied after halftime for a 21-13 exhibition victory Saturday night.The Bengals had just two first downs in three Dalton-led possessions a week after he threw for two touchdowns with an offense that was revamped after finishing last in the NFL. One of the first downs was on Dalton's 13-yard scramble after the Bengals (2-0) started with a pair of three-and-outs.A week after throwing a 30-yard touchdown to rookie Michael Gallup on his only drive of the preseason opener in San Francisco, Prescott was 10 of 15 for 86 yards. The TD drive for a 10-0 lead was kept alive by an 8-yard slant to Gallup, who reached out for a nice catch inside the Cincinnati 10.The concern for the Cowboys (0-2) was the status of four-time Pro Bowl guard Zack Martin, who left early on what would have been his last drive with a knee injury.Owner Jerry Jones said an MRI was planned Sunday and he was optimistic about the outcome. Martin was injured when he bent down to block cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick in the open field on a run by Rod Smith. Martin was on the sideline in street clothes late in the game."I just want to say we've got more to gain from (the MRI), but from what we've seen, I'll sleep good tonight on Martin," Jones said.Dalton finished 5 of 7 for 41 yards, with his final drive stalling near midfield.On Cincinnati's first offensive play after Dalton left, Dallas defensive end Taco Charlton forced a fumble on a short completion to Tyler Boyd, with cornerback Byron Jones getting the recovery."We've got things we can work on, attacking the football, throwing balls down the field," coach Marvin Lewis said. "We had opportunities. We just missed the timing of it and we've got to be better at those things."The Cowboys forced two turnovers after getting three against the 49ers. The highlight was Chidobe Awuzie's leaping interception , which he tipped to himself along the sideline late in the first half.Cincinnati's first points came on backup kicker Jonathan Brown's 55-yard field goal in the third quarter.The Bengals went ahead 11-10 when Tra Carson scored on a 2-yard run and Jeff Driskel threw a 2-point conversion pass to John Ross. Matt Barkley's 3-yard touchdown pass to Brian Hill wrapped up the scoring midway through the fourth quarter.LONG TIME COMINGDallas defensive end Randy Gregory played for the first time since the finale of the 2016 regular season. He missed all of last season after getting suspended three times in 2016 for violating the NFL's substance-abuse policy. Gregory didn't show up in the defensive stats but pressured Dalton on a third-down misfire to an open A.J. Green on Cincinnati's opening possession.TALE OF TWO WORKLOADSWith star running back Ezekiel Elliott sitting again for Dallas, Smith had 13 carries in the first 18 minutes, finishing with 49 yards. His workload was helped by a nearly nine-minute drive to Williams' touchdown. Bengals starter Joe Mixon got just four carries for 8 yards.O-LINE OVERHAULThe work in progress that is the overhauled offensive line for the Bengals remains that way, this time after fired line coach Paul Alexander was watching from the opposing sideline after getting hired by Dallas. Cedric Ogbuehi was at right tackle to start the second half when gave up a sack to Charlton while getting called for holding. Cincinnati running backs had just 7 yards on six carries before halftime.NATIONAL ANTHEMThe Cowboys were standing for the national anthem in the first preseason home game, "toe on the line" as owner Jerry Jones declared they would be in his opening remarks at training camp last month. The Dallas players, with some coaches sprinkled in, were single file on the sideline, spanning about 50 yards. As usual, all the Bengals were standing.INJURY REPORTBengals: Rookie CB Davontae Harris was ruled out with a knee injury in the first half. ... TE C.J. Uzomah sustained a cut to his face early in the game, but came back with a 23-yard catch in the first half.Cowboys: S Xavier Woods left with a hamstring injury. ... Rookie RB Bo Scarbrough, a seventh-round pick out of Alabama, went to the locker room with a hip injury. ... DE Datone Jones and S Jameill Showers left with knee injuries.UP NEXTFor "dress rehearsal" week
Authentic Chris Jones Jersey , the Bengals will be at Buffalo and the Cowboys will be home against Arizona. Both games are next Sunday.This story has been corrected to reflect that Cincinnati two first downs on three possessions instead of one first down on four possessions with Andy Dalton at quarterback. Was it too late?The Dallas Cowboys made the blockbuster trade for Amari Cooper with a fairly clear intention of turning the season around. That means making the playoffs. The problem, of course, is that 3-4 record and the current game-and-a-half lead Washington has in the NFC East. Dallas is in a hole, and with just nine games to go, that lead will be hard to overcome. And with Washington facing the woeful New York Giants this week while the Cowboys are on a bye, the lead is more than likely going to be two full games soon. They are, of course, not mathematically eliminated, and won’t be for some time. But there is a big difference between what is theoretically possible and what can actually be attained.So is it time to just give up on the playoffs and start complaining about how the team wasted that first-round pick to get Cooper? Or is there still a realistic hope that Dallas can make the postseason? I asked my fellow front page writers and this is what they think.Michael Strawn: A “realistic chance” at the playoffs? I don’t know. The team would have to go 7-2 over the final nine games to finish 10-6 which would likely assure them of the playoffs and I just don’t see that happening. However, the NFC East is a tire fire this year so it’s very possible that 9-7 (or even 8-8) wins the division. Those are records that seem “realistic”.The Cowboys have played challenging defenses so far this season and, with the addition of Amari Cooper, you don’t have to squint too hard to see the offense improving to, say, mediocre. Well, combined with this defense, that might be enough to go 6-3 or 5-4 the rest of the way. The key then would be sweeping the team’s remaining division contests. Specifically, the team would have to go 3-0 in the team’s remaining games against Washington and Philadelphia. If, somehow, they could do that, then yes, they have a “realistic” shot at the playoffs.DannyPhantom: Playoffs? Playoffs? Yeah, I know - that Jim Mora joke is overused, but that’s how I feel right now after watching this offense spin its wheels for the better part of the season. In a vacuum, these first seven games give us no reason to even think about post-season contention, but luckily for us there are some outside elements that keep things interesting. The first part is - what’s the deal with the Eagles? Shouldn’t they be 11-0 by now? All I’ve been hearing is how they have the best front office in the world with the best coach in the world to go along with the most talented QB in the world and the deepest defense in the world. How is possible that they’re only 3-4 as well? The Eagles not being this dominant force everyone told us they were going to be opens the door for the Cowboys to survive a slow start. The Redskins are a decent team, but they’re not so good that they’re uncatchable. That means the onus is on the Cowboys to play some good football so they can stay in this thing. Can they do it? There is really no reason for me to believe this offense is not going to keep having problems. Maybe not the deadwood problems of complete ineffectiveness they’ve shown at times this year
Youth Terrance Williams Jersey , but problems nonetheless. The addition of Amari Cooper brings about hope. Will Dak actually throw the ball down the field? Can the offense come up with a big play here and there? Can they convert a third and long every now and then like regular teams do? These are all things the front office and coaching staff are scratching and clawing to help improve this football team. Hats off to them for putting up a fight. But for us fans to genuinely be excited about things getting better, we are going to need to see some evidence on the field. This team certainly has a chance, but the biggest reasons 3-4 teams don’t make the playoffs is because they are 3-4 caliber level teams. That is what the Cowboys are with an anemic offense showing up on Sundays. If they can get that fixed, then their reality looks a lot more promising.Michael Sisemore: The only way the Cowboys realistically have a chance to make the playoffs is by winning the division. Washington has an easier path so the Cowboys will have make up a lot of ground for this to happen. The Cowboys have also lost to Washington, Carolina, and Seattle. That’s an NFC nightmare of losses to have to overcome because all of them have tiebreakers over the Cowboys for a Wildcard berth. How much does Amari Cooper help the passing game? Can the “Hot Boyz” get hot again? Can this offensive line stop averaging four penalties on the road? Heck, can the Cowboys ever win an away game? So many things have to happen for them to have a shot at the postseason and they’ve already wasted precious time digging their hole. For that, the Cowboys may get to 9-7 but they’re missing the playoffs.David Howman: Playoffs are still very much realistic for this Cowboys team, but not necessarily because the Cowboys are any good. The rest of their schedule is a combined 24-27 record, and only two of those teams have a winning record at the moment. One is the Redskins, a team the Cowboys are very capable of beating, especially at home. The other is the Saints, so chalk that up as a loss already.Another big factor is that Dallas has five home games left and only four road games, which is huge considering how much better this team is at home. Two of those road games are the hapless Giants and Colts as well, so if the Cowboys win those two and continue their home dominance, we’re looking at a 10-6 record that should be good enough for the playoffs.The presence of Amari Cooper is also going to be a huge factor here. If he hits the ground running, all of this becomes much more plausible. Even so, the dire states of the NFC East and a lack of any real wild card contenders so far makes the playoffs very realisticThe general consensus seems to be that the weakness of the division, and the coming schedule, makes that playoff chance more plausible than it would be in most years. And Cooper is obviously an enormous X-factor. So much depends on how he fits in, and how the Cowboys are able to use him.But it will certainly still be tough, with not much margin for error as they try to catch Washington while getting and staying ahead of the Philadelphia Eagles. First, they again face a near must-win game against the Tennessee Titans after the bye. We will no doubt revisit things once that plays out.
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