Nick Harris: Five things to watch in Cowboys-Bengals on Monday Night Football
Much like their opponents on the opposite sideline in the Dallas Cowboys, the Cincinnati Bengals head into week 14’s Monday night matchup riding the ups and downs of a tumultuous season that has included a large handful of injuries and a losing record.
At 4-8, the Bengals will arrive at AT&T Stadium on Monday having lost four of their last five despite having the No. 1 passing offense in the NFL (264.3 yards per game) and the No. 5 scoring offense in the league (27.9 points per game).
On the other hand, the Cowboys have found a rhythm under backup quarterback Cooper Rush as they will head into the primetime matchup with two consecutive wins over the Commanders and Giants in hand. At 5-7, Dallas still has a slim chance of sneaking into the playoffs, but it will need to win out to have a legitimate shot.
With the season winding down and a last second playoff push in effect, here is what to watch between the Cowboys and Bengals on Monday night.
The Chasedown
Entering week 14, Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase leads the NFL with 1,142 receiving yards and 13 receiving touchdowns on the season, as he has rebounded from an up-and-down 2023 campaign to re-establish his footing as one of the game’s top receivers.
Overall, it’s been a red hot start to Chase’s career. Three Pro Bowl nods in three seasons along with three 1,000-yard campaigns has him as one of the NFL’s most feared weapons. However, the Cowboys could have Chase’s proven competitor on the other side.
In the last game that these two teams met in week two of the 2022 season, Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs limited Chase to just two receptions for 14 yards in a game that Dallas won with Cooper Rush at quarterback. Leading up to this matchup, Chase hasn’t forgotten that afternoon in Arlington.
“I still have sleepless nights thinking about the last time he shut me down,” Chase told reporters this week. “That was probably the only time 7/11 wasn’t open.”
Diggs is expected to return from a two-game absence due to a knee issue that developed after the team’s week 11 loss to the Houston Texans.
Time is of the Essence
Against an offense as high-flying and high-powered as the Cincinnati Bengals, sometimes the best defense is good offense. Keeping the ball out of Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow’s hands will be important toward Dallas having a shot at coming out on top on Monday night.
Winning the time of possession battle hasn’t been easy for a Cowboys team that has only recently found footing in the running game, as they have possessed the ball more than their opponents in just four contests. In those games, they are 3-1 including each of the last two wins.
“When your offense is rolling, it puts a different level of stress on the defense,” head coach Mike McCarthy said. “The thing that we’re seeing is that they throw a lot at you. This is a very good football team…We want to control the clock every game that we play. We didn’t do that the first first semester of the season. We have been doing a better job of that late, but that will definitely be part of the outlook of this game.”
Helping to control the clock will be the emergence of running back Rico Dowdle who has rushed for 198 yards over the last two weeks including the first 100-yard performance by a Cowboy in over a year on Thanksgiving Day. The Bengals enter this matchup 22nd in the NFL with 128.2 rushing yards allowed per game and will be looking to replace their leading tackler in linebacker Logan Wilson after losing him for the season earlier this week due to a knee injury.
More Shuffling
The Bengals won’t be the only one looking to replace injured production, as the Cowboys are expected to deal with more shuffling on both sides of the ball, especially on the offensive line.
Along with losing veteran right guard Zack Martin to season-ending ankle surgery earlier this week, the Cowboys are also expected to not have rookie left tackle Tyler Guyton available for Monday’s game after he suffered a high ankle sprain in the team’s win over the New York Giants. Chuma Edoga is expected to start in his place. Brock Hoffman will start in place of Martin for the remaining five games after filling in for the future Hall of Famer over the last two weeks.
“At the end of the day, it’s just about going in and doing my job as consistently as I can and help this team win games,” Hoffman said. “I felt like I had a big jump in confidence going from the Washington start to the Giants start. Having that consistent work at one position will really help me.”
On the defensive side, cornerback Amani Oruwariye could return from the injured reserve to be available in case Diggs cannot go or an injury pops up at the position. Following a season-ending ACL injury to Josh Butler, depth cornerback Kemon Hall is also a candidate for roster elevation.
No Average Joe
Despite Cincinnati owning a 4-8 record entering December, there is arguably no player in the NFL as hot as quarterback Joe Burrow entering this matchup.
On his way to being named AFC Offensive Player of the Month for November earlier this week, Burrow is leading the NFL in passing yards (3,344), passing touchdowns (30) and is the highest-graded passer at 90.5, according to Pro Football Focus.
The success of the fourth-year signal-caller is not lost on the Cowboys despite the wins not coming for Cincinnati.
“If Joe Burrow’s record is the opposite, he’d be the leading runner for MVP,” defensive end Micah Parsons said. “I still think he should be the MVP…The year he’s having, it’s like Joe Burrow at LSU. We got our hands tied on one of the best offenses in the NFL.”
In his only game against the Cowboys in his career, Burrow threw for 199 yards and one touchdown in a week two loss at AT&T Stadium in 2022.
Red Flag
A big part of the success of the Bengals offense is its ability to capitalize in the red zone. Entering week 14, the Bengals are second in the NFL in scoring touchdowns in the red zone on 71-percent of their opportunities. Along with the usual weapons in Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, second-year wide receiver Andrei Iosivas has five touchdown receptions inside the 20 on the season.
For the Cowboys defense, keeping teams out of the end zone when they get inside the 20 has been a thorn in the side of defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer all season. His unit enters week 14 last in the NFL by a healthy margin in allowing touchdowns on 76.9-percent of its red zone trips.
“It’s very important,” head coach Mike McCarthy said about red zone success this week. “Redzone will be big in this game, especially if you just look at the numbers. It could be a 6-3 ballgame, but you look at the numbers going into it, it’s obviously of most importance. Frankly, having an extra day helps. We can spend a little more time on redzone [in practice].”
