Cowboys vs Bengals Week 2: history, key players, projection
By Riley Donald
Welcome to Week 2 after an extremely painful Week 1. The Dallas Cowboys enter this matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals very banged up. Their season-opening loss gave little reason to be inspired and every reason to hit the panic button.
Quarterback Dak Prescott is out a minimum of four weeks after having surgery to repair a fractured thumb, depending on the source of information. That seems optimistic and an attempt from the front office to keep fans from checking out, but until we know for sure, Cooper Rush will be leading the offense.
The Bengals are coming off of a loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in overtime last week that saw them lucky to even get to overtime. Star quarterback Joe Burrow had an uncharacteristic day with four interceptions.
This matchup was one of the prime quarterback matchups of the early season when the schedule came out, but as usual, the NFL has a way of turning things upside down in a matter of one weekend.
Although an NFC-AFC crossover matchup, there is some recent history here to get into. The weather outlook, a key player from each team that could make a big play, and a gut projection are in store. Let’s get into it!
Cowboys vs Bengals: History, key matchups, and prediction
Cowboys vs Bengals: Matchup History
All-time Record: 9-4 in favor of the Cowboys
Most recent result: Dallas Cowboys 30, Cincinnati Bengals 7 on December 13, 2020
The Cowboys have won the last four meetings against the Bengals. Oddly enough, the only time that Dak Prescott took on the Bengals was in 2016 during his rookie year. Prescott played very fine in that game as the Cowboys relied on Ezekiel Elliott to the tune of 134 yards on their way to a win against the Andy Dalton-led Bengals.
Fast forward to 2020, Prescott missed most of the season with his ankle injury and Andy Dalton found himself leading the Cowboys this time. Dalton threw two touchdowns against his former team to lift Dallas to the victory.
This time around, it will see backup Cooper Rush taking on the Bengals as he looks to keep the Cowboys afloat. The Bengals will be looking to get their passing attack fixed and put pressure on a Cowboys offense that mustered just three points last week.