Bengals at Cowboys Week 5: Highlights, score and recap
By Matt Couden
On Sunday afternoon, the Dallas Cowboys picked up their fourth-straight win, defeating Andy Dalton and the Bengals 28-14 at AT&T Stadium.
Dallas is off to a hot start with Tony Romo still on the sidelines. In their Week 5 matchup with Cincinnati, they dominated the game early behind their star rookies, Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott. Meanwhile, the defense also smothered Andy Dalton and his team’s attempts at any sort of offensive momentum.
The first half was all Dallas, as they ran rampant over the Bengals’ defense. Elliott had the early score on the ground to make it a 7-0 lead. The rookie running back finished with 65 yards in just the first quarter. Fellow rookie, quarterback Dak Prescott ran one in himself at the start of the second to make it a 14-0 lead. He found receiver Cole Beasley in the end zone later to give Dallas a three-touchdown advantage. Dallas’ defense also held up strong against Dalton and the Bengals in the first half. The Cincinnati offense was able to achieve only 150 total yards in the half and was held scoreless.
The second half saw more of the same. After the Cowboys shut down Dalton’s shot at the end zone in the third, Ezekiel Elliott showed off his skills once again. The rookie eluded the Bengals’ defense for a 60-yard touchdown sprint to make it 28-0. It was the Cowboys’ longest play so far for the season.
Dalton finally managed to hook up on a touchdown pass in the red zone to Brandon LaFell for the Bengals’ first score of the game. However, it came in the fourth quarter, trimming the lead a bit to 28-7 in favor of Dallas. LaFell would get another TD grab a bit later to make it a two-touchdown lead for the home team, but it was too little too late. Time eventually ran out for the Bengals as they fell 28-14 at AT&T Stadium.
Three stars of the game
1. Ezekiel Elliott
David Johnson of the Arizona Cardinals was leading the NFL in rushing yards coming into this game. That is until Elliott got on the field Sunday. He had his third-straight game with over 100 yards on the ground and added two touchdowns to his scoring total. Elliott has clearly been amongst the early keys this season for Dallas’ hot start and was a big part of today’s win.
2. Dak Prescott
Just like Elliott, Prescott is also learning the pro game and improving by the week. On Sunday afternoon, he helped guide Dallas to its fourth-straight victory to keep the team on a hot streak. Prescott rushed for one touchdown and passed for another while leading the offense confidently down the field on the other scoring drives. He also set a rookie quarterback record when he threw his 135th-straight pass without an interception thrown and extended that record to 156 passes before the game was over.
3. Brandon LaFell
While being on the opposite side of a loss is never glamorous, LaFell’s two touchdowns in the fourth quarter at least helped make Cincinnati look somewhat respectable. For the day, he finished with 68 yards and the 2 TDs on eight receptions. Of note, his teammate Giovani Bernard recorded nearly 100 yards of offense between rushes and receptions, giving him honorable mention for the losing side.
Next week
For Week 6, Dallas hits the road to battle the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field at 4:25 p.m. Eastern Time. The Bengals will also be on the road, as they’ll take on the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium starting at 1 p.m. ET.