After having what seems like an eternity off since last playing on Thanksgiving, the Dallas Cowboys return to the field on Monday Night Football and welcome the Cincinnati Bengals into AT&T Stadium. Both teams hold slim playoff hopes and desperately need a win to stay afloat. With that said it’s time to make some bold predictions for the Bengals and Cowboys showdown in primetime.
Dallas will dominate Cincinnati from start to finish
Okay, maybe “dominate” is a strong word but here’s a bold prediction. The Cowboys will win this game and lead it from start to finish. Let’s be honest, for as good as this Bengals offense is and the way they can explode and put points on the board, they aren’t a very good team. Primarily when it comes to playing defense.
Dallas isn’t great either but they don’t have a top-five quarterback even when Dak Prescott is on the field. Joe Burrow is considered by many to be no worse than the third-best QB in the NFL. Even with that and the season he’s having, the Bengals have won just four games. Burrow should be in the MVP conversation, but instead, he’ll be going on vacation very soon.
So, the Cowboys need to take advantage of this, especially since their slim playoff hopes are still alive. A win tonight and Dallas is suddenly 6-7 with four games remaining. They go on the road to play Carolina next week so the Cowboys could be a .500 team within the next week.
The Cowboys will stick to the run
You’re likely wondering exactly how the Cowboys will not only manage to win this game but also never trail. It’s really quite simple. Continue to run the ball. Much like Dallas, Cincinnati is one of the worst teams in the league at stopping the run. However, on offense, the world knows the game plan for the Bengals. Let Burrow drop back and dissect his opponent with surgical precision.
In this situation a good game of keep away is ideal. Burrow can’t fling the ball all over the field if he doesn’t have it. The running game has come alive the past two games with Rico Dowdle leading the way. Dallas beat the New York Giants on Thanksgiving and Dowboys carried the ball 22 times for 112 yards, setting a new career-high. The week before that against Washington, Dowdle rushed 19 times for 86 yards.
While the Bengals aren’t as bad against the run as the Giants, Commanders or even the Cowboys, they aren’t exactly shutting it down. Cincinnati is giving up 128.2 yards per game on the ground which ranks among the lower third of the league. With the Cowboys not having the same explosive passing game they’ve had in past years, keeping it on the ground is the way to go. Keep Burrow off the field and chew up the clock and this bold prediction will become the whole truth.
Micah Parsons will get to Joe Burrow at least three times
At certain points in his career, Burrow has been one of, if not, the most sacked QB in the NFL. While it hasn’t been as bad this season, despite the team's record, Burrow still has just as many sacks (30) as he does touchdown passes through 12 games. So, that means Micah Parsons is in line for a big night against the Bengals.
Parsons has been on fire since returning from an ankle injury that forced him to sit out four games. He’s played in four games since coming back and Parsons has 5.5 sacks. Parsons had just one sack in his first four games of the year and that one came in Week 1 against Cleveland.
Seeing how Burrow drops back to pass often, Parsons will have plenty of opportunities to get after Joe and bring him down at least three times in this one. Burrow drops back at a clip of 37 times per game on average. The way Parsons has played over the past few weeks getting those sacks should be light work on Monday night. Parsons is hungry and still believes the Cowobys have a real shot at the postseason so he’s motivated. That’s a winning recipe for success.