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When initially looking at the schedule the Cincinnati Bengals would face in 2022, a late-afternoon kickoff against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 2 looked like one of the toughest games early in the season.
But that perspective skewed dramatically a week before kickoff when Cowboys star quarterback Dak Prescott went down with an injury that will keep him out for weeks.
Instead of facing one of the league’s better passers, the Bengals will get backup Cooper Rush. Cincinnati coaches have tried to stress how they can’t sleep on him, but the fact remains he’s 28 years old with 11 games and three touchdown passes on his resume.
On paper, that’s good news for a Bengals defense that was largely back in Super Bowl form against the Steelers during the Week 1 loss, even against talented Cowboys skill position players like CeeDee Lamb. That defense gave up less than 200 yards passing and held the Steelers to 3.4 rushing yards on average.
But the real concern has always been on offense, where Joe Burrow had a tumultuous summer and the offensive line replaced four of the five spots and didn’t practice together much. The result in Week 1 was five turnovers by Burrow and seven sacks in a game that probably should have been a blowout win.
To be fair to the offense, besides the expected struggles where the summer wasn’t kind to the team, it was a brutally tough matchup against an elite defensive line. This Dallas defense let up 127 yards rushing yards on a 6.0 average to Leonard Fournette in a Week 1, 19-3 loss to Tampa Bay.
Not only should Joe Mixon be able to find some room against the Dallas defense, Ja’Marr Chase put up a casual 10 catches for 129 yards and a score last week.
The real story for the offense is how increasingly comfortable Burrow looked as the Week 1 loss unfolded, to the point he led what should have been multiple game-winning drives (long-snappers are important, folks). He’s stressed this week that he needs to be more patient now that defenses have adapted in specific ways.
While this could be a trap game, so long as Burrow practices what he preaches, his skill position players should break free and the defense will be its usual stout self.
Prediction: Bengals 27, Cowboys 17
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