Cowboys survive Bengals

Dallas tops Cincinnati 31-22

They say that it is most dangerous to face an animal when it is wounded. The Dallas Cowboys learned that lesson Sunday at Texas Stadium in their narrow nail-chomping victory over the Cincinnati Bengals. In a game that was supposed to be a laugher for the Cowboys against a lowly 0-4 team, the Bengals put up a surprising and vicious fight to the end.

From the outset you could almost hear the Cowboy’s fans chuckling when on the first play from scrimmage Carson Palmer through an interception to Greg Ellis. The Bengals held the Cowboys to a field goal after the Ellis pick, but were unable to slow down the Dallas offensive attack on the next two possessions. The first score came when Dallas elected to go for it on 4 th and three. Rookie, Felix Jones, who didn’t have a single touch last week, receiving or rushing, broke a 33 yard run for six points. After another Bengal punt, the Cowboys drove down the field again and this time Tony Romo found Jason Witten in the back of the end zone with a little over twelve minutes to go in the half.

The Cowboys seemed to be in cruise control and all was right with the world a week after their gut wrenching loss to the Redskins. But just as they were in the midst of another potential scoring drive, Romo fumbled the ball away and the momentum went with it. Carson Palmer led the Bengals deep into Dallas territory for three points right before the half, and had it not been for a questionable holding call against T.J.Houshmandzadeh the score could’ve been 17-10 rather than 17-6.

The Bengals continued to claw their way back into the game in the third quarter. Chad Johnson, who prior to the game, said he would kiss the Dallas star, caught his first pass during the Bengals opening drive of the third quarter and T.J. Houshmandzadeh hauled in an 18 yard touchdown pass from Palmer. Then after a Tony Romo interception and another Cincinnati field goal that trimmed Dallas’s lead to one, the Bengals stunned the Cowboys with an onside kick recovery. However, three plays later Tank Johnson stripped Chris Perry of the football and the Cowboys made the Bengals pay for their mistake. Romo connected with Terrel Owens, the other big-mouth receiver playing in this game, for a for a 57 yard touchdown pass.

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It appeared that Dallas had regained momentum and control of the game, but the Bengals would not go quietly. Cincinnati came roaring back with another touchdown pass from Palmer to Houshmandzadeh, but could not convert the two point attempt, leaving the score at 24-22 Dallas. The Cowboys finally put the Bengals to rest with an 11 play 5 minute 47 second drive an a little bit of luck. On 3 rd and 11 from the 15 yard line Romo threw a pass intended for Miles Austin, but the ball deflected off Austin’s fingertips and into the hands of Patrick Crayton for the touchdown, giving Dallas a 31-22 lead they would not relinquish.

This game reminded everyone watching it that on any given Sunday any team in the NFL can win, and the Bengals almost did. For the Cowboys the sounds of laughter were replaced with a huge sigh of relief. And they’re going to need all the oxygen they can get as next week they head into the desert in Arizona to take on Kurt Warner and the upstart Cardinals.

By Steven Mondelli
ProFootball-fans.com Dallas Cowboys Correspondent