Monday, October 6, 2008

Dallas Cowboys 31, Cincinnati Bengals 22

By Erin Rice

The Cowboys went up by 17 in the first half, only to allow the Cincinnati Bengals to pull within one point early in the fourth quarter. It wasn't until Cincinnati's Chris Perry fumbled towards the end of the game, after his team recovered an onside kick, that the Cowboys had a look to pull away with the win.

The Bengals weren't able to muster enough roar to take advantage of a subpar Cowboy's performance.

Dallas opened scoring with 13:06 left in the first on a Nick Folk field goal. Felix Jones followed it up with a 33-yard rushing touchdown, gracing the right sideline, to put Dallas up by 10 in the first quarter. Given plenty of time to weigh ALL his options, Tony Romo connected with Jason Witten in the back of the end zone with 12:12 left in the second. The Bengals followed that up with two field goals to close the half 17-6. The Bengals bruised a befuddled Cowboys squad in the third quarter, getting their first touchdown of the game as QB Carson Palmer passed to T.J. Houshmandzeh. As they opened the fourth quarter with a field goal, Cincinnati looked to have the momentum to potentially hand Dallas its second loss in a row.

Dallas briefly stretched its lead when Tony Romo found Terrell Owens running across the middle as the two combined for a 57 yard touchdown with 11:46 left in the game. Palmer and Houshmandzadeh reconnected for another Bengals touchdown, but failed to complete the two-point conversion, leaving Dallas atop by two at 24-22. The 'Boys would finally put the game out of reach with less than two minutes left when Romo passed to Crayton for a 15-yard touchdown.

Despite the win and three touchdown passes, Romo turned in season low numbers going 14-of-23 for 176 yards, tacking onto that a fumble and an interception. Romo only threw to Owens five times in the game for two catches. Dallas ran 38 times for 198 yards, giving Felix Jones 96 yards and Marion Barber 84. Palmer's numbers looked slightly better than Romo's at 23-of-39 for 217 yards, but his Bengals only rushed 23 times for 61 yards.

The win puts Dallas at 4-1, while the Bengals have yet to win a game in the regular season.

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