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Quarterback
Andy Dalton gets the offense set Saturday in
Dallas but the
night belonged to the Cowboys. Photo courtesy of
bengals.com
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Cowboys round up Bengals, 24-18
bengals.com
DALLAS- The Bengals had an uneasy first half Saturday night as their
league-leading offense turned it over twice on third down that included
quarterback Andy Dalton's first interception of the preseason and right
tackle Andre Smith left the game with a knee injury as the Cowboys
handled the Bengals in every category in a 24-18 victory.
The Bengals called Smith's injury "a tweak," and after the game Bengals
head coach Marvin Lewis said Smith suffered "a minor knee injury," and
should be OK for the regular-season opener in Chicago on Sept. 8. Also,
cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick showed concussion-like symptoms following
the game.
Lewis didn't like the scent of this one after two crisp victories to
open the preseason. Not with four turnovers, seven penalties and the
Cowboys converting 55 percent on third down with nine-for-16.
"Now we can quit having all that smoke puffed up our butts and get to
work," Lewis said.
The first-team offense went no-huddle for Quinn Sharp's 28-yard field
goal on its last drive of the night that cut the Dallas lead to 14-10
early in the third quarter. The Bengals got rookie running back Giovani
Bernard's longest run of the preseason, an 18-yarder, and Dalton went
play-action to generate a 26-yard gain to wide receiver A.J. Green on
the drive.
Dalton and Green tried to hook up on their signature fade from the
Dallas 10 as Green caught the ball over the DB and got one foot
in-bounds in the corner but he couldn't get his other heel down.
"Toe-heel doesn't count," Green said. "I've got to learn to get the toe
down and fall out of bounds."
On the next snap tight end Jermaine Gresham got no blocking in the flat
on third-and-four for no gain and Sharp came on.
"There were some bright spots during the game," Lewis said. "We did
some things well. But not enough long enough."
The Cowboys first offense scored its first two touchdowns of the season
on third-down passes and took a 14-7 halftime lead as quarterback Tony
Romo bedeviled the Bengals on third down, converting five of nine in
the half. He finished the half 13-of-18 passing for 137 yards against
the first secondary missing third cornerback Adam Jones (ribs) and
quickly took advantage of his replacement, second-year man Dre
Kirkpatrick.
Kirkpatrick committed two pass interference penalties in the half
(naturally on third down in sticking with the theme of the night) and
on third-and-goal from the 5 when Romo floated a back-shoulder throw to
wide receiver Dez Bryant, Bryant outmuscled Kirkpatrick for the
touchdown that tied at seven with left 12:35 in the second quarter.
Romo, hitting his first nine passes, hooked up with Bryant early in the
drive when Kirkpatrick gave him too much cushion and Bryant skated to
the first down after the catch on the sidelines. Bryant didn't just
dish it to Kirkpatrick. He made cornerback Leon Hall stumble on a
15-yard catch over the middle in that first touchdown drive, as well as
a 15-yard slant over the middle working on cornerback Terence Newman.
"This is a good learning tool," said linebacker Vontaze Burfict. "I
wouldn't say everybody was big-headed on the team but this is a good
game to at least bring our ego down. We won the first two games
and everyone thought this was going to be handed to us. But this is a
good tape to learn off."
For the rest of this story and more, click here
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