Bengals vs. Cowboys: Game Preview

The Bengals will face off with the Cowboys in an inter-conference matchup. The offensive line, linebackers, and secondary will fall under the microscope.

The Bengals are taking on the Dallas Cowboys tonight in their second preseason game of the year. After beating the Chicago Bears 30-27 nine days ago, Cincinnati looks to continue their winning start in Dallas. Although the preseason wins don’t matter for anything, a hot start to the season may give the team some momentum heading into the regular season.

The two teams haven’t played each other very much in their long history as franchises. They first played in 1973 (with Dallas winning 38-10) and the Cowboys unsurprisingly lead the head-to-head series 8-4. Dallas has beaten the Bengals each of the last three times they’ve played, including most recently in 2016. Star running back Ezekiel Elliot eviscerated the Cincinnati defense en route to a 28-14 win. The Bengals last beat the Cowboys in 2004.

Both teams are looking for bounce-back seasons in 2018, and both will turn to their quarterbacks to initiate that success. We have discussed Andy Dalton at length leading up to this season, but Dallas’ Dak Prescott will have similar expectations in 2018. Regardless, don’t expect to see either starter play that much tonight. The Bengals will continue to test their backups in Matt Barkley and Jeff Driskel, while the Cowboys will feature backups Cooper Rush and Mike White.

The Cowboys plan to feature their diversity of offensive weapons tonight, which will be a good test for the defense. The Bengals will focus on the offensive line, but the linebackers should also be a focal point. Breakout rookie Auden Tate should get a lot of playing time tonight, too – watch for him to make yet another splashy play.

The game starts tonight at 7:00 p.m. NFL Network has the broadcast, although it will be a local broadcast. Let’s see if the Bengals can win again!