After falling in shocking fashion to the Steelers in Week 1, the Cincinnati Bengals hope luck is on their side when they head to Dallas for a date with the Cowboys. Both teams are 0-1 following the opening week of regular season action but the difference is that one team is in a much bigger hole than the other one.
While both teams are in sole possession of last place in their respective divisions, it's hard not to believe that the Bengals will be fine. Joe Burrow had a bad game to open up the season but at least he's healthy -- Dallas can't say the same thing about their quarterback, as Dak Prescott injured his hand in the Week 1 loss to Tampa Bay and will be out for 6-8 weeks.
A timeline from overnight: Cowboys’ QB Dak Prescott is scheduled to have surgery on his right thumb today and is expected to miss 6-8 weeks, multiple sources told ESPN’s @toddarcher.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 12, 2022
How does Prescott's injury impact the odds for this game?
Bengals vs Cowboys Odds Week 2
FanDuel has Cincinnati as 6.5-point favorites over the Prescott-less Cowboys. This isn't surprising considering that Cooper Rush will now be the starting quarterback for the 'Boys and he is probably one of the worst backup options in the league.
Each home team always starts off with three points in their favor simply for being home so had this game been at Paycor Stadium, the Bengals would be close to 10-point favorites over the Cowboys. That's a huge line and one that the stripes can't mess up. The moneyline for Cincinnati is -300 and +245 for Dallas while the over/under for points is set at 43.5.
Bengals vs Cowboys Prediction Week 2
While some teams can lose their quarterback and still win games, the Cowboys don't fall into that category with Cooper Rush as their backup. Rush has appeared in 11 games since joining the Cowboys in 2017 but only has one start to his name, which came last year against the Vikings.
Rush played decently in that start, throwing for 325 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception but the Vikings defense wasn't exactly lethal last year. Cincinnati's defense showed in the season opener that they can keep the team in games even when things aren't clicking for the offense. That's going to be the key to this game -- Can the Bengals D make Cooper Rush look like a backup quarterback?
Our prediction for this game is Bengals 42, Cowboys 10.