Bengals
vs.
Cowboys
Week 5
NFL Pick
10/9/16
Cincinnati heads to Dallas in Week 5 for a pairing of teams in contention in their respective divisions. Dallas is 3-1, only 1/2 a Game behind Philadelphia in the NFC East. Cincinnati is 2-2 and is 1 Game behind both the Ravens and the Steelers in the AFC North. This Game is a pick ’em ACCording to the 5 Dimes Sportsbook.
The Bengals’ pass offense has been proficient this season, GAining 291 yards per Game — third-best in the NFL. The Cowboys’ defense is allowing 263.5 yards per Game through the air — 19th in the league.
Andy Dalton has been very good, as indicated by the Cincinnati passing offense, yet he has only thrown three touchdown passes on the season. Dalton has connected with A.J. Green 32 times in the first Four Games. Green has been held in the check by Denver and Pittsburgh but feasted on the likes of the Jets and the Dolphins. In fact, the Bengals are 2-0 when Green has double-digit receptions this season and are 0-2 when he doesn’t. Watch for these two to put up big numbers again against Dallas.
The Bengals rushing attack has been slow to get going this season. Jeremy Hill and Gio Bernard get the touches there. Dallas has been good against the run and the passing Game is going to be such a priority, don’t expect this to be a big factor on the Game.
Dak Prescott has been very good for the Cowboys through the quarter pole. He has completed over two-thirds of his passes for over 1,000 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. Just this past week, Prescott has his first multi-touchdown pass Game in Dallas’ win over the 49ers.
It’s been pretty slow going for Dez Bryant in 2016. He missed the last Game and only has 150 receiving yards in the other three Games combined. Bryant is still listed as questionable for this one. He and Prescott have been a little slow to get on the same page this year, so even if he is healthy I’m not sure how much production to expect out of this duo.
Ezekiel Elliott has been excellent as a rookie for Dallas. He has 412 yards and three touchdowns on the season. In the last two Games, has averaged 139 yards per Game and has averaged 5.2 yards per carry. It will be an interesting test for Elliott as he goes up against the Cincinnati defense. They only rank 14th against the run in the NFL (97.5 yards per Game), but, especially if Bryant is out, they’ll be able to turn a lot of focus to Elliott and the run Game.
Cincinnati has stalled for a lot of field goals this year. That’s where a stat like yards per point is telling. The Bengals offensive yards per point number is 19 which ranks them 27th in the NFL. Not very good. Teams with a yards per point number of 19 don’t make the playoffs. In fact, they don’t win many Games.
So, the Bengals redzone problems need to be fixed ASAP or it’s going to be a long year for the Bengals. We’ll call for the fixing to start this week with the Cowboys.
Bengals 27, Cowboys 21