Five Things to Watch: Bengals at Cowboys

3. Cincinnati’s Secondary

The Bengals in Week 1 held Steelers quarterback Mitch Trubisky to a 55.3 completion percentage (21 of 38) and 194 yards for a passer rating of 78.2. Zac Taylor said in his Monday news conference, “Our guys were really tight in coverage and made it difficult for them. They really gave us a winning performance.”

Those winning performances have become commonplace for the Cincinnati secondary, which continued a dominant trend last Sunday that began during the 2021 postseason.

Dating back to the AFC Wild Card win over Las Vegas on Jan. 15, The Bengals have held five consecutive quarterbacks to a passer rating of 100 or lower. It is the longest stretch of games in which Cincinnati has not allowed a 100+ rating since 2017, and it becomes even more impressive when noting that two of the QBs faced — Derek Carr and Patrick Mahomes — finished in the top 10 in the league in passer rating during the 2021 regular season.

Over this five-game run, quarterbacks throwing against the Bengals are 117 of 195 (60.0 completion percentage) with a 9-8 touchdown-to-interception ratio.

With Cowboys starter Dak Prescott sidelined by a thumb injury sustained in Dallas’ opener, the Bengals are preparing to face Cooper Rush, who has started one game in five NFL seasons. If Cincinnati is going to pick up its first win, expect a big play or two coming from the veteran-led secondary.

After losing the turnover battle in Week 1, the Bengals will face another ball-hawking defense this Sunday, as Dallas in 2021 led the NFL with 26 interceptions and had one in its opener versus Tampa Bay. But if recent history offers any indication, it is that Cincinnati will keep the turnovers limited at AT&T Stadium.

Prior to Week 1 against Pittsburgh, the Bengals had thrown multiple interceptions in a game nine times in the Zac Taylor era (2019-present). In six of those instances, the next week saw Cincinnati have a pick-free performance. Burrow has accounted for four of those multi-INT…