No one wants to start 0-2, but don’t you get the sense that it is the Cowboys that are going to come out tighter than a Ja’Marr Chase glove?
The Cowboys are always a soap opera, doomed to play in the city with the same name of a 1980s network soaper. Now with quarterback Dak Prescott out for several weeks, a banged-up Dallas offensive line without its left tackle and the specter of Sean Payton wired into AT&T Stadium, how homey is this game going to feel for the Cowboys?
Last week was dominated by discussion of the Chase-Diggs matchup and the meeting between former Cowboys right tackle La’el Collins and Cowboys sack ace Micah Parsons.
So logic is another matchup is going to decide it and start with Bengals right end Trey Hendrickson going against Cowboys rookie left tackle Tyler Smith, filling in for injured all-decade tackle Tyron Smith.
Tyler Smith, a first-round pick, was solid in his NFL debut against Tampa Bay (when he gave up a sack and another pressure), but he was a guard until late in training camp and has yet to face someone of Hendrickson’s caliber. With the Steelers playing it close to the vest, Hendrickson had a hit and a hurry on Mitch Trubisky after ending 2021 with 25.5 sacks in 29 games. He’s due. Especially against a rookie feeling his way around tackle.
The Cowboys signed 40-year-old Jason Peters in the wake of Tyron Smith’s injury and he may get a shot sooner or later with guard Connor McGovern going down last week.
Which sets up another matchup. With the Cowboys struggling on the offensive line in front of quarterback Cooper Rush’s second NFL start and the Bengals coming off a five-turnover game now playing the NFL’s defending turnover kings, this could be an old fashioned Big 12 slugfest of running backs.
Since Oklahoma’s Joe Mixon came into the league in 2017 and joined the Bengals, he’s got the third most rushes in the NFL (1,131) while the Cowboys’ Ezekiel Elliott has the most with 1,338. Elliott (5,807) and Mixon (4,646) are second and fifth…
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