Rush Hour: Cowboys Dramatic Survival Over Bengals; Top 10 Whitty Observations
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Undermanned and underdogs, the Dallas Cowboys almost choked away a big lead but instead pulled off a minor miracle Sunday at AT&T Stadium. Coming off perhaps the worst Week 1 game in franchise history, they rallied for a 20-17 victory over a team that played in the Super Bowl eight months ago.
10. CINDERELLA COMBO - What were the odds of the Cowboys' first touchdown of the season being a pass: thrown by Cooper Rush and caught by Noah Brown in the first quarter of Week 2?
9. OPTIMAL OPPONENT - Cowboys improved to 10-4 all-time against the Bengals. That 71.4-percent winning percentage is their second-best against any opponent, behind only the 76.9 percent (10-3) against the Carolina Panthers.
8. MOST VALUABLE PARSONS - Safe to say that Micah Parsons vs. La'el Collins was an embarrassing mismatch. The Cowboys' pass-rusher beat his former teammate inside, outside and forced him into two jittery false-start penalties. Parsons before the season predicted he could produce a record-breaking 23 sacks.
Crazy, but ... all the sudden he has four in two games. So let's don't bet against him just yet.
Parsons is the fourth Cowboy to start a season with two multi-sack games, joining DeMarcus Lawrence (2017), DeMarcus Ware (2011) and Charles Haley (1994).
7. SOUND ADVICE - Biggest hit of the game was a CBS sound technician taking a parabolic microphone right in the kisser. Cincinnati receiver Ja'marr Chase ran out of bounds and into the fiberglass, half-moon microphone, which was violently slammed back into the face of the technician. A little cut and a little embarrassment, but the man seemed okay. Best advice: Keep your eyes - and "ears" - on the ball.
6. HEAD GAMES - The Bengals' first nine points - three field goals - were all the product of silly Cowboys penalties. Too late to stop me if you've heard this one before. Late hits on a sliding Joe Burrow by Anthony Barr and Donovan Wilson and an inexplicable offsides - on a punt, no less - by Lawrence all kept Cincinnati drives alive that led to points. Lawrence's jump into the neutral zone on 4th-and-4 early in the third quarter came when Dallas had a 17-3 lead and was preparing to get the ball. It changed the entire tenor of the game.
5. PROPS FOR POLLARD - Tony Pollard turned on the jets on his 46.5-yard catch-and-run in the first quarter. After review overturned the apparent touchdown, the Cowboys gave the ball back to him to punch it in from one yard for a 14-3 lead. Pollard set up the meal. Right to let him have the dessert.
4. BETTER vs. SMARTER? - Mike McCarthy this week groused about offensive coordinator Kellen Moore needing to be "smarter." Not sure if going for it on 4th-and-2 from your own 44 on the game's opening possession is smart, or just plain scary. Whichever, the gamble worked as Rush hit Brown with a 17-yard pass that led to a 7-0 lead and set the offensive tone for the game. Said McCarthy of the decision: "It was just trusting the plan, trusting the players."
3. MOVING PARTS - The Cowboys led the NFL in scoring last season. But of the regular contributors to that explosive offense, eight players were absent Sunday against Cincy: Dak Prescott, Amari Cooper, Cedrick Wilson, Blake Jarwin, Tyron Smith, Connor Williams, Connor McGovern and Collins.
2. NO WOE AND TWO - Cowboys improve to 1-1. But, more importantly, they don't fall to 0-2. Last time that happened was 2010, when a 1-7 start cost Wade Phillips his job at midseason.
1. RUSH TO JUDGEMENT - Rush wasn't perfect in replacing Prescott and his thumb. But, just like last Halloween in Minnesota, he was clutch when it counted. With Dak out with a strained calf last season against the Vikings, Rush led Dallas to a 20-16 win with an eight-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Amari Cooper with 51 seconds remaining. Sunday in Arlington - after a huge third-down tackle by Trevon Diggs set up the possession - Rush completed three consecutive passes to CeeDee Lamb and Brown for 30 yards of precious real estate that set up Brett Maher's walk-off 50-yard field goal that sneaked inside the right upright.
Rush's two-start NFL vitals: 43 of 71 (60 percent) for 560 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. Oh, a spiffy record of 2-0.
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