Ja’Marr Chase highlights Bengals’ win over Cowboys

ARLINGTON, Texas (ENQUIRER) – Suffice it to say, Ja’Marr Chase’s quest for the NFL “triple crown” is alive and well.

Thanks to Chase’s 14 catches, 177 yards and two touchdowns, the Cincinnati Bengals outlasted the Dallas Cowboys, 27-20, Monday at AT&T Stadium. The second of Chase’s touchdowns saw him make a catch, turn and run 40 yards down the sideline to give Cincinnati the lead for good at 1:01 of the fourth quarter.

The Bengals improved to 5-8 in front of a crowd of 92,587. Dallas fell to 5-8.

Chase finished the night leading the NFL in receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns with four games remaining in 2024. Leading in all three stats is necessary to win the Triple Crown.

The winning score was established by abnormal play. Former Bengal Nick Vigil blocked a Cincinnati punt, but the Cowboys’ Amani Oruwariye tried to recover the bouncing ball and returned it to Bengals rookie Maema Njongmeta.

Two plays later, Cincinnati was definitely leading.

On Dallas’ final possession, the Bengals forced a Cooper Rush incompletion on fourth down to give the ball and the game back to the Bengals. Trey Hendrickson picked up a sack on third down to disrupt the Cowboys as they drove near midfield.

Cincinnati had its best defensive performance since allowing 14 points to the Cleveland Browns in an Oct. 20 win.

Here are the What the Cincinnati Enquirer learned from Monday Night Football showdown:

Ja’Marr Chase is chasing the ‘triple crown’

Chase has done a major job toward his stated goal of winning the “triple crown,” meaning leading the NFL in catches, yards and touchdowns. He also made this progress in front of CeeDee Lamb’s audience.

Besting Lamb was the least of Chase’s accomplishments.

Chase left AT&T Stadium leading in all three Triple Crown categories after his 14-catch, 177-yard, two-touchdown performance. He finished the game with 93 catches on the year, 1,319 receiving yards and 15 touchdowns. He also had over 5,000 receiving yards in his career on the game-winning 40-yard reception.

While Lamb entered the game tied with Chase for seventh in the league in receptions (79), he was outscored by Chase. Lamb had 6 catches for 98 yards and a touchdown in the first quarter, so Chase won this WR1 battle.

“I just had good matchups, good leverage all night,” Chase said. “There weren’t too many double teams.”

Overview: The Bengals made a statement to America (sort of)

Cincinnati’s victory was sparked by the unlikeliest of breaks that occurred when the blocked punt-turned-fumble ended up in the hands of the Bengals. This is certainly not how you prepare for the start of a winning campaign.

Don’t expect the Bengals to apologize, though, and they made good use of this bizarre play by getting back to Chase on what head coach Zac Taylor described as the simplest of play calls, adding that the game was a “day one install”. »

Ultimately, Cincinnati used the Monday Night Football spotlight to show they’re still playing for something in 2024. Maybe all the Bengals have said is they won’t turn around this season, but even that is notable considering the Bengals entered the night. on a three-game losing streak.

Dallas entered the competition in the opposite direction. With Rush replacing Dak Prescott, the Cowboys were on a two-game winning streak. The Bengals defense made Rush and Co. look pedestrian on offense.

Defensively, Dallas looked listless at times. Certainly, the Cowboys weren’t close to having an answer for Chase.

The Bengals defense was still guilty of some blown coverages and missed tackles, but they showed up when the team needed it and made three straight stops to end the game. Once again, this is the unit’s best performance in terms of points conceded since the October 20 victory against Cleveland.

“They made some big plays for us and stepped up,” Taylor said of the defensive effort. “I’m really happy for the defense the way they finished the game.”

At 5-8, Cincinnati is still far from being able to make the playoffs, but things are looking up. The win in Dallas increased the Bengals’ playoff chances to 2 percent, according to the New York Times NFL Playoff Predictor. There is also another winnable game on Sunday against the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium.

A playoff berth may be all but out of the question, but a respectable record and some momentum heading into an important offseason is still achievable.

“We needed that feeling because these last three locker rooms haven’t been like that, so feeling the joy and the work week paid off,” Taylor said. “This is an opportunity for the world to see that we will continue to fight. This is who we are… When the Bengals take the field, you know you’re going to do our best.

Another winning performance for Joe Burrow

Joe Burrow, who could have made more news in his postgame press conference than on the field, made his usual MVP-caliber contribution, which was made more impressive by the fact that he was under siege in the backfield throughout the game.

Burrow also appeared to be injured in the fourth quarter and was wearing a sleeve on his left leg. He didn’t miss a snap even though backup Jake Browning was warming up on the bench.

Burrow was forced to make do and improvise quite a bit. He was sacked four times, hit eight times and put under a lot of pressure. The truth of the game is that Burrow was hammered by the Dallas pashrushers all night, but still managed to play despite an apparent injury suffered in the fourth quarter to close out the close game.

By the end of the night, Burrow had completed 33 of 44 passes for 369 yards and three touchdowns.

Burrow’s biggest flaw of the night was his third-quarter interception that led to a Cowboys field goal for 20-17 on the first play of the fourth quarter. The pick was also only Burrow’s sixth of the year, so it seems hard to blame him.

Cade York performed admirably

We’ve written a lot about the Bengals’ kickers lately, which is generally not a good thing. On Sunday, backup kicker Cade York, who signed with the Bengals’ practice squad this week and was elevated for the Dallas game in response to Evan McPherson’s injury, scored eight points. It was a solid performance for a player who was cut by the Washington Commanders after the first week, and a second straight week of effective play on special teams.

The Bengals didn’t ask much of York and put him in reasonable kicking positions. He responded, making 3 of 3 in PATs. York also made a 35-yard field goal late in the first half, as well as a 29-yard kick to tie the game at 20-20 with 10:24 remaining.

This story was written by our media partners at the Cincinnati Enquirer.

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