DaytonDailyNews.com

IRVING, Texas — The Cincinnati Bengals' 0-5 start is taking a mental toll on the coaching staff, and that includes offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski.

He's under intense scrutiny for his play-calling and he'll get bombarded in the wake of the Bengals' 31-22 loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.

Cincinnati pulled within 24-22 on Carson Palmer's 10-yard pass to T.J. Houshmandzadeh with 7:39 to go.

But the 2-point conversion attempt failed miserably — a low percentage fade pass to tight end Ben Utecht in the left corner of the end zone.

"Oh, it's no fun at all," Bratkowski said. "But it's my job and, just like everybody else, we keep going forward. You have to have a short memory, and you have to go forward. That's what we do. You have very little time to sit around and feel sorry for yourself or pout because the next (game) comes up real fast."

Onside kick a success

After Shayne Graham's 40-yard field goal got the Bengals within 17-16 with 14:02 to play, Graham pulled off a surprise onside kick. It worked to perfection.

The Bengals' Rashad Jeanty made the recovery at Cincinnati's 48-yard line. Three plays later, tailback Chris Perry fumbled the ball away at Dallas' 37. Defensive tackle Tank Johnson stripped the ball away and linebacker Anthony Spencer pounced on it at the 12:36 mark.

Less than a minute later, Dallas quarterback Tony Romo hooked up with wide receiver Terrell Owens for a 57-yard TD that gave the Cowboys a 24-16 lead they wouldn't lose.

Graham blown up

"Coaches have reasons for wanting to do things," Graham said. "(The onside kick) is something I'm prepared to do every week. It's just a matter of when we're ready to pull the trigger on it.

"It was fun finally getting hit one good time. I gave (Dallas linebacker Justin Rogers) one of those dream shots on me. It's not every day that someone gets to tee off on the kicker. I'm sure he had fun with that one because he got me good."

Ocho Cinco's streak

Chad Ocho Cinco caught a pass in his 97th straight game, a Bengals record. But he was limited to three receptions for 43 yards.

"I enjoyed myself today," he said. "But it didn't go right for us as a team. We lost. The way we played is the way we need to play. We're going to be fine. The only way we can get out of this (slump) is to help ourselves."

Joseph burned

Cornerback Johnathan Joseph missed a tackle on Felix Jones' 33-yard TD run around right end at 6:00 of first quarter, giving Dallas a 10-0 lead.

"They had a toss play called," Joseph said. "I was supposed to come in and take out the lead blocker, and turn (Jones) back up inside. He just happened to get to the corner. I didn't do a good enough job because he scored on the play."

White washed

Dallas' final TD drive was helped by a 15-yard penalty on free safety Marvin White for pulling on Jones' face mask.

"I didn't think I pulled him down by the face mask," White said. "It was a huge call. I put my defense in a bad situation."

Quote machine

"I am going to make this short and sweet. I have been dealing with a lot of (criticism), and this was a great team win. It was frustrating out there, but I just stuck with it." — Cowboys wide receiver Terrell Owens, who caught two passes for 67 yards.

Contact this reporter at 225-2253 or cludwig@DaytonDailyNews.com.

0-5 Bengals' record for the first time since 2002.

198 Rushing yards for the Cowboys (61 for the Bengals).

29.5 Glenn Holt's kickoff return average (longest a gain of 60).

5 Fumbles by tailback Chris Perry in 2008. He's lost three.

28:15 Bengals' time of possession (Cowboys: 31:45).