“Good back, strong, runs hard,” Bengals linebacker Vinny Rey said of Elliott, the first-round pick out of Ohio State who ran for 134 yards on 15 carries for his third consecutive 100-yard game.
“They were able to get downhill on us,” Rey added. “They got us, man. Hats off to them.”
Dallas rookie quarterback Dak Prescott added a touchdown run of his own and threw for a touchdown and threw for a score as the Cowboys got into the end zone on their first three possessions to cruise to a 4-1 record while dropping the Bengals to 2-3.
“Disappointing,” Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis said. “Too many explosive runs early in the game, a couple of third down passes went across the field and we never did get in position where we could stop them early in the game.”
Prescott finished 18 of 24 for 227 yards and a touchdown for a 117.9 passer rating while leading Dallas to 401 yards of offense on just 54 plays, four of which were kneel downs.
“We didn’t play well enough to win today,” Lewis said. “We got outplayed, and we’ve go to take a hard look at it and get better.”
The Bengals didn’t get their first points until Andy Dalton hit Brandon LaFell with a 7-yard touchdown with 10:10 left in the game.
The score was set up by a Carlos Dunlap sack and strip of Prescott at the Cincinnati 18, with Rey recovering the fumble and advancing it to the Bengals 41.
LaFell added another touchdown reception on a 5-yard catch with 2:39 left.
Dalton completed 29 of 41 for 269 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions for a 104.6 rating. Dallas sacked him four times and held the Bengals to 5 of 12 on third downs.
The Cowboys limited Pro Bowl wide receiver A.J. Green to four catches for 50 yards on seven targets.
LaFell led Cincinnati with eight catches for 68 yards.
The Bengals return to action next Sunday at New England in what will be Tom Brady’s first home game since returning from suspension to throw for 406 yards and three touchdowns in a 33-13 win at Cleveland in Sunday.
“Hopefully our resolve on this this team will be to come back next week and play the best football game we’ve played since is was probably the worst this season,” veteran left tackle Andrew Whitworth said. “We’ve got to put our head back down and go to New England and play our best football. That should be the only thing we’re worried about.”
About the Author