Cowboys Turn Tragedy Into Victory

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Just one day after learning of the death of one of their teammates, the Dallas Cowboys rallied to defeat the Cincinnati Bengals 20-19 on Sunday with a Dan Bailey last-second field goal.

The Cowboys trailed by 9, 19-10, at the start of the 4th quarter.  A 27-yard touchdown pass from Tony Romo to Dez Bryant with 6:35 left in the game put Dallas within one score.  The Cowboys made the biggest stop of the season when Anthony Spencer sacked Bengal quarterback Andy Dalton to force a punt with under 4 minutes remaining.

Dallas was able to advance from their own 28 yard line to the Cincinnati 22 where Bailey hit on a 40-yard field goal as time expired to win the game.

The Cowboys defense struggled the entire game, giving up 336 yards to the Bengals, 146 on the ground.  With nose tackle Jay Ratliff out with injury, and backup Josh Brent in jail following the car crash that killed Brown, Sean Lissemore moved from end to the middle.  This added to an already weakend middle with the injury losses of linebackers Sean Lee and Bruce Carter.  Cincinnati running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis averaged 7.4 yards per carry against Dallas on 12 carries.

Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo completed 25 of 43 passes for 268 yards and a touchdown.  Romo was intercepted once and could have been picked off more if Bengals cornerback Terrance Newman had been able to hold on to the ball.  Romo spread the ball around to 9 different receivers, led by Jason Witten with 4 catches for 62 yards and Dez Bryant, also with 4 catches, for 50 yards and a touchdown.  Wide receiver Miles Austin was targeted 10 times, but only caught 4 for 46 yards.

Running back DeMarco Murray rushed 21 times for only 53 yards, but was crucial on the game’s final drive.

Dallas has a new question to deal with as punter Brian Moorman had an awful day, averaging only 33 yards on 5 punts.

The Cowboys won a game they should have lost, and remain in the playoff hunt with a record of 7-6.  They host the Pittsburgh Steelers next week at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington.

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