The Dallas Cowboys will be back on Monday Night Football for the second and final time this year when they host the Cincinnati Bengals. The Cowboys are riding a two-game winning streak while the Bengals have lost three straight. The Cowboys also have a nice win streak against those striped helmet-wearing fellas, winning the last five contests against them. Cincy’s last win against Dallas was 20 years ago when Carson Palmer outdueled Vinny Testaverde.

But don’t let the record fool you. This will be a tough game for the Cowboys. Here are five things to watch when the Bengals head into AT&T on Monday night.

1. DOUBLE THE TROUBLE

The Cowboys have faced some great wide receivers this year, but never have they faced two of them on the same team. The WR duo of JaMarr Chase and Tee Higgins are remarkable as they both are in the top five in yards per game. Not only do they rack up the yards, but they find the endzone frequently. Higgins has a touchdown catch in each of his last three games, and Chase has six touchdown catches over his last three games. The duo is a problem.

Cincy features a dangerous passing attack as Joe Burrow’s 3,337 passing yards leads the NFL this season. The Cowboys might have Trevon Diggs and DaRon Bland on the field together for the first time since Week 2 of last year. Diggs has missed the last two games with a groin and knee injury. The defense also lost depth corner Josh Butler for the season after he was injured on Thanksgiving, but they’ll get Amani Oruwariye back. Regardless of the arrangement of corners available, keeping the Bengals’ talented receiving duo in check will be a challenge.

2. CHASE IN SPACE

Last week, we discussed the importance of not allowing rookie running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. to get loose in space and the Cowboys’ defense did a good job keeping his runs to a minimum. They will have a similar challenge this week against second-year back Chase Brown. Since taking over the starting job after Zac Moss got hurt, Brown has been a grinder, churning yards both as a rusher and receiver. He has 90+ scrimmage yards in each of his last four games.

Brown isn’t a back who will nickel and dime the defense to death, but he’s always a big play waiting to happen. He has a run of 20+ yards in six of his last nine games, including a 40-yard run against the Steelers last week. As a frame of reference, a Cowboys running back has only had a run of 20+ yards once the entire season, and it came from Rico Dowdle on Thanksgiving. The Cowboys will need to wrap up and not let the Bengal’s young back break off some big chunks.

3. BEWARE OF THE RUN STUFFS

Over the last two games, the Cowboys rushing attack has shown signs of life. Dowdle has had two straight games with at least 80 yards on the ground, including a career-high 112 yards against the Giants on Thanksgiving. The arrangement of Tyler Smith, Cooper Beebe, and Brock Hoffman has provided the Cowboys with some extra beef along the interior offensive line.

The Bengals’ defense will be a problem. They get after the ball carriers. They hit opposing rushers behind the line of scrimmage on 49.3% of designed runs between the tackles (data courtesy of NextGenStats). That’s the third-most in the league. Cowboys’ running backs are one of the weaker teams in yards before contact. Unless the Cowboys’ offensive line can pull off some better run blocking, we could see a lot of runs with little or no gain.

4. KEEP THE RUSH OFF OF RUSH

How far the Cowboys go in sustaining a viable rushing attack will loom large because failure to do so will result in a huge problem. With Tyler Guyton dealing with an ankle injury, we could see veteran Chuma Edoga start in his place at left tackle. Edoga has been fine in the short time his number has been called, but he’ll draw a tough matchup this week.

That’s because the Bengals’ defense features one of the league’s most underrated edge rushers in Trey Hendrickson. His 11.5 sacks lead the NFL this year and his 63 pressures are the second most in the league. He has more sacks than all of the other Bengals players combined. How the Cowboys handle Hendrickson and the Bengals pass rush could be the difference between a competitive game and absolute frustration. Quarterback Cooper Rush will have to come up with some plays in this one.

5. GOTTA TRY TO KEEP UP

The Bengals have a top-five scoring offense. They have scored at least 27 points in each of the last four games. The Cowboys have a bottom-five points-allowed defense. You don’t need to be a statistician to tell you that there’s a good chance that Cincinnati is going to score some points in this one.

While the Bengals do put up the points, their defense also surrenders a lot as well. They also have a bottom-five points-allowed defense. In fact, both Dallas and Cincinnati allow 28.3 points per game. The Bengals have been on the wrong end of some shootouts in recent weeks, but the Cowboy’s offense isn’t a unit that will light up anything. Dallas has found the end zone eight times over the last four games, but three of those have been courtesy of their defense or special teams. That’s 1.25 touchdowns from the offense during that four-game span. That’s not good.

The Cowboys have been able to keep things low-scoring during their two-game winning streak, but that’s not likely to happen this time. If they are to have a chance, they better come equipped with an offensive game plan to take some shots and keep laying up short.

Gut Feeling: Predictions for Cowboys-Bengals

The Cowboys find themselves in a similar position – and underdog at home. Only this time, they actually have the better record of the two teams. Dallas is 5-7 after winning two straight games and play host to the 4-8 Bengals, who still have some of the best offensive weapons in the NFL.

Can the Cowboys win three straight games, including two in a row at AT&T Stadium. Will the return of Trevon Diggs and DaRon Bland help slow down the Bengals’ two dynamic receivers?

Let’s see what the staff writers predict for Monday’s game.

Patrik: This is a tough one to call. On one hand, the Bengals’ defense is abhorrent and that is not an exaggeration. That unit is statistically one of the worst not only this season, but in the history of the league and most certainly over the past five NFL seasons. On the other hand, Joe Burrow and his band of unmerry men are torching scoreboards, and you have to defend every blade of grass against them. Even if Trevon Diggs returns to finally form the trio with DaRon Bland and Jourdan Lewis, the task is tall. If he doesn’t, it becomes that much more daunting. That means the name of this game, for the Cowboys, will to control time of possession with an offensive rushing attack (hi, Rico) and to play off of that to neutralize the only weapon the Bengals have defensively (Trey Hendrickson) and Burrow’s onslaught by keeping him on the sideline. Do that, and you eek out a third consecutive win. Don’t do it and you’ll get 50 points dropped on your head, and this Cowboys’ offense isn’t one that’s shown it can win that kind of a shootout. My prediction will be based on one thing and one thing only: the Cowboys’ hammering at them with Dowdle and sacking Burrow at least three times. If they don’t, it’s gonna get ugly. 24-21, Cowboys

Tommy: I could realistically see this game going so many different ways given the roller coaster that both of these teams have been on this season in their own respective ways. At the end of the day, I’m going with the givens about both of these teams: Dallas’ defense is getting some of their best players back, and the Bengals offense can score points against the best of them. Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase have been on a tear this year, which is no different from what they’ve been able to do during their time together in both Cincinnati and Baton Rouge. If Dallas gets Trevon Diggs back, then we get to watch a fantastic chess match between Burrow, Chase, and Tee Higgins against Diggs, DaRon Bland, and Jourdan Lewis. Even in that case, I still like the Bengals because they can outscore this Cowboys offense even with their defense being one of the worst in the league. If Dallas wants to win this game, it’ll have to be by controlling the clock and getting Burrow down to the ground. I don’t think they’ll be able to do that enough to win, so give me the Cincinnati in this one. Bengals 31, Cowboys 21.

Nick: I might end up regretting this one – wouldn’t be the first time this year. But I’ve done enough podcasts over the years, and I’ve done enough interviews with other media members to know how the Cowboys don’t ever get the benefit of the doubt. If they lose games, it’s a huge story and no one cares if they had a key injury or three along the way. No excuses right? And if you try and hint that maybe the Cowboys are a little better than this 5-7 record, you’ll get the Bill Parcells “you are what you are” line. And he’s right, you always are what you are. But for some reason, the 4-8 Bengals don’t apply here? I get it, Burrow is having a great season and he’s got two great weapons to throw to. But didn’t he have them two years ago vs. Dallas? I know every season is different but Burrow was throwing to Higgins and Chase back in 2022 and scored 17 points and had 199 passing yards. The Cowboys – also playing with Cooper Rush – managed to win the game with Noah Brown as the leading receiver. This time around, as the Bengals might be playing better, the record doesn’t show it. And this is Rush’s fifth start of the season and he’s got better weapons around him than he did last time. And just like that game, Micah Parsons has to wreck the game again. I’m sorry, but if the Cowboys are going to make any kind of run here in December, go beat a 4-8 team at home. I’ll go Dallas, 28-27.