The Bengals face their first road test of the 2022 season when they travel to Dallas to take on the Cowboys on Sunday. Cincinnati will be looking to bounce back from a 23-20 overtime loss to Pittsburgh last week at Paycor Stadium. "We had our chances," said head coach Zac Taylor. "To lose the turnover battle five to nothing, to have kick operations ruined on two kicks that both would have won the game is disheartening in that way, because I thought we would have handled those situations better. But I thought our guys really fought back and gave us a chance."

Cincinnati's loss came despite a strong performance from the defense, which held the Steelers to 267 total yards and 16 points. In the second half, Pittsburgh was only able to net 64 yards and three points, while picking up just four first downs. On the other side, QB Joe Burrow and the Bengals offense shook off their first-half miscues and put together two scoring drives, including a six-yard TD pass to WR Ja'Marr Chase with two seconds remaining that tied the score at 20-20. "I thought the defense played solid all day," said Taylor. "We would have liked to get a turnover, but really they held them to 13 points until that last field goal. That's a pretty good day's work in the NFL. So, just didn't do enough as a team to overcome some of the adversity that we put ourselves in, didn't find a way to make a play at the end that would have won it, and that's life. We've got 16 more of these, and we'll turn around next week and start getting ready for Dallas and try to gain some momentum that way." With the offense missing WR Tee Higgins for the majority of the game after he left in the second quarter (concussion), Chase stepped up with 10 catches for 129 yards and a TD. His reception total tied for the third-most in Bengals history in a regular-season opener.

But in overtime, it was HB Samaje Perine and free agent acquisition TE Hayden Hurst catching passes from Burrow to move Cincinnati into range for a potential game-winning kick. A 20-yard completion to Hurst along the right sideline put the Bengals on Pittsburgh's 13-yard line, and three plays later K Evan McPherson lined up for a 29-yarder to clinch the victory. But with veteran LS Clark Harris out of the game due to a biceps injury and TE Mitchell Wilcox serving as the emergency replacement, a disjointed snap and hold led to McPherson sending his kick wide left. "You always hate when a teammate goes down, especially when it's a valuable member of your team like Clark," said McPherson. "But honestly, I had full trust in Mitchell Wilcox. There was no reason to miss anything. I put everything on me. I'll grow from it, learn from it and move on." It was a roller coaster of an afternoon for McPherson, who in the first quarter broke his own team record with a 59-yard FG. The same could be said for Burrow, who despite throwing the four INTs ended the day 33 of 53 for 338 yards and two TDs. It marked the third-most completions and fifth-most passing yards ever by a Bengals QB in a season opener, and much of his work was done while helping Cincinnati claw back from an 11-point halftime deficit. "It's frustrating, but I had faith that we'd come back," said Burrow. "I'm proud of the way we played in the second half. We came back strong and put ourselves in position to win the game."

The Bengals and Cowboys are both seeking their first win of the season this Sunday, as Dallas fell to Tampa Bay, 19-3, in its Week 1 matchup. The Cowboys will be without QB Dak Prescott, who suffered a thumb injury in the fourth quarter against the Buccaneers. everything on me. I'll grow from it, learn from it and move on." It was a roller coaster of an afternoon for McPherson, who in the first quarter broke his own team record with a 59-yard FG. The same could be said for Burrow, who despite throwing the four INTs ended the day 33 of 53 for 338 yards and two TDs. It marked the third-most completions and fifth-most passing yards ever by a Bengals QB in a season opener, and much of his work was done while helping Cincinnati claw back from an 11-point halftime deficit. "It's frustrating, but I had faith that we'd come back," said Burrow. "I'm proud of the way we played in the second half. We came back strong and put ourselves in position to win the game." The Bengals and Cowboys are both seeking their first win of the season this Sunday, as Dallas fell to Tampa Bay, 19-3, in its Week 1 matchup. The Cowboys will be without QB Dak Prescott, who suffered a thumb injury in the fourth quarter against the Buccaneers.