The Bengals are coming into this game with a 4-8 record this season and they have not been playing well in their recent games. They have lost their last 3 straight games as their playoff hopes are going down the drain and they have struggled against stronger opponents this season. Their last 3 losses were all close games within 1 score, but they lost all 3 games against teams with at least 8 wins this season. Most of their losses this season have come against teams with winning records as well. They have been much better against weaker opponents though, winning their last 4 straight games against teams with losing records with all 4 wins coming by 7+ points and 3 of those wins coming by 10+ points. Their defense has been awful this season as they have been allowing a lot of points in their games, being one of the worst defenses in the league, but they have actually held their opponents to 14 points or less in 2 of their last 3 games against teams with losing records. They are going up against a Cowboys team that is 5-7 this season and they have been playing much better in their recent games. They have won their last 2 straight games, beating the Commanders in Washington, but they are also coming off of a 7 point win at home against the Giants in their last game. Their defense has not been playing well recently either, allowing 20 points to the Giants in their last game, and they have allowed 26+ points in 6 of their last 7 games as well. The Cowboys have been better on offense in their last 2 games as Cooper Rush has been playing better and Dowdle has been running better as well, but this Bengals run defense has actually been much better at stopping the run against teams under .500. Dowdle is not a strong runner either so the Bengals will be able to disrupt the Cowboys offense on defense here. The Bengals have also been running the ball much better with Chase Brown and this Cowboys defense has not been able to stop the run this season so that is only going to help open things up in the passing game which has been on fire for the Bengals with Joe Burrow having a great season. The Bengals are down, but they are not out yet and this is a game they have to win against a weaker team. They have the much better offense to run up the score on this Cowboys defense and the Bengals defense will have a better time getting stops against this weaker offense. The Bengals will cover the spread in this game.