Bengals Get 22 Points in the First Quarter, Beat Cowboys, 50-24

Quarterback Boomer Esiason turned an off-day for Dallas into a showcase for Cincinnati’s quick-strike offense as the Bengals stunned the Cowboys, 50-24, Sunday.

Esiason threw three touchdown passes and directed a 22-point first-quarter blitz.

The Bengals trapped Dallas quarterback Danny White for a safety on the game’s third play, and Esiason then directed three touchdown drives before the game was nine minutes old.

“They had an off day,” Esiason said. “Everything we did seemed to go well for us. We got on the scoreboard right off the bat--the defense scored.”

The 22 first-quarter points, the most ever given up by a Dallas defense, left the Cowboys remembering a 44-0 rout by the Chicago Bears in Texas three games ago.

“It was very similar to the way the Bears came in fired up when we played them,” White said. “That was the difference in the game. It was a psychological thing. They came out to play playoff-caliber football and we didn’t.”

Bengal Coach Sam Wyche had his players primed for the Cowboys’ first visit to Riverfront Stadium, which drew a boisterous sell-out crowd of 56,937.

“We just came into this game extremely motivated and took it to ‘em,” Wyche said. “We beat them man-to-man.”

Wyche said he predicted the Bengals would win. “I wrote on the blackboard that 35-27 was going to be the final,” he said.

Esiason became the Bengals’ big man, burning Cowboy blitzes with audibles and consistently finding the open receiver.

His first touchdown pass came during the the 22-point burst in the first quarter, and then he added a pair in the second half, squeezing the Dallas defense for the most points it has given up in 15 years. The Cowboys’ previous worst defensive performance was a 54-13 loss to Minnesota in 1970.

“Boomer did a great job today,” Dallas Coach Tom Landry said. “We didn’t cover anybody, and he was hitting everybody. So you have to give him a lot of credit.

“We could never stop their offense when Boomer was in the game. They moved every play, every time.”

The Cowboys (9-5) are tied for first place in the NFC East with the New York Giants, whom they play at Dallas next Sunday. The Giants beat Houston, 35-14.

The Bengals (7-7) are tied for first in the AFC Central.

The Bengals ended the Cowboys’ streak of invincibility in post-Thanksgiving play. The Cowboys had won their last 15 games coming off the nine-day holiday break.

Esiason threw a 45-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Eddie Brown before a knee bruise knocked him out of the game early in the second quarter. The left-hander returned to hit Steve Kreider with a 29-yard scoring toss early in the third quarter for a 29-3 lead.

The Bengals then recovered a fumble on the kickoff--one of the Cowboys’ four turnovers--and running back James Brooks ran 19 yards around right end for his second touchdown and a commanding 36-3 Bengal lead.

Esiason capped his afternoon with a 58-yard scoring pass play to wide receiver Cris Collinsworth as the Bengals churned out their third-highest point total in team history. The Bengals led, 50-10, before a pair of closing Cowboy touchdowns.

Esiason, a second-yard quarterback from Maryland, finished with 15 completions in 25 passes for 265 yards without an interception.

The Cowboys were in trouble from the start in their first-ever Cincinnati appearance. White, brilliant in impressive Dallas victories the last two games, was dropped in the end zone by end Ross Browner for a safety on a third-and-37 play.

Esiason hit 3 of 4 passes after the free kick to set up Larry Kinnebrew’s three-yard touchdown run.

Esiason passed to Brown for the second Cincinnati touchdown, then handed off to Brooks on a quick draw for a 27-yard touchdown run to complete the first-quarter devastation. The extra-point try failed.

Brooks finished with 109 yards in 13 carries. Collinsworth led the receiving corps with seven catches for 123 yards.

White finished with 21 completions in 32 attempts for 226 yards with an interception and a pair of second-half touchdown passes.

Dallas wide receiver Tony Hill caught three passes, giving him 73 for the season to tie Ron Springs’ club record. He has caught at least one pass in 58 consecutive games, tying Drew Pearson’s club mark.

Veteran Bengal quarterback Ken Anderson, relegated to third-string status this season, came in for Cincinnati’s last two possessions. It was his first appearance since the second game of the season.