Bengals Don’t Let Up, Cut Down Dallas, 38-24

IRVING, Tex. — This time the Cincinnati Bengals went ahead early and stayed ahead.

After giving away the lead and the game to Kansas City in the final minutes last week, the Bengals built a 21-point lead over the Dallas Cowboys Sunday and made it stand up for a 38-24 victory.

“Last week was our fault, and we took a lot of heat from the coaches.” Bengal halfback James Brooks said. “There was no doubt we were ready when we came off the plane. There was no way it was going to happen again.”

Cincinnati (9-3), which blew a nine-point lead in the final 6 minutes to Kansas City, jumped to a 24-3 lead and didn’t let the Cowboys back into the game.

The Bengals are looking forward to next week’s showdown with Buffalo (11-1), which has the best record in the NFL.

“Last week we weren’t ready,” Cincinnati Coach Sam Wyche said. “This week the practices were intense and we came out ready.

“We’re 9-3, and we’re ready for the big game with Buffalo. We have 3 of our next 4 games at home and we’re ready to go. Buffalo will be favored, but I think it will be a heck of a game.”

Dallas (2-10), suffering though its worst season since 1980, lost for the eighth consecutive game.

“We just had difficulty handling the Bengals’ offense,” Dallas Coach Tom Landry said. “It’s the best in the NFL, no doubt about it.”

Boomer Esiason threw three touchdown passes and Brooks ran 51 yards for a score as the Bengals moved at will against the Dallas defense. Brooks, who leads the NFL in rushing average with 5.3 yards per carry, ran 16 times for 148 yards. He also caught a 13-yard scoring pass from Esiason in the third period.

Esiason also had scoring passes of 20 and 5 yards to tight end Rodney Holman.

Cincinnati rolled up a 24-3 halftime lead over the Kevin Sweeney-led Cowboys, who managed only Roger Ruzek’s 44-yard field goal.

Steve Pelluer replaced Sweeney in the second half and threw 2 touchdown passes late in the fourth period. Herschel Walker scored on an 11-yard run for the Cowboys and gained 131 yards in 26 carries.

The crowd of 37,865 was the second worst for the Cowboys in Texas Stadium history. The smallest crowd was 36,788 last December against the Cardinals.