ARLINGTON, Texas — The Cowboys scored touchdowns on their first four possessions for the first time in almost eight years.
On the fifth one, they threw an interception into Eddie Jackson’s arms with 35 seconds left in the first half. The Bears turned the turnover into a field goal and trail the Cowboys 28-17 Sunday at AT&T Stadium.
Despite them scoring 10 points in the final 40 seconds of the half, the deficit should provide a much-needed wakeup call about the Bears’ ceiling coming off Monday night’s 33-14 win against the Patriots.
The Bears are one of the NFL’s best second-half defenses; through seven games, they allowed only 35 points, the third-fewest in the league. For the second time in four games, though, the defense was outclassed in the first half; the Vikings scored touchdowns on their first three possessions on Oct. 9.
Bears quarterback Justin Fields had 13 passing yards at the end of the first quarter and just 46 yards at halftime. He’s completed 8-of-11 passes, but leads the team in rushing with 41 yards. His passer rating is 110.4.
The Bears inching their way down the field won’t work in the second half if they want to catch up.
The Cowboys had little trouble scoring on their first drive, marching 75 yards on 11 plays for a touchdown. On third-and-3, quarterback Dak Prescott took a designed run left for a seven-yard score.
The Bears went three-and-out on their first drive, slowed by Fields leaving a deep shot to Equanimeous St. Brown short on first down and, on the next play, Dante Pettis being flagged for offensive pass interference.
That produced yet another way-too-easy drive for the Cowboys, who went 69 yards on only eight plays. Facing third-and-9 from the 21, they sent receiver CeeDee Lamb in motion from right to left, where he ran a post route. Prescott found him in the end zone between safeties Jaquan Brisker and Jackson for a touchdown.
Less than 10 minutes into the game, the Cowboys were up 14-0. The Bears countered with a long, plodding drive — one that lasted almost seven minutes and featured 10 run plays and two passes. Fields scrambled for 14 yards on third-and-4 and 15 yards on second-and-6. It was a designed run that landed Fields in the end zone, though; on second-and-goal from the three, he ran left, untouched, to go down 14-7.
The Cowboys’ best play of their next drive should have gone for only a yard or two. On third-and-1 from the Bears’ 41, Prescott took a snap from under center and plunged forward trying to get the first down. No one tackled him, though, and he kept running for 25 yards. On the next play, the Bears gave up an 18-yard touchdown run to Tony Pollard.
The Bears wasted their next drive. They followed a one-yard run with a sack and then a misguided double pass in which Fields threw to Pettis, who launched a pass across the field that kicked away. Pettis was flagged for an illegal forward pass, though, and the Bears were forced to punt.
Fields went to the injury tent after the drive but never missed a snap.
Led by Lamb, who had two catches for 37 yards, Cowboys were went 54 yards on eight plays for their fourth touchdown in a row. This one landed in the arms of tight end Jake Ferguson, who celebrated his one-yard touchdown by pretending to hog tie a teammate.
With 45 seconds to play, Fields threw an interception to Trevon Diggs — but the play came back when Cowboys defensive lineman Chauncey Golston was ruled to have hit Fields in the head when knocking him to the ground. The Bears scored on the next play, a 17-yard pass on a crossing route from Fields to receiver N’Keal Harry.
Harry hadn’t caught a touchdown pass since December 2020, when the former first-round pick was a member of the Patriots. He played his first game with the Bears on Monday.
