The Bengals picked up one first down but went no further, as Dalton was sacked for a loss of 10 yards on third down. After the punt, Dallas' slow march down the field began. Third down conversion to Jason Witten following Terence Newman's dropped interception.
Bengals, with all their second half timeouts already wasted and completely unable to stop the Cowboys offense, could only watch and hope that Dallas would miss their field goal. After picking up a first down inside the Cincinnati 40-yard line, Romo threw an incomplete pass on first down. Then, completed a five-yard pass on second-down, setting up a crucial third-and-five with 1:20 left on the clock. DeMarco Murray took the handoff, ran to the right, stripped a tackled and dove forward to pick up the first-down.
The Cowboys ran the clock down on a short running play, setting up a 42-yard field goal with :04 remaining in regulation.
Good snap, good hold, good kick, Bengals lose.