Week 14 will close out from AT&T Stadium with a matchup between the Cincinnati Bengals and Dallas Cowboys. Is there a ManningCast for Monday Night Football tonight?
After a Thanksgiving hiatus, Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli Manning returns to ESPN2 for the final time in the regular season.
ManningCast Guest List for Week 14
- Bill Belichick, former New England Patriots head coach
- John Legend, singer
- Cris Collinsworth, former NFL wide receiver and current NBC analyst
Cincinnati Bengals (4-8) at Dallas Cowboys (5-7)
- Start time: 8:15 p.m. ET
- Channel: ESPN, ABC, ESPN2
- Live stream options: ESPN+, YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV
And here’s a guy…
See you tonight on the ManningCast, @CollinsworthPFF. pic.twitter.com/KccKyDMB8C
— Omaha Productions (@OmahaProd) December 9, 2024
Both entered the 2024 season with serious Super Bowl aspirations, but neither will be approaching those lofty goals after extremely disappointing campaigns.
The Bengals are 4-8 despite Joe Burrow leading the league with 30 passing touchdowns and the offense ranking sixth in points per game. That’s because the Bengals have the second-worst scoring defense, ahead of only the abysmal Carolina Panthers unit.
Cincinnati has a 2-4 record when scoring 33+ points, compared to 57-2 for the other 31 teams when reaching that threshold. Those are already the most losses when scoring 33 or more points in a single season in NFL history.
On the other side, the Cowboys have seen significant regression from the 2023 team that went 12-5 and had the second-best scoring margin in the NFL. Quarterback Dak Prescott has been lost for the season since suffering a hamstring avulsion in Week 9, while the defense has seen the likes of Micah Parsons, DeMarcus Lawrence, and DaRon Bland miss significant time.
That said, Dallas is still on the periphery of the playoff picture after back-to-back division wins over the Washington Commanders and New York Giants.
PFN’s Playoff Predictor projects the Cowboys with a 3.5% chance to make the playoffs. Dallas’ easiest path would be to win out and have the Commanders lose at least one game in addition to the Week 18 rematch between the teams in Arlington.
The Bengals are a similar longshot to reach the postseason, with a 3.1% chance to make the playoffs. Cincinnati does host the Denver Broncos in Week 17, and losses by the Los Angeles Chargers and Baltimore Ravens mean that all three AFC Wild Card teams are 8-5. Still, the Bengals need to win out to have even a faint hope of reaching the playoffs.
Injury-wise, both teams will be missing important pieces along the offensive line. Bengals left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. will be out with a knee injury, while Cowboys right guard Zack Martin is out for the season after choosing to undergo ankle surgery.