Cowboys vs. Bengals: Full Report Card Grades for Dallas

The Dallas Cowboys are 4-1. Despite not having key players on the field for some games, the youth-infused Cowboys continue to find ways to win. Each game of the 2016 NFL season for the Cowboys has made people bite their nails. But in Week 5 against the Cincinnati Bengals, that wasn't the case in the slightest.

Dallas dominated in this one, and it started right from the opening kickoff when kick returner Lucky Whitehead had a 36-yard return. The Cowboys surgically went down the field with a seven-play, 64-yard drive. The NFL's leading rusher, Ezekiel Elliott, capped off the drive with a 13-yard touchdown run.

The Bengals offense stalled at midfield and would end up punting. Dallas responded with another touchdown drive. This one was an 11-play, 89-yard drive that ended in a five-yard touchdown run off a read-option from Dak Prescott.

Through the first quarter, Cincinnati had absolutely no answer for the Cowboys offense even though they had over a week-and-a-half to prepare for it. After another Bengals punt, the Cowboys had yet another touchdown drive. In eight plays and 80 yards, the Cowboys waltzed down the field. Prescott found shifty Cole Beasley for a 14-yard touchdown pass.

Things were a little different in the second half, as the Bengals opened up with a decent offensive drive. However, kicker Mike Nugent missed a 50-yard field goal. The next play was a 60-yard touchdown run from Elliott, his second of the day.

While the final score ended up as 28-14, the game truly was never that close. After the Cowboys' fourth consecutive touchdown drive, this game was over. Most of the Bengals' yards and all 14 of their points came in garbage time.

Read on for full grades and analysis from the Cowboys' fourth consecutive win of the season.

Pass Offense

Ron Jenkins/Associated Press

The quarterback controversy between Tony Romo and Prescott continues to heat up. Prescott was once again surgical. He continues to improve and impress every week. Despite not having a No. 1 receiver on the outside in Dez Bryant, Prescott is having no problem staying calm in the pocket and going through his progressions. Prescott is making Terrance Williams and Brice Butler look like studs on the outside.

Not only does he command the offense so well, but he's showing each week his recognition skills of nuances in the NFL. He's calling out blitzes, leading receivers to the open spot and necessarily checking down when he needs to. Despite being the eighth quarterback taken in the 2016 NFL draft, Prescott has been the most impressive of the bunch.

He has the Cowboys at 4-1 and regardless of whether Romo takes over when he's healthy, Prescott has proven that he is going to be a headache for defenses across the league when his time comes. Outside of a strip-sack, this was yet another quality performance from the Mississippi State product.

Grade: A

Rush Offense

Ron Jenkins/Associated Press

Each week, Elliott gets better. His patience continues to improve, he gets more comfortable within the scheme, and he's proving time and time again that he was the best option for the Cowboys with the No. 4 overall pick in the draft. Elliott carried the football 15 times for 134 yards. He scored twice in the game, and while all eyes are on his impact in the running game, it needs to be said just how good he is in the passing game as well.

Sure Elliott is awesome as a receiver, but he excels as a pass protector. Having Elliott in the backfield pretty much gives more security to an offensive line that is already a fantastic one. With an average of 8.9 yards per carry, it's safe to say that Elliott enjoyed a great day. He's still the league-leading rusher in the NFL with 546 yards through five games. That's pretty impressive, especially considering he had just 51 rushing yards in Week 1.

And again, the offensive line continues to look amazing. The scary thing is that the offensive line is only going to get better as the season progresses.

Grade: A+

Pass Defense

Michael Ainsworth/Associated Press

What more can be said about the presence DeMarcus Lawrence brought in Week 5? After serving a four-game suspension, Lawrence came back and immediately injected this pass rush with energy. After having just six sacks in the first four games, the Cowboys had four sacks in Week 5. Because of Lawrence on the outside, Terrell McClain and Cedric Thornton were freed up inside, and the Cowboys defensive line forced Andy Dalton into some fits.

The box score won't tell you, but the Bengals really didn't get much going in the passing attack, that is at least up until garbage time in the fourth quarterback when they scored two touchdowns. Morris Claiborne and Byron Jones were impressive, Brandon Carr held his own against an all-world receiver in A.J. Green and rookie Anthony Brown looked good in limited reps.

If the Cowboys want to be dominant, they will need to continue to get this type of production from the defensive line and secondary. Dallas' pass defense has the potential to be a good one if they can stay injury-free and continue to progress each week.

Grade: A-

Rush Defense

Wesley Hitt/Getty Images

Sean Lee once again led the team with ten tackles. However, Lee's performances are just so quiet now because Cowboys fans everywhere expect him to get at least 10 tackles. With a more competent player next to him in Byron Jones, Barry Church looks more comfortable in the box at strong safety. He had eight tackles in the contest.

In the trenches, McClain had yet another solid performance. McClain finished with four tackles, 1.5 sacks, a tackle for loss and three quarterback hits. Dallas also received decent performances from Justin Durant and Anthony Hitchens. However, this game was a blowout, and that led to the Bengals abandoning the running game early in the matchup. Cincinnati ran the ball just 19 times for 96 yards. That's an average of 5.1 yards per carry. But again, Cincinnati's runs came sporadically and nothing major was ever established.

Grade: A-

Special Teams

Ron Jenkins/Associated Press

One positive that may have gone unnoticed in the blowout was the health of Dan Bailey. A back injury kept him from being the Dan Bailey we know in Week 4, but he looked healthier in this matchup. He had no problems with all of his field goals, and he looked like his regular self on kickoffs as well.

Punter Chris Jones only had two punts, but one went for 51 yards. In the return game, Lucky Whitehead got the ball rolling on the first play of the game when he had a 36-yard return. He did muff a punt later in the game, but he was fortunately able to recover it. It's hard to give a good evaluation each week, simply because this unit is just so good and nothing ever seems to go wrong.

Grade: A-

Coaching

Ron Jenkins/Associated Press

There's a reason Prescott looks so prepared each week and Elliott continues to get better each week. It has to do with the Cowboys coaching staff and how vital to the fact that this team is 4-1 heading into the game before their bye week. The Cowboys were the most impressive team to play on Sunday. Despite playing against a team that had 10 days to prepare for them, the Bengals had no answers for the Cowboys offense. Let that sink in for a second.

And in the coming weeks, the Cowboys are going to continue to get better. It goes beyond Romo returning as well. Dallas is missing Bryant and Orlando Scandrick, two key players both on and off the field. As the weeks go by, this team continues to show that it's more dangerous than the media makes it out to be. A lot of this success has to go to the coaching staff for what it has done.

Grade: A+

Feel free to reach out to me on Twitter @RyanRattyNFL. I'm always willing to talk football.