With star quarterback Dak Prescott already sidelined for the season by a torn hamstring, the Dallas Cowboys now have to go the rest of the way without right guard Zack Martin because of the seven-time All-Pro's bad ankle.
The latest injury downer for Dallas comes with the Cowboys (5-7) on the upswing of consecutive victories that have stoked hope for an improbable rally to playoff contention.
Cincinnati visits Monday night, the second of three straight opponents with losing records but easily the most dangerous with quarterback Joe Burrow playing at an MVP level despite the Bengals' baffling 4-8 record.
“It’s just like nothing changes,” star Dallas pass rusher Micah Parsons said. “We got who we got, and nothing’s going to change that. Let’s just play ball, man. Let’s just have fun. We got a great opportunity Monday night to put on a show. We’re gonna be the only show on TV.”
Burrow is one of five QBs in NFL history with at least 30 touchdown passes and no more than five interceptions through 12 games. He entered the week leading the league in passing yards (3,337), completions (302) and touchdowns (30), and he's thrown just five picks.
Yet Burrow doesn't even have half the number of victories of the others to put up those numbers in 12 games. Two of them, Aaron Rodgers with Green Bay in 2012 and Tom Brady with New England in 2007, were 12-0.
While Burrow said he isn't even thinking about the postseason as the Bengals try to end their second three-game losing streak of the season, he believes there's something to be said for the second Monday night game of the season for both teams.
“Whether you like it or not, how you perform on prime-time games matters as far as perception across the league,” said Burrow, who has at least 300 yards passing and three TDs in all three of the consecutive losses. “I think if you perform great on prime-time nights, then you start to get a little different reputation across the league.”
Martin decided this week to have season-ending ankle surgery after missing the past two games. The injury happened late in Dallas' previous Monday night game, a 34-10 loss to Houston on Nov. 18.
Prescott also had season-ending surgery on his hamstring after playing eight games. Defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence hasn't played since injuring a foot in Week 4, and appears to be at least another week away from returning.
“It’s not a matter of if you’re going to have injuries, you’re always going to have injuries,” Dallas coach Mike McCarthy said. “It’s just a matter of how many and when they come and who gets injuries. It takes so many players to get through the season, and this is another illustration of that.”
Cincinnati's three-game skid looks familiar to the Cowboys, who lost five in a row before winning the past two. Dallas' 27-20 Thanksgiving victory over the New York Giants ended a six-game home skid going back to last season's playoff loss to Green Bay.
Even without Burrow's standout stats, the Bengals would have the Cowboys' attention.
“When your offense is rolling, it puts a different level of stress on the defense,” McCarthy said. “The thing that we’re seeing is that they throw a lot at you. This is a very good football team. I would never think that their record illustrates what we see on video.”
Seven of the Bengals’ losses this season have been one-score games, and Cincinnati is the first NFL team to lose four games in a season in which it scored 33 points or more. The Bengals have averaged 30.3 points per game against teams with a .500 or better records, but they're 0-7 in those games.
Defense is the obvious place to start for an explanation.
In last week's 44-38 loss to Pittsburgh, Cincinnati gave up 520 totals yards, and Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson threw for 414 yards, the second-most of his career, and three TDs.
DeMarvion Overshown's spectacular 23-yard interception return for a touchdown against the Giants might end up being the coming-out party for Dallas' second-year linebacker. That's partly because he missed his rookie season with a knee injury.
When Overshown tipped Drew Lock's pass, ran down the deflection and scored untouched, he suddenly found himself in the company of Parsons, who is trying to go 4-for-4 in double-digit sack seasons after missing four games with a high ankle sprain.
Overshown set up the flashy play with old-fashioned physical football, overpowering Devin Singletary when the running back tried to block him and ending up between the quarterback and his RB.
“I think the best part is him defeating the block,” Parsons said. “I think the fact that the bulldozer in him, ‘I’m not going to make a move, I’m going to run through the dude.’ That’s probably the reason why he got the pick.”
Injuries have shaken up the Bengals' offensive line this season, and coach Zac Taylor is still searching for the right combination.
Veteran Cody Ford, who stepped in at left tackle when Orlando Brown Jr. was injured, replaced the benched Cordell Volson at left guard against the Steelers. Ford played well enough to get another start.
Amarius Mims, the rookie first-round draft pick, was pushed into a starting role at right tackle when Trent Brown suffered a season-ending knee injury in Week 4.
AP Sports Writer Mitch Stacy contributed to this report.
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Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens (14) catches a pass while defended by Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Josh Newton, right, during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)
Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy responds to questions during a news conference after an NFL football game against the New York Giants in Arlington, Texas, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Jerome Miron)
Dallas Cowboys linebackers Micah Parsons (11) and DeMarvion Overshown (13) celebrate a sack against the New York Giants during the first half of an NFL football game in Arlington, Texas, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Jerome Miron)
Israeli forces have killed two Palestinian militants who carried out a deadly attack on a bus in the West Bank earlier this month.
The Israeli military said Thursday that the two men barricaded themselves in a structure in the West Bank village of Burqin and exchanged fire with Israeli troops before they were killed overnight. The army said a soldier was moderately wounded.
The military said Mohammed Nazzal and Katiba al-Shalabi were operatives with the Islamic Jihad militant group.
The Hamas militant group released a statement claiming the two men were members of its armed wing and praising the bus attack. Hamas and the smaller and more radical Islamic Jihad are allies that sometimes carry out attacks together.
The Jan. 6 attack on the bus carrying Israelis killed three people and wounded six others.
Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians want it to form the main part of their future state.
Here's the latest:
TEL AVIV — A survivor of the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack will represent Israel at the Eurovision Song Contest to be held in Switzerland in May.
Yuval Raphael, 24, won first place in a singing contest on Israeli television that determines Israel’s entry to Eurovision, a pan-continental pop extravaganza. She won with a performance of the Swedish group ABBA’s pop hit “Dancing Queen,” which she dedicated to the victims of the attack.
Raphael survived the Nova music festival in southern Israel as Palestinian militants stormed the event, killing hundreds and taking many hostage during Hamas’ cross-border raid. She has testified in the Israeli parliament about her experience on Oct. 7. She described hiding from gunmen under piles of dead bodies for eight hours, and said “I’m going to deal with this thing for the rest of my life.”
Last year’s Eurovision was overshadowed by the war in Gaza, with large demonstrations protesting Israel’s participation. Israel’s representative, Eden Golan, who ended up taking fifth place in the competition, was kept under tight security.
BUDAPEST, Hungary - Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Thursday that Israel would not compromise on its objectives of dismantling Hamas’ military and governing capabilities, and that there were no guarantees for the success of the three-phase cease fire in the war in the Gaza Strip.
Speaking alongside his Hungarian counterpart in Budapest, Hungary, Saar said Hamas leaders had declared their intent to carry out more attacks on Israel similar to the deadly raids on Oct. 7, 2023, and could therefore not be allowed to retain any military capabilities.
“They are committed to the idea of eliminating the Jewish state,” Saar said. “Israel will not accept Hamas’ rule in Gaza. As long as Hamas remains in power, there will be no peace, security or stability in the Middle East.”
“We hope that the framework for the hostage release will continue until its end, but of course I cannot guarantee that,” he continued. “We will not abandon our objectives.”
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Although the ceasefire in Gaza has brought an influx of humanitarian aid and a rare respite from Israeli bombardment, it has done little to change the miserable conditions endured by most of the 2 million people displaced by fighting.
The winter weather has compounded the hardships of those eking out an existence in tattered tents and makeshift shelters. Heavy rains were flooding tents across the territory, leaving Palestinians shivering in the cold.
At one makeshift camp in the central city of Deir al-Balah, the downpour Thursday quickly soaked through flimsy tents that seemed to float on pools of muck. Some used sandbags to keep their tents from washing away, while others tried to clear the huge puddles of mud outside their shelters. Barefoot children trod through paths that had become filthy rivers. A cacophony of coughs emanated from every corner, raising concerns about the spread of illness.
Tareq Deifallah, a displaced resident in Deir al-Balah originally from Beit Hanoun, in northern Gaza, said water was seeping through his tent from all sides. He said “the truce is useless” when it came to changing his living conditions.
“Before the truce we were suffering, after the truce we are suffering, from the rain and the winter,” Deifallah said.
Monira Faraj, a mother of two young girls, said rain flooded her tent and soaked through her mattress as her family was sleeping.
“We’re afraid we’re going to drown if it becomes too much,” she said.
Residents of the tent camp said they had no choice but to stay put. Even though the ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war that took effect Sunday allows Palestinians displaced by the fighting to return to their homes, those who set out to check on their houses in recent days said they found only ruins.
DAMASCUS, Syria — A commercial plane from Turkey landed in Damascus for the first time in 13 years on Thursday, Syrian state media said.
The Turkish Airlines plane flew from Istanbul to the Syrian capital, SANA reported, two weeks after the first international commercial flight landed, from Qatar, since former Syrian President Bashar Assad’s fall.
Ankara backed opposition groups in northwestern Syria that fought against Assad and his allies during the uprising-turned-conflict and never restored ties, even when most Mideast countries did in 2023.
Now Turkey, a key ally of the new authorities under the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, has expressed its intention to invest in Syria’s economy and help its ailing electricity and energy sectors.
JERUSALEM — Israel’s ambassador to the United States says the two countries are in talks about the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon as a deadline in the ceasefire with Hezbollah militants approaches. Israeli media have reported that Israel is seeking to postpone the completion of its pullout.
Michael Herzog said in an interview with Israeli Army Radio on Thursday that he believed Israel would “reach an understanding” with the Trump administration, without elaborating.
Under the U.S.-brokered ceasefire that ended more than a year of fighting linked to the war in the Gaza Strip, Israeli forces are supposed to complete their withdrawal from southern Lebanon by Sunday.
Israeli media have reported that Israel reached an understanding with the Biden administration on staying longer but that President Donald Trump is urging it to withdraw on time.
There was no immediate comment from the United States.
Israeli officials have said Lebanese troops are not deploying fast enough in the areas Israeli troops are supposed to vacate. Under the ceasefire, the Lebanese army is to patrol a buffer zone in southern Lebanon alongside United Nations peacekeepers.
Hezbollah has threatened to resume its rocket and drone fire if Israel does not withdraw on time.
The Al Jazeera news network says the Palestinian Authority arrested one of its reporters after preventing him from covering an Israeli operation in the occupied West Bank.
The Qatar-based news network reported Thursday that its reporter, Mohammed al-Atrash, was arrested from his home.
It said Palestinian security forces had earlier prevented him from reporting on a large Israeli military operation in Jenin, an epicenter of Israeli-Palestinian violence in recent years. The Palestinian Authority launched its own crackdown on militants in the city late last year.
There was no immediate comment from the Palestinian Authority.
Both Israel and the Western-backed Palestinian Authority banned Al Jazeera last year. Israel accuses it of being a mouthpiece of Hamas over its coverage of the war in the Gaza Strip and says some of its reporters are also militants.
The pan-Arab broadcaster has rejected the allegations and accused both Israel and the Palestinian Authority of trying to silence critical coverage.
The internationally recognized Palestinian Authority administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank and cooperates with Israel on security matters. It is unpopular among Palestinians, with critics portraying it as a corrupt and authoritarian ally of Israel.
UNITED NATIONS – Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations believes Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will travel to Washington to meet President Donald Trump “in a few weeks.”
Danny Danon told reporters Wednesday: “I’m sure he would be one of the first foreign leaders invited to the White House.”
Danon said he expects their discussions to include the current ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and the release of hostages taken during Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack in southern Israel.
FILE - Israeli soldiers take up positions next to the Philadelphi Corridor along the border with Egypt, in the Gaza Strip, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa, File)
Humanitarian aid trucks enter through the Kerem Shalom crossing from Egypt into the Gaza Strip, in Rafah, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, days after the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas came into effect. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Humanitarian aid trucks enter through the Kerem Shalom crossing from Egypt into the Gaza Strip, in Rafah, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, days after the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas came into effect. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
