In week three, the Bears went to Arlington, Texas to face the Dallas Cowboys in the second game of 2016 against a Texas-based team; this marked the first time since 1992 that the Bears played on the road against both Texas teams in a season. Week three marked the 26th game between Chicago and Dallas, the latter leading the series 14-11 entering the game. While the Bears won the last game in Dallas 34-18 (in 2012), the Cowboys won the most recent game 41-28 (in 2014). Jeff Joniak wrote the Bears offense should attack the Cowboys with their run game; the latter had allowed 4.8 yards per carry in the first two games. Additionally, the offense was without Jay Cutler after his injury sustained in week two, meaning Brian Hoyer started against Dallas, though Alshon Jeffery, who was battling knee injuries during the week, made his return for week three. The defense, also depleted by injuries with players like Danny Trevathan and Eddie Goldman ruled out for the game, had to be able to successfully tackle Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant and tight end Jason Witten while also applying pressure on rookie quarterback Dak Prescott. Joniak also wrote the Bears needed to excel on both sides in the red zone; against the Eagles, the Bears defense had a 50 percent touchdown efficiency in the red zone, made some big plays in the red zone in the loss to the Eagles, with a 50 percent touchdown efficiency rating on six attempts. Meanwhile, against the Washington Redskins, the Cowboys restricted them to just two field goals in the red zone, including a late interception by Barry Church. The Bears fell behind early when Prescott scored on a quarterback sneak during the opening drive. The Bears' next two drives ended with punts, while the Cowboys' resulting drives concluded with scores: Dan Bailey kicked a 49-yard field goal and Lance Dunbar scored on a one-yard run. Down 17-0, Chicago would score their first points of the game via Connor Barth's 34-yard field goal in the second quarter. On the following kickoff, Barth attempted an onside kick that Sherrick McManis successfully recovered, but Jonathan Anderson was ruled offsides, nullifying the play. Instead of retrying the onside, Barth simply kicked off. Dallas scored on the next drive with Alfred Morris' three-yard touchdown run. After the Bears punted to start the second half, they regained possession when Terrance Williams was stripped by Jacoby Glenn and Adrian Amos recovered the ball. The takeaway resulted in the first touchdown of the game for the Bears when Hoyer threw a two-yard touchdown pass to Zach Miller. Though the Cowboys punted on their next drive, Cameron Meredith was stripped by J. J. Wilcox and Tyrone Crawford recovered the fumble. However, they were unable to score when Bailey missed a 47-yard field goal wide left. In the fourth quarter, the Cowboys extended the lead when Bryant scored on a 17-yard touchdown catch. Hoyer responded when he threw a six-yard touchdown pass to Miller to make the score 31-14, but he lost a fumble when he was strip-sacked by Benson Mayowa on the Bears' next series, while the offense was unable to score on their final possession.. How many yards was the difference between the longest and shortest field goals?