CINCINNATI -- This is unquestionably the best season of Anthony Spencer’s career. This was arguably the best game of the six-year veteran’s career.

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Spencer was credited with a team-high 11 tackles (one for a loss), two sacks and two quarterback hurries in the Cowboys’ 20-19 win over the Bengals. He was a dominant force for a defense decimated by injuries and dealing with a tragic accident that killed practice-squad outside linebacker Jerry Brown and put nose tackle Josh Brent in jail facing a second-degree felony charge of intoxication manslaughter.

“It was a big win for us,” Spencer said. “The emotions with the loss of Jerry, there’s really no way to put that into words. It’s just something that happened, something we’ve got to deal with, something we’ve got to respond to. He sat behind me every day in meetings. Just looking back and not seeing him, it’ll be a pure reminder every day.”

The normally quiet, reserved Spencer shouted at his teammates in the huddle before the Bengals’ last possession, when the Cowboys trailed by two and desperately needed a stop to have a chance to win.

“I was just letting them know that it was going to be hard,” Spencer said. “There’s nothing really easy in this game, and if we wanted it, we were going to have to work for it, and everybody responded.”

Spencer backed up his words with action, ending the series with his second sack of the game, giving him a career-high 8.5 this season.