How Dallas overcame bad weather, turnovers to edge Pittsburgh on Sunday Night Football
After a pregame lightning delay that pushed the kickoff time back by one hour and 23 minutes, the Dallas Cowboys burned the midnight oil to steal a 20-17 win over the Steelers in Pittsburgh.
It was the third consecutive win on the road despite two lackluster performances at AT&T Stadium, and the Cowboys didn't secure this one until Dak Prescott found Jalen Tolbert on a fourth down with 20 seconds remaining to take the lead for good.
Here are the five things to take away from a Cowboys win to get Dallas back above .500 and within one game of the NFC East lead.
Running game shows life
It took five games, but the performance from Rico Dowdle on Sunday night offered just enough optimism in the running game compared to how the season started. Dowdle carried the ball 19 times for 90 yards while also hauling in a 22-yard touchdown grab to help power an offense that needed every spark it could find to push across the finish line with a win.
Dowdle entered the night with 134 yards on the season while looking largely unusable in the season's first quarter. On Sunday night, that was not the case — even with a late fumble that almost cost the Cowboys the game. He quickly identified running lanes, bounced off physical Pittsburgh tacklers and made the case that he can be the guy out of the backfield the rest of the way.
To truly earn that status, he'll need to continue stacking performances just like the one we saw on Sunday.
Reserves to relied upon
The defense had a lot of sorting out to do following the injuries to Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence... and Caelen Carson. On the first offensive series, the defense lost yet another in rookie second-round pick Marshawn Kneeland. But even in the disarray, the reserve units stood up to the task.
On the defensive line, Carl Lawson, Tyrus Wheat and Chauncey Golston all recorded a stat in the sack column and were active in stopping a productive Pittsburgh run game. At cornerback, practice squad member Amani Oruwariye was key in limiting Steelers wide receiver George Pickens to just two receptions for 29 yards on six targets.
With uncertainty still looming around the statuses of Parsons, Carson and yet-to-be-seen cornerback DaRon Bland, the performance of the depth units may calm the concerns for just a bit longer.
Last but not least, the performance from Jalen Tolbert stands as the best in his young NFL career. Seven receptions, 87 yards and the game-winning touchdown in the final minute made his performance make up for the absence of injured Brandin Cooks and even more.
Cowboys needed more from Dak Prescott
In a first half where the Cowboys could have taken a commanding lead, Dak Prescott poorly protected a ball on a third down that was stripped and recovered by the Steelers defense. Two drives later, Prescott made arguably the worst decision of his season on an end zone attempt to CeeDee Lamb that was easily picked off by a lurking Donte Jackson. In the fourth quarter, Prescott would miss a wide open Lamb and force a ball downfield to Tolbert that would be picked off again by Joey Porter Jr.
With the Cowboys needing their available stars to step up in the absence of key injured starters, Prescott is the one that should be shouldering the majority of the weight.
When it rains, it pours
No, this isn't a play on the extended lightning delay that pushed back the start of Sunday night's game. Unfortunately for the Cowboys, the injury bug continues to spread around the locker room, as they lost rookie defensive end Kneeland on the fourth defensive snap of the game to a non-contact knee injury.
Considering Dallas will be without Lawrence for at least three more games and Parsons will have to have a miraculous recovery to play next week against the Detroit Lions, the only healthy defensive ends are Golston, Wheat, Lawson and newly signed K.J. Henry for the immediate future.
Offensive line woes
Injuries, penalties, hits on the quarterback. The hits just kept on coming up front for Prescott's protection unit. Steelers edge rushers T.J. Watt and Nick Herbig were tearing up tackles Terence Steele and Tyler Guyton before the rookie from Oklahoma exited with a knee injury late in the first half and did not return.
Then, it was the false start, holding and unnecessary roughness penalties that hindered the offense from producing downfield. Not to mention, veteran right guard Zack Martin needed to be carted to the locker room for an IV which forced a pair of missed possessions.
Consistency has been hard to come by for the offensive line unit this season, and Sunday night saw that problem amplify in primetime television.
This story was originally published October 7, 2024, 12:02 AM.
