Why Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy got his first game ball after win in Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH — In his 18th season running an NFL team, Mike McCarthy experienced two entirely new accomplishments in the early hours of Monday morning.

First, the Dallas Cowboys eked out a nail-biting win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, 20-17, to give McCarthy his first regular-season victory over his hometown team as a head coach. Then, in a celebratory locker room after a marathon game day, the Cowboys presented McCarthy with the game ball.

He said he believed it was the first game ball he'd received during his three decades in the NFL.

"I think so, yeah," McCarthy said. "And I've been doing this a long time."

The Cowboys (3-2) endured a nearly 90-minute thunderstorm delay before kicking off the game against the Steelers (3-2) and then withstood a wave of errors to earn their third road victory of the season. Quarterback Dak Prescott hit wide receiver Jalen Tolbert at the goal-line on a fourth-and-four for the game-winning touchdown with 20 seconds left.

McCarthy grew up in the Greenfield neighborhood of Pittsburgh and attended a private high school in nearby Homestead, Pennsylvania. He jump-started his coaching career while serving as an assistant at University of Pittsburgh in the late 1980s and early 90s.

Entering Sunday's game, which bled into Monday morning local time, McCarthy had an 0-4 record against the Steelers in regular season contest. He did, however, score the biggest victory of his career against Pittsburgh when he led the Green Bay Packers over his one-time favorite team in the 2011 Super Bowl.

After beating the Steelers, McCarthy has now earned at least one regular-season victory over every NFL team except the Packers, whom he coached from 2006 to '18. It was a fitting end to a meaningful trip, Prescott said.

Prescott and the Cowboys' other quarterbacks visited McCarthy's parents' house Saturday night and learned about the coach's background.

More than 24 hours later, Prescott watched McCarthy take the game ball at Acrisure Stadium, about seven miles from the neighborhood in which the coach grew up.

"It was huge," Prescott said. "I love him. Great head coach. He is very, very proud to be from Pittsburgh. Greenfield at that. And you hear it anytime anything comes up with references from this place. So that's why I had to go on a little tour last night and see some of the stomping grounds that he's talked about, to paint that picture in my head. ... It meant a lot just to be able to deliver him the game ball."