The Dallas Cowboys were bruised and battered entering their Week 5 "Sunday Night Football" showdown without No. 2 wide receiver Brandin Cooks (knee), three-time All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons (high ankle sprain) and four-time Pro Bowl edge rusher DeMarcus Lawrence (Lisfranc, mid-foot sprain).
Once the game finally kicked off an hour-and-a-half late after a weather delay, Dallas lost 2024 second-round pick edge rusher Marshawn Kneeland (knee) and 2024 first-round pick left tackle Tyler Guyton (knee). Nine-time Pro Bowl right guard Zack Martin left the game with cramps early in the fourth quarter. At one point, Dallas offensive line left to right was Tyler Smith (left tackle), T.J. Bass (left guard), Cooper Beebe (center), Brock Hoffman (right guard) and Terence Steele (right tackle). Martin did return to the game with just under five minutes. Despite all that, the visiting Cowboys prevailed 20-17 to improve to 3-2 and provide head coach Mike McCarthy a happy homecoming. The 3-2 Steelers have now lost two in a row after their 3-0 start.
The undermanned Cowboys overcame scoring just three points on their first four red zone trips after three of those stops inside the 20 ended in a strip-sack of quarterback Dak Prescott, an interception on a miscommunication with wide receiver CeeDee Lamb and a blocked field goal. However, Prescott persisted. He threw for 352 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions on 29 of 42 passing while losing a fumble. Sunday night marked his game with three turnovers since the Cowboys' 42-10 "Sunday Night Football" embarrassment in Week 5 last season.
However, Prescott came up clutch when Dallas needed him to. Cowboys running back Rico Dowdle tried to jump the pile from the one-yard for the go ahead score, but Steelers linebacker Elandon Roberts jarred the football loose with a massive hit stick of the running back after he went airborne. Following a third and goal incompletion from the four, Dallas was out of timeouts with 26 seconds left with the game on the line. Prescott stood tall on fourth-and-goal and delivered a dart to wide receiver Jalen Tolbert for the 4-yard, game-winning touchdown. That only gave the Steelers 20 seconds left to play with, and they were out of timeouts. Prescott certainly earned his four-year, $240 million contract extension Sunday night and into Monday morning.
Dallas actually outgained Pittsburgh by 223 yards (445 to 222), but the consistent face planting in the red zone early hamstrung their ability to create separation. Steelers All-Pro edge rusher T.J. Watt combined with edge rusher Nick Herbig to strip-sack Prescott, which gave Watt his 100th career sack. That made him the second-fastest to 100 career sacks (109 games), trailing only Hall of Famer Reggie White (96 games). He finished with 1.5 sacks and eight tackles.
Dallas regained its first lead since 3-0 with 13:51 left in the game after Prescott scrambled to the right and connected with Dowdle on a 22-yard touchdown reception. The running back lined up in the slot and played the scramble drill with the quarterback beautifully before making the diving snag. That hookup capped a whopping 16-play, 90-yard touchdown drive. Dowdle ran for a career-high 87 rushing yards on 20 carries in addition to 27 yards receiving and the touchdowns on two catches.
Steelers quarterback Justin Fields needed his bell rung in order to lock in and throw his touchdown pass. He got rocked on an incomplete pass on the first play of the second half, a play in which Cowboys defensive end Tyrus Wheat was called for roughing the passer after he decleated the Steelers quarterback. Backup quarterback Kyle Allen came off the bench and then threw Pittsburgh's longest completion of the night, a 19-yarder to tight end Pat Freiermuth. Four plays after Fields re-entered the game on the same drive, he threw the first touchdown of the night, for either team, on a 16-yard passing score to tight end Connor Hayward. That allowed the Steelers to take their first lead of the night with 11:50 to go in the third quarter.
Fields' second touchdown pass came on a six-yard shovel pass to Freiermuth that put the Steelers up 17-13 with 4:56 to play. Fields finished with 127 passing yards and a one touchdown on 15 of 27 passing. He also added 27 rushing yards on 14carries. Sunday was his first game with multiple passing touchdowns since Week 5 of the 2023 season at the Washington Commanders when he was with the Chicago Bears.
Prescott finally got help from his ground game thanks to Rico Dowdle and his offensive line. Dallas also showed they could consistently move the football through the air, so when the miscues stopped occurring in the second half, the points started flowing.
They completely lacked offensive rhythm despite facing a depleted Dallas defense. Five of their 10 drives ended in punts, and two others were the end of the first half plus a last-second lateral fest following the Cowboys' go ahead score. Fields simply couldn't beat the Cowboys defense with his arm frequently enough to take advantage of all the plays his defense made.
How could it be anything but Prescott's game-winning touchdown pass to Tolbert with 20 seconds left to play on fourth-and-goal from the 4? So many in the football world love to knock his clutch gene, but Prescott held the critics at bay for at least another week.
Dallas returns home to face a rested 3-1 Detroit Lions who spent Week 5 on their bye week. Dan Campbell's bunch will be thirsty for revenge after a controversial 20-19 Cowboys win in Week 17 last season. Pittsburgh will hit the road to face a struggling 2-3 Las Vegas Raiders squad engulfed in drama surrounding their quarterback position and All-Pro wide receiver Davante Adams.
Dallas came from behind multiple times in this one, and Dak Prescott finally put his team ahead for good with the game-winning touchdown pass to Jalen Tolbert with 20 seconds left. Pittsburgh's last-ditch lateral play came up well short, resulting in a fumble recovered by the Cowboys defense.
With 20 seconds left, on fourth-and-goal from the 4-yard line, Dak Prescott made one of his best throws of the game. Nobody came open on the initial dropback, so Dak just kept dropping back into the pocket. He lofted a throw out in front of Jalen Tolbert -- who had just come off the field with an injury, forcing the Cowboys to call timeout -- and Tolbert brought made a contested catch for the score, putting the Cowboys back in the lead.
Rico Dowdle tried to jump over the line and into the end zone, but Elandon Roberts came absolutely FLYING over the pile of bodies and knocked the ball right out of Dowdle's hands. Luckily for Dallas, Dak Prescott jumped on the fumble. The Cowboys still have the ball at the 4-yard line.
The Steelers had a fourth-and-1 at Dallas' 44-yard line. Najee Harris converted with a 1-yard run. Three plays later, Justin Fields found George Pickens with a nice throw up the right sideline, and Cowboys safety Donovan Wilson hit him late out of bounds. That set the Steelers up inside the 10-yard line, and they cashed in with a shovel-pass touchdown from Fields to Pat Freieumuth. 17-13 with just south of 5 minutes remaining. Again, this is a classic Steelers game.
I have absolutely no idea what Dak Prescott was doing here. He threw deep into double coverage for Jalen Tolbert. He overshot the throw and got picked off by Joey Porter Jr. Just a really bad decision and a bad throw -- for the second time tonight. Great play by Porter Jr. to get over the top of the throw and came away with the interception.
Third-year defensive lineman DeMarvin Leal had some sort of injury on the latest run from Ezekiel Elliott. Leal hasn't had a particularly big role this year (he'd played 17% of snaps coming into tonight) but with Pittsburgh's top two edge rushers across from T.J. Watt both injured, his potential absence only makes the Steelers thinner up front.
Dallas is without its top four edge rushers on defense. Earlier in this game, left tackle Tyler Guyton exited with a knee injury. Now, right guard Zack Martin is down with an injury. The Cowboys now have T.J. Bass at left guard and Brock Hoffman at right guard, with All-Pro LG Tyler Smith kicked outside to tackle. The only starters in their usual spots are center Cooper Beebe and right tackle Terence Steele. Martin hopped on a cart to head to the locker room. Beat writers on scene seem to think he is getting an IV for a cramp.
The Cowboys FINALLY capitalized on a trip deep into Steelers territory. Dak Prescott escaped from pressure on the edge and found Rico Dowdle on a scramble drill play from 22 yards out. Dallas re-takes the lead, 13-10.
Bad news for a Pittsburgh defense that has been extremely stingy tonight. Edge rusher Nick Herbig was in the medical tent for a while and is now heading into the locker room. Herbig is already filling in for Alex Highsmith, who is out with a groin injury.
Every time the Cowboys get into the red zone, T.J. Watt and Nick Herbig are immediately all over Dak Prescott in the pocket. This is the fourth time they're going to come away without a touchdown on a red-zone trip. Oh, and they BLOCKED Aubrey's kick. So the Cowboys came away with zero points yet again. This is a classic Steelers game, folks.
Pittsburgh efficiently marched down the field after the personal-foul penalty on Wheat. Fields completed all four of his passes for 33 yards after returning from the medical tent, with the last of them a 16-yard touchdown toss to a wide-open Connor Heyward. (Cam's brother.)
After taking a monster hit from Tyrus Wheat, Justin Fields had to go get checked out in the medical tent. He was out for two plays and replaced but Kyle Allen, but has quickly returned to the field.
Well, the Steelers defense did it again. Just when it looked like the Cowboys were ready to take advantage and build their lead, Dak left a throw intended for CeeDee Lamb way short and way too far inside and Jackson jumped it for a pick. That's the fourth time the Steelers have allowed a drive deep into their own territory and come away allowing three or fewer points, and the second time they've forced a turnover. Dallas has three points on three red-zone trips.
Offense has been hard to come by for both teams in this game, but a breakdown in the Steelers secondary led to a big play for Jalen Tolbert up the left sideline right here. Pittsburgh's defense has buckled down in its own territory so far. Can Watt and Co. do it again?
The Cowboys moved the ball pretty well down the field, but hit a hitch in the red zone after a false start. Worse yet, left tackle Tyler Guyton limped off the field. He was replaced by Tyler Bass, with LG Tyler Smith kicking outside to tackle. Guyton is headed to the locker room. The drive ended with another automatic field goal from Brandon Aubrey. Cowboys up 6-3 midway through the second quarter.
This play doesn't look like anything special. It's Dak hitting a wide-open man for a nice catch-and-run. But watch Lamb blocking in front of Jake Ferguson. He takes both defensive backs on that side of the ball out of the play to create additional yards for Ferguson.
The Cowboys downgraded Marshawn Kneeland to OUT with his knee injury.
Both T.J. Watt and Nick Herbig won rushing around the edge. They met at the quarterback and combined to knock the ball out of Dak's hands and force a fumble, which the Steelers then jumped on. The Cowboys had driven down to the Pittsburgh 11-yard line but come away with zero points. The half-sack gives Watt 100 for his career. Famously, the Cowboys passed on Watt to draft Taco Charlton because they felt the latter was a better scheme fit.
What a throw and catch from Dak and CeeDee. The fancy footwork on the tail end of it from Lamb was outrageous. And Dak put the ball in a dime-sized window. Good lord.
Linval Joseph pushed Isaac Seumalo back into Justin Fields' lap on second down and forced a fumble. It initially looked like the Cowboys recovered it in the backfield but Fields pretty clearly wrestled it away from Carl Lawson. Naturally, Mike McCarthy is challenging the call. He's not going to win. He just wasted a timeout.
Pittsburgh put together a pretty nice drive, with Justin Fields throwing for 23 yards and rushing for 13 more, but the run game stalled out in Dallas territory and the Steelers settled for three points from Chris Boswell. We're all tied 3-3 midway through the first quarter.
The Cowboys are already down their top five edge rushers from last season. Dorance Armstrong and Dante Fowler left in free agency. Sam Williams tore his ACL in training camp. Micah Parsons and Demarcus Lawrence have multi-week injuries. And now rookie second-round pick Marshawn Kneeland is down with an injury on the first drive of the game. Less than ideal for Dallas. Kneeland is now being carted to the locker room.
Surprise, surprise. Brandon Aubrey connects on his first field goal try of the night. Who could have seen that coming? The 55-yarder puts the Cowboys up 3-0 early. Dallas got a good return from KaVontae Turpin to start with good field position and took advantage (sort of) with the score.
Brandon Aubrey, the NFC Special Teams Player of the Month, is automatic. Rain, snow, sleet or hail. He caps the Cowboys' opening possession with a 55-yard field goal. Dallas up 3-0, and the Steelers are set for their first possession next
Here are a few key matchups that will decide this Cowboys-Steelers game:
Kickoff is now tentatively scheduled for 9:45 p.m. Eastern.
The start of the Week 5 Sunday finale will be pushed back because of lightning, according to NFL officials in the press box in Pittsburgh, via WPXI. The new kickoff time has not yet been determined.
With both Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence out, the typically introverted cornerback Trevon Diggs is putting pressure on himself to be Dallas' vocal leader.
