Steelers-Cowboys Preview: The Boys' are back in Tahn

Before this NFL season began, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said about the forthcoming 2024 season that his team was “all in.” He was so confident his team was going to compete for the Super Bowl but made that declaration without making many changes to his roster. Thus far through four weeks, Jones is probably hoping his team just makes the playoffs.

This Sunday, Dallas comes to Pittsburgh to face the 3-1 Steelers for the 34th time since the Cowboys joined the league in 1960. Three of those games as you might know were in the Super Bowl. The Steelers have won two of those games, in Super Bowl X and XIII. Super Bowl XXX went to Dallas. In the regular season, the Cowboys have won 16 of the 30 games played. 15 of those games were played in Pittsburgh. The Steelers have won eight of those 15 games. 

Dallas and Pittsburgh have not butted helmets in the ‘Burgh since 2016 when the Cowboys won a shootout 35-30. All those 15 games at home were played on Sunday. The very first meeting in the Steel City came in 1961 on November 12. The Steelers prevailed blowing out the Cowboys 37-7. In 1997 oddly enough, Dallas returned the favor at Three Rivers Stadium defeating Pittsburgh by the same score. One year after that 1961 victory, Pittsburgh found themselves on the wrong end of a 42-27 score.

The most points scored in the series by one team were posted by the Cowboys when they won 52-21 in 1966 in Dallas. Of course, the three aforementioned Super Bowls were all close games. Super Bowl X went to the Steelers for their second in a row as they edged Dallas 21-17.

The game was highlighted in part by Roy Gerela’s missed field goal and the Cowboys’ Cliff Harris taunting him with a tap on the helmet. Jack Lambert standing nearby saw the whole thing and had gone ahead to pick Harris up and slam him to the ground. Classic move never to be forgotten. That incident turned the momentum in the Steelers’ favor, and they went on to win their second straight Super Bowl. 

Super Bowl XIII had a final score of 35-31 and a year later Pittsburgh would repeat again for their fourth Lombardi Trophy. Anyone who saw Super Bowl XXX will remember the name Larry Brown. He was the game’s Most Valuable Player, and he should credit Neil O’Donnell for getting that honor. It was the Steelers quarterback who threw two terribly awful interceptions that made the difference in the final 31-17 score.

The following season after Super Bowl XXX saw O’Donnell switching teams and starting for the New York Jets where he had a short and underachieving stay. To this day, O’Donnell is still one of the biggest GOATS of all-time in Steelers’ history and that is not to mean greatest of all time. 

With this weekend’s game on national television, Sunday night football, this is where the Pittsburgh Steelers love to be. They almost always play great football in prime-time games and between these two teams there has been just one Monday Night Football meeting. That came in 1982 in Dallas when on September 13, the Steelers marched into Dallas and outscored the Cowboys 36-28. It was Danny White and Tony Dorsett against Terry Bradshaw and Franco Harris. The Blonde Bomber tossed three touchdown passes for Pittsburgh and Harris rushed for 103 yards. 

Danny White completed 25 passes for 347 yards and four touchdowns, but he also threw two interceptions. Dorsett was held to just 30 yards on the ground. Hall of Fame linebacker Jack Ham accounted for both Pittsburgh interceptions. 

The last meeting between Dallas and Pittsburgh came on November 8, 2020, and the Steelers won in Dallas 24-19. Four years later here we are again with two teams possibly heading in opposite directions. The Cowboys are coming off a lackluster victory over the Giants and the Steelers suffered their first defeat of the season to the Colts in a game they could easily have won.

Offense vs. Offense

The Steelers are banged up on offense…no doubt. James Daniels was injured in week four with an Achilles tear and is out for the year. Isaac Seumalo is still questionable. Jaylen Warren is questionable as is backup tight end MyCole Pruitt. Add Cordarrelle Patterson to that list and it limits Justin Fields’ weapons. As for Dallas, they will be without Brandin Cooks who has an injured knee. Dak Prescott is having a decent season but no elite type performances that most expect of him. 

The Steelers should be able to stuff the run game Dallas as Rico Dowdle is the leading rusher with just 134 yards thus far and not a single touchdown. Ezekiel Elliott returned to Dallas and has run for only 81 yards on 24 carries. Of course, CeeDee Lamb is the primary weapon for Dallas and is averaging 15.8 yards per catch in 2024 on 20 receptions. 

For the Steelers, Mike Tomlin had his weekly Tuesday press conference and as it has been since the season began, he was hit with quarterback questions. In a nutshell, he still has not named Justin Fields as QB1 but did say they are preparing him for another start on Sunday. As for Russell Wilson, Tomlin only expressed that they would watch him as his calf continues to get better. To me this is suspect. By now Wilson should have recovered. The fact is that Justin Fields has been holding down the fort quite nicely and in many fans’ opinions, he has already won the starting QB job. 

Fields has put up a very impressive 70.6 completion percentage. So, he’s only thrown 109 times but so what? If he’s completing passes at that rate we should be pleased with that. The more impressive stat might be that of those 109 attempts, he has just ONE interception. He’s also been sacked just 10 times. Credit to the offensive line and Fields being smart with the ball. 

In the backfield, Najee Harris is not off to a great start in 2024, but he is still running hard. It’s a shame about Patterson because he was doing major damage in Indianapolis last week before getting hurt. The receiving corps remains dangerous, and it might be due time to starting throwing downfield. With guys like George Pickens, Pat Freiermuth, Calvin Austin, Harris out of the backfield, the 264-pound Darnell Washington as the second tight end and Van Jefferson as weapons, Fields has options in the passing game. We have not seen rookie Roman Wilson yet either.

EDGE: Pittsburgh.

Defense vs. Defense

Through the first three weeks of the season the Pittsburgh Steelers had been one of the best defenses in the NFL. The level they were playing on was simply not going to sustain itself. There was bound to be a bit of a letdown if not more. That happened last Sunday when this unit allowed Indianapolis to run and pass all over them and take a commanding 17-3 first half lead. It looked bleak for the Steelers knowing they don’t have a history of coming back offensively from large deficits and that Indianapolis was making things look easy on offense.

In the second half as Justin Fields worked his magic and brought the Steelers back to a near victory, the defense did tighten up but could not get the Colts off the field on third down consistently. As for the Cowboys on defense, Pittsburgh’s offense will look across the line of scrimmage and not see DeMarcus Lawrence who is on IR. As of this writing, Micah Parsons is questionable with an ankle injury. 

Earlier this year Dallas placed defensive tackle Jordan Phillips on injured reserve along with Durrell Johnson. Despite beating the Giants in week four, New York’s Daniel Jones threw for 281 yards. Fields is coming off a 300-yard passing game. T.J. Watt lost his superman cape last week in Indy, but I believe he bounces back big at home in front of a pumped-up crowd.

EDGE: Pittsburgh

Intangibles

Again, national television, home field advantage, a chance to improve to 4-1. The Steelers face a team that is mired in finding their identity. This all works in the Steelers’ favor and should play a factor in a game I predict they will win.



Prediction: I’ve been predicting plenty of scoring by the offense but after four weeks it appears the Steelers aren’t built for a shootout. Therefore, I’m going to be a bit more conservative this week and post a final score of Pittsburgh 20 Dallas 17.