2024-10-07 16:05:04
The Dallas Cowboys were unable to find red-zone success during most of their “Sunday Night Football” game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
They changed their luck just in time to pull out a 20-17 road win.
Dallas scored its lone red-zone touchdown of the game in four drives on their final offensive play. Dak Prescott found Jalen Tolbert breaking across the field on fourth-and-goal, as the second-year wide-out managed to create separation from Steelers safety DeShon Elliott.
Elliott got caught up in traffic in the middle of the field but did everything he could to make it back to Tolbert. He got to the receiver just as the ball did and tried to rip his arm down and force the ball out.
Tolbert held onto the ball, completing the catch and giving Dallas the lead back with 20 seconds left in regulation.
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The throw was Prescott’s finest in a game where the veteran signal-caller committed several uncharacteristic mistakes. That included two, first-half turnovers in the red zone, one of which prompted CeeDee Lamb to confront Prescott on the sidelines.
Despite Prescott’s inconsistencies, the Cowboys largely dominated the Steelers. Dallas outgained Pittsburgh, 445-226, and the Steelers were only really able to stay in the game because of Prescott’s three turnovers.
The win may have been sloppy, but the Cowboys will certainly take it. They now sit at 3-2 on the season and are just one game back of the surprising Washington Commanders in the early season NFC East race.
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The Steelers tried to complete a downfield pass, but Justin Fields was nearly intercepted. Pittsburgh followed that up by trying the lateral game to try to score with zeroes on the clock, but they couldn’t generate any forward momentum.
The Cowboys take the win 20-17 and improve to 3-2 on the season.
The game came down to a fourth-and-goal opportunity for the Cowboys. If they converted, they would likely win. Fail, and they would lose.
Dak Prescott hung in the pocket on fourth down and found Jalen Tolbert breaking toward the front pylon. Tolbert had just enough separation to make the catch and Prescott placed it on him perfectly.
Brandon Aubrey’s extra point is good, and the Steelers will have 20 seconds to get into field-goal range to tie it up.
The Cowboys have gone 37 yards in seven plays as they look to answer the Steelers’ touchdown. Dallas is at Pittsburgh’s 33-yard line and still has three timeouts left as it looks to score a go-ahead touchdown, trailing by four.
The Steelers turn Dak Prescott’s interception into a touchdown. Arthur Smith dialed up a nice call that saw Justin Fields pitch a quick shovel pass to Pat Freiermuth after faking like he would run to the left. The tight end bulled into the end-zone to give Pittsburgh the lead.
Chris Boswell makes the extra point and the Steelers lead by four with 4:56 left in the fourth quarter. The Cowboys have that time, and three timeouts, to make a comeback.
The Steelers converted a fourth-and-1 earlier on their drive and got down to the 7-yard line after a catch-and-run by George Pickens. Justin Fields found him after scanning the field and the veteran wide-out, who had just one catch for eight yards before his second catch, took it down to the 14-yard line.
Donovan Wilson hit Pickens late out of bounds, so that set the Steelers up for first-and-goal at the 7.
The Cowboys were moving the ball well with Rico Dowdle on the ground, but Dak Prescott decided to take a downfield shot to Jalen Tolbert. The result? He overshot his receiver and Joey Porter Jr. was able to intercept it.
Porter returned the ball 16 yards to set the Steelers up at their own 35-yard line. They need a field goal to tie and a touchdown to take the lead.
Pittsburgh couldn’t get anything going on offense after Dallas’ TD. The Steelers go three-and-out and punt the ball back to the Cowboys.
The Steelers’ drive lasted just 57 seconds after the Cowboys’ most recent drive spanned 8:32 of game time.
The Cowboys have re-taken the lead. On the 16th play of their 90-yard drive, Dak Prescott scrambled out to his right and just when it looked like he was going to run into open space, he found Rico Dowdle wide open in the end zone.
Prescott put the throw right on the money, and Dowdle brought it in for Dallas’ first TD of the day. Brandon Aubrey knocked in the extra point to give the Cowboys a 13-10 lead.
Connor Heyward’s touchdown is the only scoring done in the third quarter. That allows the Steelers to maintain a 4-point lead heading into the final 15 minutes of the lightning-delayed “Sunday Night Football” game.
That said, the Cowboys are driving once again and are in the middle of a 13-play, 66-yard drive as the quarter ends. Dallas had the ball the final 7:23 of the quarter and will look to get its first touchdown of the game in the fourth quarter.
After Dak Prescott’s interception at the end of the first half, CeeDee Lamb jawed at Prescott on the Dallas bench, in video captured by the NBC broadcast.
It wasn’t clear exactly what the veteran wide-out said, though some amateur lip-readers noted Lamb might have been telling Prescott to throw him a “jump ball.” The quarterback had failed to do that when he threw the interception.
The Steelers weren’t able to score after their blocked punt. They executed a nice, 19-yard screen pass to Najee Harris, but the drive stalled after that, with Fields throwing a pass slightly too high to an open Pickens just beyond the sticks.
Corliss Waitman’s punt goes for a touchback, but a holding penalty on the Cowboys gives Dallas the ball on its own 10-yard line, trailing by four halfway through the third quarter.
The Cowboys got into scoring range after a 34-yard connection between Dak Prescott and Kavonte Turpin, but a T.J. Watt sack derailed the drive.
Dallas settled for a 38-yard field goal, but Brandon Aubrey’s attempt was blocked by Isaiahh Loudermilk. That allowed the Steelers to retain their four-point lead.
The Steelers scored the first touchdown of the game with 11:50 left in the third quarter. Justin Fields found Heyward, the team’s fullback/tight end/H-back, wide open inside the 5-yard line. Connor Heyward managed to get into the end zone before Dallas could tackle him to give Pittsburgh its first lead of the day.
Chris Boswell makes the extra point to give the Cowboys a 10-6 lead.
The Cowboys were flagged for roughing the passer on the first play of the second half after Tyrus Wheat hit Justin Fields hard a beat after the Steelers quarterback released the ball.
Referee Shawn Hochuli then announced there was a “timeout for medical” purposes, and Fields was eventually removed from the game to be evaluated for a concussion.
Who is the Steelers backup quarterback?
That would be Kyle Allen. Russell Wilson remains the team’s emergency third-string quarterback, so Allen, a veteran backup with his fifth organization, took over for Fields.
However, Fields returned to the game shortly after Allen converted his lone pass, so it appears the Steelers starting QB has dodged any major injury at this time.
The Cowboys take a 6-3 lead into the locker room, but that may not fully reflect the way Dallas dominated in the first half.
The Cowboys outgained the Steelers, 202-89, and Dallas averaged a rock-solid 6.5 yards per play. The issue? Dak Prescott had two red-zone turnovers and the team went 0-for-3 trying to score touchdowns on red-zone drives.
Comparatively, the Steelers never made it to the red-zone. Their only points came on a 41-yard field goal by Chris Boswell. Justin Fields is just 4-of-9 for 35 yards while Pittsburgh has combined to run for 70 yards on 18 carries.
Each team will have a clear goal after halftime. The Cowboys will look to avoid red-zone mistakes while the Steelers will look for Fields to provide more of a spark to their offense, whether on the ground or through the air.
Just when it looked like the Cowboys were going to score before the half, Dak Prescott turned it over in the red-zone for the second time of the game. This time, he tried to hit CeeDee Lamb in the end-zone, but Donte Jackson undercut the route.
Jackson made the catch going toward the sideline but got two feet down before falling out at his own 1-yard line. The Steelers will likely just try to avoid giving up a safety with 51 seconds left in the first half.
Just before the two-minute warning, Dak Prescott found Jalen Tolbert wide open downfield for the biggest play of the game thus far. Minkah Fitzpatrick was late rotating over to help cover Tolbert, which allowed him to flip the field and put the Cowboys in scoring range again.
Pittsburgh crossed midfield trying to answer Brandon Aubrey’s field goal, but they stalled out a few plays after converting a fourth-and-inches from the 50-yard line.
The Steelers ran a Tush Push-type play on fourth-and-inches from to keep their drive alive. Fields dove forward after Isaac Seumalo got a nice block on Mazi Smith, but that marked the final first down of the drive.
The Cowboys re-take the lead after Brandon Aubrey makes a 33-yard chip shot. His kick came after a drive that saw Dallas go 51 yards over eight plays, highlighted by a 27-yard completion from Dak Prescott to Jake Ferguson.
While the Cowboys are in front, they are now 0-for-2 in the red-zone today. They also lost their starting left tackle, rookie Tyler Guyton, to an injury. He is heading to the locker room to be further evaluated.
The Steelers couldn’t capitalize on Dallas’ turnover. They went three-and-out and didn’t gain a yard thanks to a false start penalty and a Justin Fields sack on third down.
Pittsburgh punted the ball back to Kavontae Turpin, who fair caught it at his own 33-yard line.
The Cowboys were in scoring range and facing a third-and-6 when Dak Prescott was pressured by Steelers edge rusher T.J. Watt. The veteran pass rusher wrapped Prescott up and forced a fumble that his teammate Nick Herbig chased down and recovered.
That prevented the Cowboys from attempting what would have been a makeable Brandon Aubrey field goal.
That play also ended the first quarter with the two teams tied and both offenses showing an ability to move the ball down the field. Pittsburgh and Dallas seem evenly matched after 15 minutes.
Dallas inexplicably decided to challenge a play in the first quarter during which Justin Fields fumbled the ball and recovered it.
Fields was sacked by Cowboys defensive tackle Linval Joseph and put the ball on the ground. Dallas defensive end Carl Lawson had a legitimate chance to grab the ball and jumped on top of it, but Fields somehow wormed his way over toward the ball and brought it into his chest before Lawson could secure it.
Fields emerged from the pile holding the ball. He clearly recovered the ball, so it remains to be seen why Mike McCarthy challenged it, especially ahead of a third-and-24.
Dak Prescott has a jersey patch in the shape of the Walter Payton Man of the Year trophy. The NFL instituted the uniform decal in 2017 to honor past winners of the award.
Prescott won the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award in 2022 and started wearing the patch during the 2023 NFL season.
The Cowboys endured a difficult sequence to close their second drive. Jalen Brooks appeared to make a catch for a first down, but he was ruled short of the line. Rather than wait for a review or challenge the call, the Cowboys rushing to the line to try to convert the third-and-1.
Dak Prescott faded back to pass but was quickly swarmed by Steelers defenders. He threw the ball away and was flagged for intentional grounding. That forced Dallas to punt back to Pittsburgh, and the Steelers will now look to score on a second consecutive drive, starting at their own 26-yard line.
The Steelers answered the Cowboys’ field goal drive with one of their own. Chris Boswell was called upon to try a 41-yard field goal and he managed to tuck it just inside the right upright.
Justin Fields had a solid showing on the drive, running for 13 yards on two attempts and completing 2-of-4 passes for 23 yards.
Kneeland, a second-round rookie who started for the Cowboys on Sunday, suffered an apparent leg injury on Dallas’ first defensive drive. He was treated by the medical staff on the field and was helped to the sidelined. He was later carted off because of the injury.
Kneeland started because Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence were ruled out for Week 5 because of injuries. Kneeland’s injury may further deplete an already thin Dallas pass rush.
The Cowboys get the scoring started on “Sunday Night Football.” Dak Prescott completed 3 of 4 passes for 20 yards before Brandon Aubrey was called upon to attempt the 55-yard field goal.
Aubrey had no issues with the playing surface, splitting the uprights with the 55-yarder. He is now 17 of 18 on field goal attempts from 50-plus yards during his two-year career.
Dallas won the coin toss and elected to start with the ball. After a 1 hour, 25 minute delay, “Sunday Night Football” will begin with a Chris Boswell kickoff.
The NBC broadcast is reporting that the field is “soaked” from the rain. That will make players more prone to slipping than they would be on a dry field, and it seems likely to benefit the team looking to run the ball more in this matchup.
That could give the Steelers a bit more than just a home-field advantage in this contest.
Celine Dion, one of the world’s most iconic and successful performers in pop music history, starred in a cinematic opening sequence for tonight’s game.
In an on-camera narration set to lyrics and music from “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now,” Dion looked ahead to tonight’s Cowboys-Steelers game on “Sunday Night Football.”
Dion also had a captivating performance that concluded the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The NBC broadcast just revealed that the NFL is hoping kickoff will occur at 9:45 p.m. ET. The plan is for players to return to the field at 9:25 p.m. ET to warm up.
The severe weather has passed over Acrisure Stadium, and fans are beginning to return to their seats.
Pittsburgh’s most recent weather delay was much more recent than Dallas’. The Steelers’ Week 13 game against the Arizona Cardinals in 2023 was delayed twice by lightning, once for 30 minutes and once for 53 minutes.
The Steelers lost the game, 24-10.
This is Dallas’ first weather delay since their Week 2 game against the Denver Broncos during the 2017 NFL season. The game was stopped in the first quarter because of a lightning strike, and the delay lasted 1 hour, 2 minutes.
The Cowboys were crushed once the game resumed, losing 42-17. Ezekiel Elliott endured one of the worst performances of his career, totaling just 8 yards on 9 carries. That was the lowest single-game rushing total of his career until he ran for just 6 yards in Week 3 of the 2024 NFL season in a 28-25 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
The downpour officially has reached Acrisure Stadium. The heavy rain is hitting the field while the players have ducked for cover in the locker room.
There is no update about a potential start time, as there continues to be lightning in the vicinity of the stadium. The game will not start until at least 30 minutes after the final lightning strike within a certain radius of the stadium.
The Steelers vs. Cowboys game is delayed because of thunderstorms in the area of Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh. Players from both teams were sent to the locker room because of a lightning strike several miles away from the stadium.
Fans were originally allowed to remain in their seats at Acrisure Stadium, but were eventually asked to take shelter in the stadium concourses and the FedEx Great Hall.
Fans will have to wait a bit longer than usual for “Sunday Night Football” to begin. The game is in a lightning delay because of a storm nearby Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh.
There is a severe thunderstorm warning in effect in Pittsburgh, per Weather.com. The chance for rain peaks at 9 p.m. ET (89 percent), according to the forecast, at which point there will be “Heavy Thunderstorms” in the area.
The NFL hasn’t announced how long the start of “SNF” might be delayed because of the inclement weather. The teams and players returned to the locker room once the delay was announced.
Snoop Dogg is among the celebrities on hand to take in the 34th game between the Steelers and Cowboys. Snoop is a big Steelers fan despite growing up in California, as he fell in love with Pittsburgh’s running game and defense watching them in the 1970s.
Snoop is a frequent collaborator with NBC, so it wasn’t a big surprise to see him in attendance for the SNF clash. It will be interesting to see if the network has any plans to show him or include him in the broadcast, especially with the ongoing weather delay.
Russell Wilson is not expected to play for the Steelers on “Sunday Night Football.” Justin Fields will make his fifth consecutive start to open the season, a job he earned on eve of the season after Wilson suffered a calf injury.
Kyle Allen is backing up Fields at quarterback, while Wilson was ruled inactive for the game. He is designated as the team’s emergency third-string QB, meaning he can come into the game if both Fields and Allen suffer game-ending injuries.
Cowboys at Steelers will kick off at 8:20 p.m. ET from Acrisure Stadium (formerly Heinz Field) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Sunday night.
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The game will air on NBC and Peacock. The game is also available to stream on Fubo.
Mike Tirico (play-by-play) and Cris Collinsworth (analyst) will be on the call, with Melissa Stark adding reports from the field for NBC.
Here’s how the USA TODAY Sports staff feels the Steelers-Cowboys “SNF” matchup will shake out.
Cowboys’ inactive players:
Steelers’ inactive players:
Micah Parsons will not play against the Steelers. He has a sprained ankle and he was seen earlier this week in a boot and using a scooter to protect his ankle.
Depending on the severity of the injury, it could take up to 6-8 weeks for a full recovery. Dallas has a bye in Week 7 before their next “Sunday Night Football” game against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 8. Parsons wants to be back on the field sooner than later.
The Steelers are favorites to defeat the Cowboys, according to BetMGM NFL odds. Looking to wager? Check out the best mobile sports betting apps offering NFL betting promos in 2024, including the ESPN BET app and Fanatics Sportsbook promo code.
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According to AccuWeather, there’s a severe thunderstorm watch in Pittsburgh, where game time temperatures will be in the high 70s and there’s a 51% chance of precipitation.
The Steelers are tied with the New England Patriots for the most Super Bowl wins with six.
Pittsburgh and Dallas have the unique distinction of playing each other more than any other team combination in Super Bowl history with three matchups.
Russell Wilson signed a one-year contract with the Steelers worth $1.21 million during the 2024 NFL offseason. That represented the smallest possible salary Wilson could take, as $1.21 million is the veteran minimum for the 2024 NFL season.
Wilson’s deal with the Steelers was viewed as a bargain and with good reason. It made him one of the league’s lowest-paid quarterbacks in the NFL and one of the lowest-paid projected starters.
Russell Wilson is making $39 million for the 2024 NFL season. The Broncos are responsible for most of that sum because of the $242.5 million contract they inked with him in 2022.
Wilson’s contract contained $124 million in guarantees. Denver had already paid $85 million of it before the 2024 NFL season, but they still had to pay the 35-year-old the rest of the guarantees as part of his release.
We have a complete list at every position:
The No. 1 team on NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” will stay intact, at least for the foreseeable future.
According to a report from The Athletic, NBC Sports is close to securing a new four-year contract extension with top analyst Cris Collinsworth. The extension will keep him with the network through the 2029-30 season. His current contract runs through the 2026 season.
NBC is scheduled to broadcast two more Super Bowls in the next six years, including Super Bowl 60 in 2026 and Super Bowl 64 in 2030.
Collinsworth, 65, who has won seven Emmy Awards for Outstanding Sports Studio Analyst, makes about $12.5 million a year and has teamed up with Mike Tirico to call games.
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