Cowboys who clawed vs. Steelers

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PITTSBURGH — There are few rivalries that have roots that run as deeply as those between the Dallas Cowboys and the Pittsburgh Steelers, and it’s downright criminal that the two legendary NFL franchises only meet once a decade nowadays — the latest being on Sunday night in Week 5 as the Terrible Towels waved about.

Having split their first four games with a 2-2 record, the Cowboys’ defense were hoping to take home their season’s first two-game win streak, but the absence of both Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence, due to injury, loomed large for the defensive unit against the upgraded play of Justin Fields.

Dak Prescott entered undermanned as well, with Brandin Cooks moved to injured reserve this week, forcing the game onto younger wide receivers in their attempt to help CeeDee Lamb.

There was at least one who stepped up in that regard, and some others who left it all on the field in a nailbiter at Acrisure Stadium on Sunday Night Football.

Resilience. That’s the word of the day for Prescott. He didn’t play amazing football and, at times, played poor football. But a go ahead touchdown after securing a lost fumble by Dowdle for the chance to do it? PRICELESS.

It was one of the more impressive outings for Dowdle, to be quite honest. No, it wasn’t a 200-yard affair for the veteran running back but when he was given the ball, he cooked with it. To that point, he entered the fourth quarter averaging 4.9 yards per carry on 11 carries, and made plenty of Steelers defenders miss tackles in the process to convert and keep the chains moving when the struggling Cowboys’ offense needed it most — add in a receiving touchdown to start the fourth quarter that gave Dallas a 13-10 lead.

The reason the Cowboys signed Joseph was to add physicality and depth to the interior of the defensive line and, against the Steelers, he showed exactly what that looks like. He also put some perserverence on film, an illegal hands to the face penalty on the second drive of the game by the Steelers, acquitting himself by demolishing his blocker on the same drive and not only sacking Justin Fields, but also forcing a fumble. It was recovered by the Steelers, but Joseph sent a very real message as he continues to improve week-over-week in Dallas.

No Micah Parsons. No DeMarcus Lawrence. No Marshawn Kneeland. This put a ton of the heat Chauncey Golston to step up in a major way, and he more than played his part in helping the defense make it a long day for Fields — whom he drew a penalty on for roughing the quarterback that was a comedically terrible call on a damn good football play. Golston was also effective in run defense, helping to bottle up Najee Harris and Co. on a regular basis.

In the absence of Brandin Cooks, the question of who would step up amongst the young wide receivers not named CeeDee Lamb was answered, at least for this week. It was Jalen Tolbert stepping up more often than not, mixing in timely catches with those that turned into chunk plays on more than one occasion. Tolbert led the team in receiving yards and receptions late in the fourth quarter — a testament to his ability to become what the Cowboys are hoping he can become.

It was also Ferguson helping to carry the load in the receiving game, as is often the case for the Pro Bowl tight end. He was right behind Tolbert in carring the load in receiving yards and receptions as the game neared its end, and was a critical part of why the Cowboys were able to move the chains on more than one occasion. He did all he could to try and put Dallas in the win column on Sunday evening in Pittsburgh.

He hasn’t been featured in any game this season, and this was as close as he’s come to it in his young NFL career. Luepke’s stat line won’t knock the socks off of your or your grandmother’s cat, but the film will. The young fullback was effective as a blocker, a running back and a receiver out of the backfield. The Steelers were lulled to sleep by the fact he wasn’t used as the latter for the majority of the game, but that was their mistake. So when the Cowboys needed Luepke on 1st-and-10 from the Pittsburgh 22-yard line with 1:01 on the fourth quarter clock, Dak Prescott tossed it to him and was rewarded with an 18-yard gain that put the Cowboys within a breath of a walk-off touchdown.

You just knew the Steelers, of all teams, would try to bully the Cowboys and to show them who was the more physical team. But in the immortal words of current WWE United States Champion LA Knight: “Nah nah.” It was instead Lewis and Co. getting into the heads of the Steelers and this was never more clear than when wide receiver George Pickens was fed up enough to grab Lewis by the facemask after being bullied all the live long day on his own field, forced into the void time and again. Lewis is a menace, has always been and will likely always be.