This was a homecoming sport of types for the Cowboys. Clearly, they didn’t play at dwelling, however head coach Mike McCarthy – who, by the way in which, do you know is from Pittsburgh? – was set to teach simply his third sport ever in his dwelling city. McCarthy had by no means received in Pittsburgh, going 0-2 on the street in opposition to the Steelers as the top coach for the Packers.
That every one modified Sunday evening, even with the climate delay. And it occurred in a method that the top coach probably relished.
The Steelers have a status as a soccer crew, one which’s been round for years however has grow to be extra drawn out lately. Pittsburgh hasn’t been considered as a authentic Super Bowl contender in fairly some time, and their offense normally makes issues very onerous on themselves, however just like the Iowa Hawkeyes of school soccer they only hold profitable.
Head coach Mike Tomlin has by no means had a shedding season, and it’s not like he’s simply been posting 9-8 season after 9-8 season. The Steelers received 12 video games again in 2020, beginning out 11-0 and being the final undefeated crew on the season. Simply final 12 months they received 10 video games regardless of having three totally different beginning quarterbacks. To this point this 12 months, they’ve solely performed Justin Fields underneath middle, though he was purported to backup Russell Wilson; they began out 3-0 and have misplaced their final two video games by a mixed six factors. Tomlin’s Steelers have grow to be the kings of the ugly win.
It’s the form of soccer McCarthy aspires for his crew to be able to. Clearly he would like to win each sport 45-3, and he’s had greater than his fair proportion of these kinds of wins since coming to Dallas. However having a crew that may hunker down and persevere by means of accidents, errors, penalties, and extra to drag out a gutsy win is the kind of edge McCarthy has sought to instill on this crew. His gamers definitely knew it this week, and so they did simply that in opposition to the Steelers, beating the ugly win kings at their very own sport.
That isn’t to say this was an ideal win for the Cowboys, as a result of it wasn’t. The crew was penalized 11 occasions, the third time this season they’ve drawn that many flags. All of them have come on the street, and the Cowboys have received all three of these video games.
Past the penalties, although, Dak Prescott had three terrible turnovers that marred what was an in any other case nice efficiency for the quarterback. Prescott’s first turnover was a sack-fumble that was fully brought on by Prescott holding the ball too lengthy. Then he threw an interception on what appeared to be a miscommunication with CeeDee Lamb. Each got here within the crimson zone, and each killed promising drives that would have blown issues huge open. His third turnover was a deep shot that simply poorly positioned, not giving Jalen Tolbert an opportunity at making the play.
Nonetheless, Prescott stepped up when it mattered most, and McCarthy empowered his quarterback to save lots of the day. He known as the display screen to Hunter Luepke figuring out the Steelers would promote out to hurry Prescott, and trusting that his quarterback wouldn’t repeat his earlier mistake of holding the ball too lengthy within the crimson zone. He known as the choice play after that, trusting Prescott to make the precise learn and set the crew up for the go-ahead rating. And he did all of this whereas maintaining a tally of the clock, and the Cowboys took the lead with simply seconds left within the sport.
Pre-MNF, the #Cowboys rank tenth in shift/movement price for Week 5 (64.5%, contains performs nullified by penalty) per PFF.
— John Proudly owning (@JohnOwning) October 7, 2024
The Cowboys exorcised just a few demons on this sport too. For the second straight week, the offense noticed a major uptick in pre-snap movement. In fact, it helped that the Cowboys had been in a position to run their regular offense and never be in hurry-up mode all sport, as they had been in opposition to the Saints and Ravens.
The run sport additionally acquired going, one other byproduct of working their regular offense. Final week noticed the Cowboys do the identical factor, and Rico Dowdle had a stable evening with a wildly environment friendly 63.6% success price on his carries. It wasn’t as excessive on this sport, however Dowdle broke six tackles and had three runs of 10+ yards, each of that are season excessive’s for him. As a crew, the Cowboys had a speeding success price of 38.7%, their second-best on the 12 months after final week’s efficiency.
Defensively, the Cowboys had been banged up and lacking their two greatest gamers, however you wouldn’t realize it. They restricted the Steelers to three.4 yards per carry and, for the primary time all 12 months, didn’t surrender a run of 10 yards or extra. In addition they restricted Justin Fields by means of the air, as Fields posted his worst completion price on the season at 55.6%. He failed to attach on any of his six makes an attempt 20+ yards down the sphere, and the cross rush – enjoying with out Micah Parsons, DeMarcus Lawrence, or Marshawn Kneeland – managed to stress Fields on 36.7% of his dropbacks.
This sport was all the time going to be a take a look at of this crew’s resiliency. Beating the Steelers is rarely simple, regardless of what some nationwide speaking heads who all picked Pittsburgh to win this sport would possibly say, and profitable this sport with all of the accidents the Cowboys had would solely make it tougher. However that is the kind of win McCarthy has been striving for in reshaping the mindset of this crew. To get that form of win in Pittsburgh, the place McCarthy grew up and was raised on this model of soccer, has to make it all of the extra candy.
Now, the Cowboys get to make an precise homecoming, as they’ll head again all the way down to Dallas to host one other robust and gritty crew within the Lions. That received’t be simple both, and the Cowboys have but to win a sport in AT&T Stadium this season, however this win ought to present an air of confidence within the locker room even when it received’t carry over to the fanbase simply but.
