5 Steelers surprises in Sunday’s loss against the Cowboys
Our SCU staff and contributors pick the “surprises” from the Pittsburgh Steelers’ latest matchup each week. Check out more below to see which plays and situations surprised us the most!
The Pittsburgh Steelers picked up their second loss of the 2024 season falling 20-17 to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday. Here are some surprises from that game.
George Pickens
Pickens’ name is a hot subject matter heading into the early week as head coach Mike Tomlin had to explain why his top receiver was out-snapped by players lower on the depth chart. Of Pittsburgh’s 58 offensive plays, Pickens played 59% of the game, behind Van Jefferson‘s 81% and Calvin Austin‘s 76%. Scotty Miller played 22% of all snaps while newly acquired Brandon Johnson saw the field for five plays (9%) too.
Tomlin gave a debrief about the lack of playing time in his postgame presser, but it was fluff about “quality of play”. Reading the tea leaves, something is going on with Pickens and it is attributed to his attitude, effort, or both.
Pickens was seen on the sidelines jawing before Broderick Jones and Russell Wilson calmed him down, and then nearly started a fight at the end of the game.
George Pickens First-Team Always Pissed Off
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) October 7, 2024
Pickens final state line? Three receptions on seven targets for 26 yards and no touchdown.
Najee Harris
The Dallas Cowboys came into town with the 27th run defense and were without their top two edge rushers, who are league-wide stars, Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence.
The Steelers were without backups Jaylen Warren and Cordarrelle Patterson too. This would make one assume this would be a big day for Steelers running back Najee Harris, but they say assuming makes an “ass out of you and me” when you do so!
Harris struggled, as did his offensive line, as he carried the ball 14 times for 42 yards – a 3.0 yards-per-carry average.
Practice squad call ups Aaron Shampklin and Jonathan Ward spelled Harris. Shampklin had four carries for 14 yards (3.5 YPC) while Ward ran twice for nine yards (4.5 YPC). The Steelers failed to rush for over 100 yards for the first time this season, despite Justin Fields carrying the ball six times for 27 yards in addition to those noted above.
Steelers Defense
The Steelers defense was on point Sunday, forcing Dak Prescott and the Cowboys to turn the ball over three times, and nearly a fourth time near the conclusion of regulation.
Prescott was sacked by T.J. Watt and Nick Herbig for the final play of the first quarter, as Watt stripped the quarterback of the ball and Herbig recovered. It would be Watt’s 100th career sack, a milestone he hit faster than any other player in the NFL other than Hall of Famer Reggie White.
https://twitter.com/ProFootballHOF/status/1843330629980860687
However, the defense wasn’t done with that strip-sack combo that prevented a Cowboys score. Donte Jackson would pick off Prescott at the goal line at the end of the second quarter, taking away more points for Dallas. Joey Porter Jr. would also haul in an errant deep pass with 10:44 remaining in the fourth, returning the ball for 16 yards and giving the Steelers offense momentum on the next drive – in which they would take the lead.
… And Steelers Defense
Unfortunately, it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows for the Steelers defense on Sunday. The unit would give up 445 yards to the Cowboys, allowing 60% of their opposition’s third downs to be converted as well as a fourth-down conversion. They gave up 25 first downs total on 75 of the Cowboys offensive plays, a whopping one in every three plays moving the chains.
While the defense forced Prescott to turn the ball over three times, they struggled to contain him for much of the evening, as the Dallas QB completed 69% of his passes for 352 yards and two touchdowns.
The defense was further pressed as the game wore on, losing outside linebacker Nick Herbig in the third quarter. He would be spelled by DeMarvin Leal, who flirts as a defensive end but has been filling in as edge depth: Leal would also leave the game, leading to Jeremiah Moon playing 37% of the game in his first regular season action. (Moon is the team’s fifth option at the outside linebacker spot, as the Steelers were already down Alex Highsmith who was ruled out earlier in the week.)
Cowboys Final Drive
But those defensive storylines would pale in comparison to the sequence of events that unfolded after the Steelers took a 17-13 lead with five minutes left in the game.
The Cowboys would run the football on six of their first eight plays on the ensuing possession, running the clock down to the two-minute warning. Rico Dowdle would carry the ball four times for 20 yards during the first set of plays. Prescott would then find his tight end Jake Ferguson on a third-and-nine to convert with 1:26 to go. The pass got the Cowboys out to the Steelers 22-yard-line, as Dallas marched up to the four and then a Prescott scramble on first-and-goal would be ruled out-of-bounds setting up a second down situation on the half-yard line.
The Steelers nearly came away with a miracle play when LB Elandon Roberts punched the football from Dowdle’s grasp on a goal line dive attempt, but Prescott would recover the loose football back at the five yard line. An incomplete Prescott pass on third down setup a do or die 4th-and-4 with 26 seconds and the game on the line.
The Cowboys would spend a timeout before the Steelers would burn their last to setup the game’s deciding play. The Steelers defense came out of the break, and failed to send a blitz, allowing Prescott time to scan the field and find an open receiver for the game-winning touchdown.
The deflating final play, following the timeout, seemed to be an exclamation point on long night that officially ended at 12:59 a.m. Monday morning due to a weather delay. The conditions created sloppy play on both sides, and exposed a gassed Steelers defense that had already bent but failed to break until the very end.
