One of the more memorable regular season Steelers games in recent memory was the team’s 35-30 loss to the Dallas Cowboys in Week 10 of the 2016 season. Ben Roethlisberger had a fake spike touchdown to Antonio Brown, and the Steelers hung with the 7-1 Cowboys all game, but a 32-yard Ezekiel Elliott touchdown run with nine seconds left put the Steelers to bed, losing by five in a game where they failed four two-point conversions. Dak Prescott was under center for Dallas that game, and with the Steelers and Cowboys meeting up at Acrisure Stadium on Sunday Night, Prescott said his first (and to this point only) trip to Pittsburgh was one to remember.
“Always been a good team, credit to what they got, that foundation over there, Coach Tomlin,” Prescott said. “So I just remember it being a hell of a game, couple of big throws, didn’t realize it was my first 300-yard passing game. It was an exciting game, went down to the wire. I remember Ben Roethlisberger, fake spike touchdown to Antonio Brown, some great moments just throughout that game, that was definitely one to remember,” Prescott said via the Cowboys’ YouTube channel.
That season, Prescott, a rookie, was filling in for an injured Tony Romo, and he led the Cowboys to a 13-3 record. As he said, that game against the Steelers was his first 300-yard game of the season, as he threw for 319 yards and two scores and sent the Steelers to 4-5.
The Roethlisberger fake spike was one of the defining plays of that game. It came with 42 seconds left and gave the Steelers a 30-29 lead.
But Pittsburgh’s defense couldn’t stop Ezekiel Elliott all day, as he had an 83-yard reception for a touchdown earlier in the game and took it 32 yards to the house with under 10 seconds left to make the fake spike a little less magical.
That game was the Fox Game of the Week at 4:25 p.m., and this week will be in prime time on Sunday Night Football. Prescott will be looking to replicate his performance on Sunday, as will Elliott in his second stint with the Cowboys, although he’s struggled to get going early in the season.
Prescott had one of the best seasons of his career last season, and he’s gotten off to a decent start this year, although Dallas’ defense has been weak. He’s going to need to get going early and build his connection with Ceedee Lamb if the Cowboys are going to overcome Pittsburgh again.
Justin Fields was in high school when that game was played, and he’s going to look to turn the tide in Pittsburgh’s favor and avenge the loss the last time these two teams met in Pittsburgh. Undoubtedly, that’s a memorable game, but it’s not a happy memory for Steelers fans as they wound up losing. It was the game that seemed to turn their season around. After that loss to move to 4-5, the Steelers ripped off seven wins in a row to close out the regular season and made it nine in a row before losing in the AFC Championship Game.
Maybe Sunday can be the start of another winning streak for the Steelers, who are coming off their first loss of the season after starting 3-0.
