After another week of slow starts, missed chances, and a lackluster running game, Pittsburgh Steelers QB Justin Fields can’t help but feel frustration. Though he maintained his steady and calm demeanor during his postgame press conference, Fields admitted it was frustrating not only to lose, but fall in the fashion Pittsburgh did, a 20-17 defeat against the Dallas Cowboys at home in a primetime setting.
“It’s definitely frustrating,” Fields said via the team’s website. “But it’s just ourselves, to be honest with you.”
Pittsburgh continued to make mistakes and not play detailed enough football. Though their only turnover came on the game’s final play, the Steelers missed downfield completions to TE Connor Heyward and WR Van Jefferson, struggled mightily on third down by finishing 3-of-12, and their running game averaged just 3.5-yards per carry against a Cowboys’ defense that ranked as one of the worst in football running the ball.
Though Dallas was the more penalized team, Pittsburgh still was flagged eight times, something Fields cited as the Steelers continue to beat themselves.
“Penalties make it hard, especially when you’re in third and manageable, third and short. We get those penalties and they get, third and 10 or third and longer, whatever it is, of course that’s gonna make it harder…I think the reoccurring thing is shooting ourselves in the foot with penalties, false starts and stuff like that. And it just comes down to execution.”
The Steelers struggled to sustain drives and couldn’t create big plays. Their longest play from scrimmage was only 21 yards, and their longest rush went for just 8 yards, a run by Fields himself. RB Najee Harris put his shoulder down but couldn’t break much of anything past the second level, averaging 3 yards per carry with a “long” of -yards on 14 total carries.
Perhaps the biggest missed chance came off DL Isaiahh Loudermilk’s blocked field goal that kept Pittsburgh’s 10-6 lead. Fields hit Harris for a strong 20-yard screen out to the Steelers’ 47-yard line. But Fields threw incomplete on the following first down, hit WR Calvin Austin III for 6 yards on second down, and then WR George Pickens let a pass slip through his hands on 3rd-and-4, leading to a Steelers’ punt.
Dallas took the ball and drove 16 plays the other way for a touchdown and the lead.
With their first losing streak of the season, the Steelers will have to figure out things fast ahead of their Week 6 matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders. The Raiders may be reeling but so are the Steelers, and a third-straight loss would completely wipe out the strong start Pittsburgh initially enjoyed.
