We were waiting all day Sunday and into Monday morning for that? That’s a tough one.
Holding a late lead and needing the highly-paid defense to get a stop in the fourth quarter, the Pittsburgh Steelers weren’t able to do it in the end, giving up a touchdown pass from Dak Prescott to Jalen Tolbert on 4th and goal as the Dallas Cowboys took a 20-17 lead with 20 seconds left that would hold up for the final score.
Though the Steelers’ defense forced 3 turnovers and blocked a field goal, the offense wasn’t able to do enough consistently, and the defense didn’t get a stop when it mattered most, leading to the 20-17 loss to fall to 3-2 on the season.
In a game that featured an hour and 25 minute delay to kickoff due to severe weather in the area, it’s rather deflating to come out of that game with a loss at home in primetime.
Let’s get to some grades.
QB — C-
The box score will show 2 touchdowns and no turnovers on the night for Justin Fields, but it was anything but a good performance.
Fields was 15-of-27 for 131 yards and 2 touchdowns through the air. His longest pass play of the night was 21 yards to George Pickens in the fourth quarter. He tried to push the ball down the field at times, but wasn’t successful doing it, and misfired at times.
He should have been picked off on a deep shot to Van Jefferson that was underthrown, but the defensive back dropped it. He missed some other throws on the night, too, including missing George Pickens on a crosser and on a sideline route. He also fired just a tad high early in the game on a seam route to Darnell Washington in one-on-one coverage.
Fields just didn’t seem like he was seeing the field all that well on the night, and he took a big shot in the process that knocked him from the game for a moment. Not the best showing, especially as Russell Wilson gets closer to full health.
RB — C-
At times, it looked like Najee Harris was going to get on track, but then things would come to a halt in the run game. Against a defense missing its two best players, the Steelers should have been able to run the football with success. They weren’t able to.
Harris finished with just 42 yards on 14 carries and added 2 receptions for 30 yards. He had a nice 20-yard catch-and-run on a screen in the second half after having a 15-yard catch-and-run in the first half. It would have been nice to utilize him more in the passing game to open things up a bit.
Aaron Shampklin had 4 carries for 14 yards as Harris’ backup, while practice squad elevation Jonathan Ward had 2 carries for 9 yards.
The run game was just inconsistent. Outside of the 2 receptions for Harris, the running backs were non-existent in the passing game, too. Tough night, again.
WR — F
Steelers receivers had just 8 receptions for 67 yards on the night. That’s becoming par for the course at this point.
Pickens had just 3 receptions for 26 yards, with 21 of them coming on his fourth-quarter catch. Van Jefferson showed some life in the second half, too, finishing with 3 receptions for 26 yards.
Two of his catches came on the touchdown drive to open the second half, hauling in back-to-back passes from Fields to give the Steelers some rhythm. After that, though, he had had a tough drop down the sideline, failing to make a contested catch. Pickens had a rough night overall, too, accompanied by a silly decision after the final whistle to take Cowboys’ corner Jourdan Lewis down by his facemask, setting off a scuffle.
Practice squad elevation Brandon Johnson had a 9-yard reception, while Calvin Austin III had a 6-yard reception.
The Steelers are simply getting very little out of their receivers.
TE — B-
It was nice to see Pat Freiermuth get going in the second half. He had a huge 19-yard catch from Kyle Allen — in the game as Fields was checked for a concussion — which seemingly sparked the offense. Freiermuth later added a touchdown on a shovel pass from Fields, and finished the night with 3 receptions for 22 yards.
The Steelers need to utilize him more.
Connor Heyward recovered from a tough drop early in the game to haul in a 16-yard touchdown from Fields. He also had a nice, twisting 7-yard catch in the first half that set up a third and short and allowed the Steelers to move the chains. He makes plays when given the opportunity, but did have 2 tough drops on the night.
Darnell Washington had just 2 targets, hauling in a pass for 5 yards. After providing a spark to the Steelers’ offense last week against Indianapolis, it was surprising to see him go with limited usage again.
OL — D
This group is really struggling at the moment. Getting Isaac Seumalo back for the game was nice, but he was rough as he is getting back into game shape. He had a tough rep on a Linval Joseph sack and wasn’t all that impactful in the run game.
The Steelers’ offensive line ended up giving up 3 sacks and 8 quarterback hits on the night, and failed to help the offense rush for over 100 yards against a depleted Dallas defense.
Really, really rough night. The All-22 will tell a fuller story, but not much to write home about here again.
DL — D+
This group couldn’t stop the run consistently and generated very little pressure overall against the pass.
Letting Rico Dowdle do whatever he wanted in the run game for much of the night was rather discouraging. Guys couldn’t get off blocks, couldn’t get into gaps and couldn’t make plays.
The defensive line combined for just 9 tackles and 2 quarterback hits. Dallas ran 75 plays. It’s just unacceptable from the guys up front going up against a banged up Dallas offensive line, one that was also starting two rookies, too.
Cameron Heyward had some moments as a run defender, finishing with 2 stops, while Montravius Adams got going late against the run. But Keeanu Benton and Larry Ogunjobi were largely non-existent. That’s discouraging. The most impactful thing Benton did on the night was draw a 15-yard penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct on a Dallas lineman.
That’s telling.
LB — C
It was a solid night for T.J. Watt, who cracked the 100-sack mark for his career and forced a fumble in the process. Watt finished with 1.5 sacks on the night with 8 tackles and 3 quarterback hits. He was a menace. Nobody else really stepped up, though.
Prior to getting hurt, Nick Herbig had a half sack and recovered a fumble. But he struggled against the run. Once he exited the game, DeMarvin Leal and Jeremiah Moon handled OLB snaps, and it wasn’t good at all. Moon and Leal combined for 2 tackles and couldn’t generate any sort of pass rush opposite Watt.
Inside, Elandon Roberts nearly made the play of the game. He leaped over the line of scrimmage at the goal line and forced a Dowdle fumble, but the Cowboys recovered and ultimately won the game on fourth down. It was a Troy Polamalu-like play. Too bad it will be forgotten about.
Roberts finished with 3 tackles and played the run well when on the field.
Patrick Queen finished with 9 tackles and was around the football quite a bit, but the one play he couldn’t make on third down was a tough pill to swallow as he read it correctly, shot home and was there for the stop, but couldn’t wrap up.
Payton Wilson had a great hit for a tackle against the run in the fourth quarter on the Cowboys’ final drive, and finished with 9 tackles. But he struggled to get off blocks at times and wasn’t as impactful against the run.
DB — D
DeShon Elliott gave up 2 touchdowns on the night, which was rather shocking considering how great he’s been this season. On the first one to Dowdle, Elliott slipped and allowed the Cowboys’ running back to get wide open for the score. On the game-winner, Elliott was trying to work through traffic on the crossing route and got there just a tick late.
He didn’t get much help from rookie Beanie Bishop Jr. on the final rep as he was out of position, late to recognize the crosser and couldn’t provide help underneath. He had a dreadful night with a pair of key penalties, and was picked on all night long in the passing game. He’s almost unplayable right now due to his struggles with communication and in coverage, but it’s not like the Steelers have many other options right now.
Joey Porter Jr. had a nice interception that gave the Steelers the chance to extend the lead, tracking a deep ball from Prescott and making a nice over-the-shoulder catch. He had 4 tackles on the night and largely held his own in coverage. So, too, did Donte Jackson, who had a key interception in the end zone late in the first half to keep points off the board.
He did get beat by Tolbert in the first half when expecting safety help. He also had a key missed tackle on the final drive, much like he did last week in Indianapolis. He’s sound in coverage, but has had issues tackling in recent weeks and has been susceptible to the big play and the communication breakdown.
Minkah Fitzpatrick had a very strong game. He had 10 tackles, broke up a pass and was all over the place. Sure, the turnovers aren’t there still, but he was sound for much of the night and was flying around. That was encouraging.
Special Teams — A-
Hats off to the Steelers’ special teams.
Chris Boswell drilled a field goal and punter Corliss Waitman averaged 44.4 yards per punt on 5 punts, downing 4 of them inside the 20-yard line.
But it was the field goal block unit that came up large. Isaiahh Loudermilk blocked a Brandon Aubrey field goal to keep it a 10-6 game in what was seemingly a massive play for the Steelers. Ultimately it didn’t matter, but what a moment that was.
Shampklin had a nice 32-yard return in the game, too, giving the Steelers a slight spark with better field position at the time.
Throughout the night, the Steelers’ special teams was solid, especially in a key matchup against a strong special teams unit for Dallas.
