Following each game in the 2024 Pittsburgh Steelers season, I will highlight the event, or string of events, in the game that was the turning point. Not all turning points will be earth-shattering but are meant to give a unique look at how we arrived at the outcome of the game, one that may be hard to see during the live watch.
Despite the lopsided yardage totals for each team, the Steelers had a real chance at winning on Sunday Night Football against the Dallas Cowboys. Three forced turnovers by the Steelers defense kept things close, but a 15-play drive by the Cowboys sealed the deal with a go-ahead touchdown from Dak Prescott to Jalen Tolbert.
Tolbert made another big play in this game. It wasn’t on a scoring drive, but it flipped the field and prevented the Steelers from gaining momentum before halftime.
Minkah Fitzpatrick was put in a tough spot. He initially looked at the tight end coming up the seam before realizing Tolbert was out on the boundary. By the time he arrived, it was too late, and the big play flipped the field.
The team has actually excelled in the end-of-half scenarios so far this year. The Steelers have had opportunities on offense with three minutes or less at the end of the half in all five games this season. Three of those resulted in a field goal to get some momentum into halftime, and one was a missed 62-yard field goal. The only one that resulted in a punt was on Sunday against the Colts, largely because of Tolbert’s big play.
The Steelers ended up intercepting Prescott to end that drive, but they started at their own two-yard line instead of having a chance to ride the wave of momentum from the interception. The Cowboys only gained 22 yards on that drive outside of the 48-yard completion to Tolbert. Chances are pretty good that the Steelers could have at least tied up the game at 6-6, if not taken the lead, entering halftime. Considering they scored on the first drive of the second half, it could have been a totally different game.
During his Tuesday press conference, Mike Tomlin mentioned the significance of these explosive plays. He specifically mentioned this field-flipping play as one that helped turn the tide of the game. After being one of the best defenses over the first three weeks, the Steelers are allowing a troubling amount of yards. A lot of that has to do with the explosive plays. They need to figure out how to clean that up so they can get back to playing complementary football with the defense setting up the offense for easier scores.
