Winners and losers from the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 20-17 loss against the Dallas Cowboys Sunday night (and into Monday morning).
WINNERS
EDGEs T.J. Watt & Nick Herbig & DL Isaiahh Loudermilk
Putting all the Wisconsin Badgers on this list. Watt and Herbig were impactful off the edge, combining for a first-half strip-sack fumble and turnover against Cowboys QB Dak Prescott. Herbig got tons of pressure early against overmatched rookie LT Tyler Guyton. Unfortunately, Herbig left with a hamstring injury in the third quarter. Watt finished the game with 1.5 sacks.
Loudermilk’s contribution came in the way of a field-goal block to preserve Pittsburgh’s 10-6 lead. That’s the second blocked field goal of his career and he used his height and frame to get an outstretched arm on K Brandon Aubrey’s boot.
P Corliss Waitman
Overall, a fine night for Waitman despite less-than-ideal weather conditions. He had a touchback, but it was downable, and the Steelers couldn’t corral it before bouncing into the end zone. He kicked well under the face of pressure, especially early, though Miles Killebrew had a really sharp pickup when Dallas blitzed a gunner late.
CB Joey Porter Jr.
Though Porter definitely had tackling and “want to” issues in this one, including an ugly punch-out attempt without even going for the tackle, his interception made up for that. Matching WR Jalen Tolbert downfield and tracking the ball for an over-the-shoulder interception that led to Pittsburgh taking a 17-13 lead in the fourth quarter. And while it’s a low bar, he didn’t seem responsible for giving up any of the huge third-down plays.
Overall, WR CeeDee Lamb was held in check and Porter was definitely part of that, though Pittsburgh’s bracketing likely also played a role (and opened up other players for Dallas to hit and convert).
LB Elandon Roberts
Wow. What a play by Roberts. Flying in like Troy Polamalu, Roberts smacked RB Rico Dowdle for a forced fumble at the goal line. The Cowboys recovered but it pushed them off the goal line. A type of play that will be on his highlight reel forever and shows the type of player he is. Hard-nosed and never quitting.
It really sucks the Steelers still allowed the touchdown two plays later, but Roberts still did an incredible job and that shouldn’t be taken away.
LOSERS
OC Arthur Smith/WR George Pickens
Blame to be shared here. Smith did little to get Pickens the ball early and he had just two targets in the first half. According to initial snap counts from Pro Football Focus, Pickens spent considerable parts of the first half/three quarters on the bench as guys like Van Jefferson played ahead of him.
But Pickens didn’t make plays he normally makes and had a tough 3rd and 4 drop. It was a bit high but certainly catchable and went through his hands. As for Justin Fields…it was far from a great or even good performance but not costly enough to be on the loser’s list, though his tape will be worth a study for the mistakes he made. Pittsburgh’s sloppiness beyond him was a larger issue.
Pittsburgh has to find ways to get the ball to its playmakers and its playmakers need to make plays when given the chance. Simple as that. Gotta be better.
Skill Guys (Not Finishing Plays)
Just not enough from the skill guys tonight. Pickens, Connor Heyward, Van Jefferson, not everyone here is a star (clearly) but Pittsburgh seemingly could not make a contested play. Every 50-50 chance went Dallas’ way. Those guys made the tough plays on defense instead of the Steelers’ offense. And that’s a problem. This is an offense that needs another playmaker. We’ll see if Davante Adams will be that guy.
Really, the story of the night was the team not making plays in contested situations.
Run Blocking
Supposed to be the Steelers’ kind of game to run the ball and impose their will. It wasn’t. Dallas bottled them up even as LG Isaac Seumalo returned, getting knocked down bad on a sack/fumble. The Steelers’ interior line couldn’t get things going and RB Najee Harris ran hard but lacked the juice to break past the second level tonight. A big problem for the Steelers going forward being unable to consistently to run the ball, instead going into a wall each game and trying to bust it down.
Third-Down Defense
Abysmal in overall lack of success and the weight and impact of the conversions Pittsburgh gave up. Long conversions and big completions were killer in this one. A 3rd and 14 to CeeDee Lamb. A 3rd and 5 that went for 34 yards. A 3rd and 4 that went for 48. 3rd and 6 toss in the fourth quarter for 13 yards.
Pittsburgh played a bunch of split-safety coverages to take away Lamb over the top, but Prescott effectively put the safeties in a bind either by throwing or threatening down the middle of the field. And Pittsburgh couldn’t match things well.
CB Beanie Bishop Jr.
Really tough day for Bishop, the rookie corner with a lot on his plate as the every-down nickel corner. Two penalties, a face mask and costly third-down hold that negated a 3rd-and-7 stop. Dallas took advantage and put the ball in the end zone several plays later. He made the occasional play and had an impressive early pass breakup but there was more bad than good and the bad was especially costly.
