After a 90-minute weather delay last night in Pittsburgh, the Sunday Night Football game finally kicked off, and boy was it an interesting one.
In a game where it felt like the Cowboys should have won by 20, it was only fitting that it came down to a 4th-and-goal for this team to either reel us back in or completely have us against them for the rest of the season.
Dallas out gained Pittsburgh 445-226 behind an offense that, at last, discovered a running game that looked promising for the first time all season.
Dallas finished with 109 rushing yards. Yet that, and Prescott’s 352 passing yards, were almost not enough because of how often Dallas turned the ball over. They have to stop hurting themselves. A common theme they seem to have, yet this is game they normally lose, but didn’t.
Jalen Tolbert
After a year of disappointment last season from Jalen Tolbert, he has earned my trust and should be the no. 2 wide receiver behind CeeDee Lamb even when Brandin Cooks returns.
Cooks is out for at least four games with an injection in his knee, so Tolbert’s breakout game was needed last night!
He finished the night with 87 yards on seven receptions. One of those catches came in the biggest play of the game. The 4th-and-goal throw from Dak Prescott to win the football game.
“The play we ran is one of our most comfortable plays. … Just wanted one more opportunity at it,” Prescott said after the game. “It was special to get it back to Tolbert. He did a great job of coming across the field, getting open.”
When CeeDee Lamb was sitting out of camp, Tolbert was at Dak Prescott’s house, at the field working with him, and you can tell that a legit connection has blossomed between these two.
This game should give both Dak and Tolbert trust going forward for the rest of the season. If they had played a better offense, they might have lost this game, but guess what? That Steelers defense is probably the best in football.
They won the game, and 3-2 is a heck of a lot better than 2-3.
Now that Michael Gallup is out of the picture, Cooks is out, and even younger wide receivers on the team, Tolbert has finally found his footing in this offense. That and the way the defense played short-handed yesterday were the most impressive things for me.
Going Forward
The offense last night if not for the turnovers would have probably won this game in the first half, if not early in the second.
I liked the way they moved the ball on offense against that defense on the road, and if Tolbert can continue this, I actually think they may be okay.
Rico Dowdle showed some signs last night, so they made it work. CeeDee Lamb has a quiet game per his standards, but I will take a win like that when Lamb has his worst game of the season.
Let’s go back to Dak. He played okay for most of the game, outside of three plays that as a fan just really mess with you.
An interception before the half was mind-boggling. He also took a sack and last a fumble before that. Then in the fourth quarter, he fired a deep ball to a receiver who wasn’t open and that was picked off. They should have been running the ball in that spot anyway!
Dak was off on some other throws throughout the night, but in the fourth quarter, he was able to do what he needed to do, and capture that game-winning drive, but starting next week at home against the Lions, he will need to play the entire game like he did on that final drive.
If this team can get to the bye week at 3-3 or even somehow shock the Lions, and be 4-2, I think folks would be happy.