Cowboys vs Steelers is more than just a game

While Cowboys Nation is feeling anxious about all the injured players the Dallas Cowboys have, the healthy players on the roster are preparing for a road game to visit the Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium.

The Cowboys will for sure be without CB DaRon Bland, DE DeMarcus Lawrence, EDGE Micah Parsons, and WR Brandin Cooks. CB Caelen Carson is questionable, leaving us with a feeling that an already struggling defense might be in more trouble than we were anticipating.

Pittsburgh has a new look on offense this season after acquiring both Russell Wilson and Justin Fields. Wilson, the projected starter, has been dealing with a calf strain and has yet to suit up this season. It’s been the Fields show, and he has led the Steelers to a 3-1 record to start the year.

Year, location, injuries, new quarterbacks, or new coaches, the rivalry between the Dallas Cowboys and the Pittsburgh Steelers goes back all the way to the 1970s when Roger Staubach and Terry Bradshaw were exchanging offensive blows.

You wouldn’t think that there could be such a rivalry between two inter-conference teams, but each matchup between the two is more than just a game.

Race For Super Bowls

The Dallas Cowboys led the entire NFL with five Super Bowl victories…back in 1995. Since then, it’s no secret that they haven’t even been to an NFC Championship Game 29 years later. Since then, they’ve also been surpassed in the Super Bowl total by two teams.

One of those teams is the Tom Brady-led New England Patriots. In 1995, the Patriots had zero Super Bowl wins to their name, but that all changed when Drew Bledsoe took a shot to the ribs that forced the greatest quarterback of all time into the starting lineup.

All six of the Patriots championships came between 2002 and 2019 behind Bill Belichick and Tom Brady in what is considered the most recent dynasty the NFL has witnessed.

As for the Steelers, they share the NFL lead for Super Bowl victories with those same Patriots, except Pittsburgh has spread those championships out, starting in the 1970s and ending in the early 21st century.

Pittsburgh was tied with the Cowboys at five Super Bowl victories until their sixth came at the expense of Kurt Warner, Larry Fitzgerald, and the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII to conclude the 2008 NFL season. Pittsburgh has yet to return to the big dance.

The Cowboys remain at five victories. Their last victory (and appearance) came at the end of the 1995 NFL season against those same Pittsburgh Steelers.

Head to Head for the Lombardi

The Cowboys and Steelers have met each other for the right to the Lombardi Trophy three times in the Super Bowl era. Pittsburgh has the last laugh by winning two of those three matchups.

At the end of the 1975 season, the Cowboys were tasked with keeping the Steelers from winning back-to-back titles, but couldn’t get the job done. One season after dispatching of the Minnesota Vikings, Pittsburgh’s defense stifled Roger Staubach and the Cowboys’ offense for a 21-17 victory.

The teams would meet again three years later, and this time it was the Steelers trying to prevent the Cowboys from going back-to-back after Dallas had secured their second Super Bowl victory of the decade over the Broncos the year prior.

It was another four-point victory for the Steelers. This time it was a high-scoring affair that ended with Terry Bradshaw leading his team to a 35-31 win and Pittsburgh’s third Lombardi Trophy of the decade.

A victory by the Cowboys in either of those two games would have swung the narrative to Dallas being the team of the 1970s. Instead, the Cowboys’ two Super Bowl victories in the decade are often overshadowed by the Steelers’ four wins in six seasons.

The two teams would meet again at the end of the 1995 season. Dallas would finally get over the hump of beating the Steelers in the Super Bowl with a 27-17 win behind The Triplets (Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, and Michael Irvin), Deion Sanders, and unlikely hero Larry Brown.

I was nine years old at the time, and had waited an entire year to get the last laugh over my uncle, a life-long Steelers fan. The rivalry between the two teams is real, and new coaches and players don’t take away from that.