5 overreactions from the Steelers’ 20-17 loss to the Dallas Cowboys

Takeaways, overreactions, and random musings from the Steelers’ primetime loss.

In a game that required viewers to stay up past 1 a.m. ET, the Steelers couldn’t make it worth it for their fans, falling 20-17 to the Cowboys in a brutal, nail-biting loss. It’s the second straight week Pittsburgh has disappointed despite being favored, and as always, there are plenty of takeaways to be had (although I’ll keep this one short because, you know, circadian rhythm):

1. Below the standard

For yet another week, the onus of the loss falls directly on the Steelers’ highly-paid and touted defense. Sure, Pittsburgh took repeated losses to its outside linebacker depth on Sunday, but Dallas had a beat-up offensive line, no WR2, and the NFL’s worst run game.

All Pittsburgh had to do was stop a touchdown drive to win the game. Instead, Dallas drove right down the field, 70 yards behind their run game, squeezing out nearly all of the remaining clock to score the game-winning touchdown.

No, the Pittsburgh defense isn’t terrible. They’ll probably still finish the year with some of the best marks in the NFL. But injuries or not, they get paid to close out games, and they failed to do so against Dallas.

The Steelers also leave Sunday with a lot of questions surrounding a unit that was once thought to be brimming with talent from top to bottom. Is deep safety coverage an issue? Minkah Fitzpatrick has been good, but he’s been beat on several hole shots this season. Will slot corner play sink this defense? Beanie Bishop Jr. is seemingly responsible for a coverage bust or two every game. And is the linebacker play really that bad? Pittsburgh got cooked by 33.5-rushing-yards-per-game Rico Dowdle. I’m sure Joey Porter Sr. was grimacing from his box seat.

The Pittsburgh defense built up a great reputation early this season, and over the course of two games, they’ve nearly undone it completely. They’ll desperately need to get back to dominant form in a week to avoid falling to .500 against the Raiders.

2. Failing when it matters

Let’s hone in on one specific stat: third down rates. The Cowboys were a dominant nine-for-15. The Steelers? A brutal three-for-12.

We can go into more in-depth analysis, but I think that paints the best picture. The margins are always narrow in the NFL. The Steelers lost by just three points. Stalling just one or two additional Dallas drives or extending a few more of their own could’ve made all the difference for Pittsburgh on Sunday.

Coaching can be too broad a subject to critique immediately following the game, but the Steelers’ continued failure in the clutch — on both sides of the ball — just wasn’t a good look for the focus and schematics of the team.

Mike Tomlin teams have made a living off of making just enough plays in crunch time to eke out victories in the past. This week showed that you can’t count on that happening every week, even when you win the turnover battle 3-1. Pittsburgh needs to have an answer on the weighty downs.

3. More Fields doesn’t guarantee more points

A breakout performance from Justin Fields in primetime could’ve cemented him as the Steelers’ QB1. Instead, we’re back to Week 1 levels of murkiness.

I’ll sidestep the debate by saying I don’t think the Steelers should give up on Fields yet, although I can see the reasoning behind a switch to Russell Wilson following Sunday’s performance.

Last week against the Colts, it seemed like the Steelers’ slow start was because the team didn’t let Fields take over until it was too late. Offensive coordinator Arthur Smith apparently reads the BTSC message boards, because he opened up the game by letting Fields let ‘er rip early. The result? A handful of overthrows and near-interceptions, and just three points at the half.

Pittsburgh learned that “Backyard Ben” is no longer a reliable offensive strategy. It takes more than going deep for the sake of going deep to run an effective passing game. Fields is no Roethlisberger, and watching him miss open reads downfield to chuck passes into the teeth of the defense showed just how much above-the-neck development is still needed for the young passer.

The Steelers’ play-calling and wide receiver talent certainly didn’t do the young passer any favors, especially late in the game, but this was easily Fields’ worst performance in the black and gold thus far, and it reopens a quarterback controversy that Fields was close to ending over the last two games. Russell Wilson’s calf will be the top story in Pittsburgh this week.

4. What’s up with George Pickens?

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin claimed there’s no story with star wide receiver George Pickens’ noticeable downtick in snaps on Sunday night. That could be true, but the Steelers don’t exactly have the receiving talent to justify relegating Pickens to WR3, snap count-wise. I have a bridge to sell you if you take coach-speak at face value.

Pickens wore the message “Open F—-ing always” on his eyeblack, but went on to record just three catches for 26 yards on the night. He had one brutal drop, his body language didn’t scream high-effort, and he yanked on a Dallas player’s facemask after the clock hit zeroes. I’m all for scrappy rivalries, but that’s an unacceptably poor showing of sportsmanship.

I’m not an insider in the Steelers locker room, but something was obviously off about Pickens on Sunday night. It’ll be interesting to watch as news breaks throughout the week.

On one hand, the Steelers may not want to deal with Pickens’ antics much longer. This is the team that traded Diontae Johnson, after all. On the other, wide receiver drama is a fact of life in the NFL, and the Steelers can’t really afford to bench their only productive offensive weapon in a grand disciplinary gesture.

Whether it is or isn’t a story, it’s not a good look for the Steelers.

5. Odds and ends

• It’s a shame the Steelers had to spoil T.J. Watt’s 100-sack achievement with such a brutal loss.
• In a similar vein, the energy in Pittsburgh in primetime is just different. Despite the weather delay, Acrisure Stadium was rocking early, just to be quieted by a loss.
• Pittsburgh is making a clear effort to get Darnell Washington more involved in the passing game. It’s hard to complain, even when it doesn’t work — Pittsburgh needs to get another weapon going, and the big man has the talent for it.
• I have zero issue with Mike Tomlin burning his last timeout to reset his defense on the Cowboys’ fourth-and-goal to decide the game. He saw a look he didn’t like and understood his team had a much better chance at winning the game on that play than driving for a game-tying field goal with just 20 seconds left. It was the right call, even if the Pittsburgh defense couldn’t get the job done. If you want to be mad at something, it’s the Steelers having to burn their two prior timeouts in the second half.
• No quarterback-center exchange issues against Dallas, yay! But the new villain of the week was false starts. A few were drive-killers — Pittsburgh still needs to get the little things right.
• By no means am I trying to start a Kyle-Allen-for-starter narrative, but he deserves plenty of credit for tossing arguably the Steelers’ best throw of the game on his lone passing attempt. Talk about next man up. It also seemed to open up the middle-of-the-field passing game for Fields. Not sure what happened psychologically there.

Najee Harris

• remains a beast in the open field, as evidenced by another big screen gain against the Cowboys. He’s clearly not horrible as a ball-carrier, even if the Steelers’ run game still needs an overhaul.
• Nick Herbig was abusing Cowboys rookie left tackle Tyler Guyton on Sunday. It would’ve been interesting to see how the game’s outcome would’ve changed if that matchup had remained intact (both left with injury).
• DeShon Elliott uncharacteristically gave up two back-breaking touchdowns on Sunday, but he remains one of the best playmakers on this Pittsburgh defense. It was a rough week in the touchdown department, but he still provided plenty of excellent play elsewhere and remains an A+ signing in my book.
• Joey Porter Jr. will get a lot of well-deserved criticism for his tackling following the game, but he and the Steelers secondary do deserve credit for limiting CeeDee Lamb to just 62 yards. After getting beat a few times early, the defense settled in and largely shut down a top-five receiver. They just have to watch out for the Jalen Tolbert next time.

From 3-0 to 3-2 — the Steelers’ record has dropped from excellent to middling over just two weeks, and the team’s strong start suddenly doesn’t mean much. It’s far too early in the season to be talking about “must-win” games, but Week 6’s Las Vegas Raiders matchup feels awfully important if the Steelers want to get their season back on track.

What are your takeaways from Steelers vs. Cowboys? Agree/disagree with the ones above? Join our Behind The Steel Curtain community and let us know in the comments!