The Pittsburgh Steelers feel like they lost to themselves on Sunday night.
The offense had a late lead, but the defense couldn’t hold it as Jalen Tolbert caught a four-yard touchdown pass from Dak Prescott on fourth-and-goal in the last 30 seconds, allowing Dallas to beat Pittsburgh 20-17.
“It came down to one play,” Steelers defensive tackle Cam Heyward said. “They were on the right side of it.”
Pat Freiermuth caught a 6-yard touchdown pass from Justin Fields in the last five minutes, briefly giving Pittsburgh a 17-13 lead, but that didn’t last long.
Pittsburgh’s defense, which is ranked second in the league, forced three turnovers and blocked a field goal, but still allowed 445 yards and couldn’t stop Tolbert from scoring on the final play of the Cowboys’ last drive, completing a 15-play, 70-yard series. The Steelers have now lost two games in a row after starting 3-0.
Dallas converted two third downs on the winning drive, setting up first-and-goal from the 4-yard line. Rico Dowdle fumbled at the 1-yard line on second down, and Prescott recovered the ball. Then, Tolbert outpaced DeShon Elliott to score the winning touchdown two plays later.
“We had to stop them on that one play,” Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick said.
Fields completed 15 of 27 passes for 131 yards and threw touchdowns to Freiermuth and Connor Heyward.
Despite missing key pass rushers DeMarcus Lawrence (foot) and Micah Parsons (ankle), who was out due to injury for the first time in his career, Dallas managed to hold Fields and the Steelers’ offense to just 226 total yards.
Marshawn Kneeland, who started because of the injuries, also left in the first quarter with a knee injury.
Pittsburgh only scored a field goal in the first half and had just 89 total yards, with Dallas leading 6-3 at halftime. This was the fourth time in five games that Pittsburgh scored fewer than 10 points in the first half.
