3 things to know about Pittsburgh Steelers Week 9 matchup vs. Cowboys

If the game looks in hand for the Steelers many will call for Ben and other crucial starters to be pulled

I understand the value of wanting to keep some of your key players healthy. However, Ben will more than likely play this entire game. Mike Tomlin is smart, and he knows that there is a valid way for the 2-6 Cowboys to win this game. Pittsburgh wants that playoff bye week. After having to play 13 games in a row, the bye would mean the most to Pittsburgh come January. Pittsburgh is on the verge of the best start in franchise history and if they beat this Dallas team it will be the first team the black and gold has ever started 8-0.

More importantly, you rarely see starters sat in today’s games for any other reason but performance. It would take an astronomical lead for the Steelers to consider sitting anyone at halftime. Crazy things can happen in the league. There have been multiple 25+ point comebacks in the NFL that started in the second half. The league is that competitive. With Pittsburgh only a half a game ahead of the Chiefs for that #1 seed they have to seal the deal before they consider bringing in reserves to play out the game.

The lead that it would take for them to sit Ben, among other veterans to keep them healthy would have to be something like the Browns game. They had a 38-7 lead in the 4th quarter with just over 5 minutes left before they decided to put in Mason Rudolph in that game. On Mason’s first drive they went 3 and out and then he came out again just to kneel the ball at the end of the game. With Mason not being able to do remotely anything in that situation it isn’t likely they would feel comfortable putting him in unless they were 100% sure that they were going to win.

This game isn’t a guaranteed win by any means. If Pittsburgh was completely healthy on defense I would feel a lot more confident against Dallas in the game. However, the Steelers should still win this game by two possessions.