4 takeaways from Steelers 24-19 win against the Cowboys in Week 9

Randy Fichtner was very Randy Fichtner-like

I’ve given credit where credit was due for the Steelers this year. Overall, I thought the Steelers offense has done a good job in the second half. However, Pittsburgh’s first-half play-calling has to be the worst in the league.

While the execution wasn’t perfect, I’m not sure if it would have mattered. Randy Fichtner was atrocious in this contest. His offense could hardly flip the field against a porous Dallas defense. When they did get in scoring territory, Fichtner had the audacity to call two consecutive draws to rookie Anthony McFarland on 3rd and 4th down – both were stopped short of the marker.

As a result, the Steelers scored just 9 points in the first three quarters of the game. Roethlisberger was finally able to spread things out and open up the offense in the fourth quarter, as his team scored 15 straight points to help close out the game. However, this was the worst game of the season for Fichtner and we have the right to question these sluggish starts against bad football teams.