Steelers player of the game vs. the Cowboys in Week 9

The cardiac kids strike again as the Steelers hang on to win this game 24-19. It was in no way a pretty win for the black and yellow but they keep their undefeated streak alive.

Another tale of two halves commenced in this game as it became an ugly slugfest. That is a less than ideal description as many fans thought this was going to be a dominant victory over Dallas. The now 8-0 team under Mike Tomlin has had a lot of close games this season. Every time the situation has occurred, the Steelers have been victorious and found ways to win.

After a very poor first half all around, the second half showed a good enough reformed game plan for the men from the Steel City. There was even an injury scare with Ben Roethlisberger having some knee issues and that was frightening as halftime came and went. But like a Phoenix rising from the ashes of defeat, Roethlisberger commanded the second half and played so much better than his first-half performance.

A huge turnover by Minkah Fitzpatrick in the red zone and a nice shuffle of plays at the halftime break seemed to be enough to propel the Steelers over their Cowboy foe. This team has still failed to overcome their follies so far and they need to clean that up immediately. They cannot afford to continue these gaffes this far into the season. No matter if you are playing a good or bad team, those teams still have NFL talent and you can’t sleep on them.

Ben Roethlisberger bailed out his team by slinging the football.

Roethlisberger mirrored his team’s play as he showed up in the second half. He was putting on a clinic beside a few poorly placed footballs. He was able to take advantage of the Cowboys depleted defense and do enough to leave Texas with a win even if it was a struggle along the way.

Big Ben was able to compile a stat sheet of 306 passing yards, 113.8 passer rating, 69% completion percentage, and three passing touchdowns.

Ugly wins are still wins and that allows you to get better as you succeed. The issue is that the issues have not been cleaned up over the many games in which they occurred so far. Going forward this team needs to put their foot on the gas and stop allowing these lesser opponents to hang around with them. Then again, the Steelers always struggle with lesser teams and find ways of making those closer games.

A win is a win and that is what the Steelers were able to do as they move onto 8-0 on the season. It will extend Mike Tomlins’ streak of never having a losing season as a coach for Pittsburgh.