The Steelers needed another comeback effort to secure our eighth victory against the Dallas Cowboys
Look, I know I have said this seemingly incessantly but I honestly do not know how many more of these ‘ roller coasters’ games I can take. It has gotten to the point where watching the Steelers play has become hazardous to my health.
Although I knew that we would not completely ‘steamroll’ the Cowboys, I had hoped we would make the game a little less of a ‘nail-bitter’ than it was. We are still undefeated and that’s the most important takeaway from a game that frankly could have swung in favor of the Cowboys.
The Steelers overcame a slow start by the offense and several miscues from the special teams to ultimately beat the Cowboys. The defense once again played the ‘bend don’t break’ style and came up with a last-second stop with the game on the line.
So I honestly don’t know how to feel about the 2020 Steelers in terms of whether or not we are a team that can ‘make some noise’ in January. I think we can, but if we keep playing the way we played against the Cowboys, it’s very possible that we find ourselves ‘on the outside looking in’.
That’s probably unlikely, but you never know how long we can keep mounting a comeback to win a game. Hopefully, the Steelers will be able to continue to come from behind to win games when we have to, but I would like to see us win a game without having to mount a comeback.
So let’s take a look at what we learned from the win against the Cowboys.
The Steelers offense seems to be more efficient when we utilize ‘up-tempo’
So what I mean by ‘up-tempo’ is this: rather than huddling up in the traditional sense, the plays are essentially called at the line of scrimmage. Ben Roethlisberger, our franchise QB, orchestrates the offense in this ‘package’.
If you are not as old as I am (51), you probably don’t remember that Terry Bradshaw, our 4-time Super Bowl-winning QB, called his own plays almost exclusively. I am not sure how the plays are called today. For example, it is a traditional play call like ‘Z motion quick 30 trap’, which I just completely made up, or is it based on a ‘concept’, which may be a one or two-word play call?
Regardless of how the plays are called, the point is the offense just seems to be more efficient. According to NFL.com, the Steelers finished the game with 355 total yards, of which 309 yards were generated via the passing game.
You didn’t have to see the game to know that based on the above ‘stat line’, the passing game saved the day against the Cowboys and all the credit really needs to go to ‘Big Ben’. Because we were down at one point 0-13, the running game was almost entirely scrapped in favor of the passing game.
The fact that ‘Big Ben’ was able to march us down the field by throwing the ball 42 times without throwing an INT is a testament to his grasp of and his efficiency in going ‘up-tempo’. Maybe we need to consider starting out the game that way rather than having to implement it when we find ourselves down by 13 points. Just a thought.
Let’s take a look at the second thing we learned.
The Steelers defense knows how to close out a game
At the risk of sounding unappreciative, is there a reason for the Steelers ‘D’ allowing 364 net yards to the Dallas Cowboys with what was essentially their fourth-string QB? I realize we won the game but did it really need to as close as it turned out to be?
Again, I don’t mean to sound unappreciative, but I honestly don’t know how many more of these types of games I can endure. In what should have been a dominant defensive performance, it turned into a hard-fought battle, one in which we ultimately prevailed.
After giving up 13 points to a previously underperforming offense, the Steelers ‘D’ stiffened up in the second half, surrendering only 6 additional points. One thing we can count on from the defense is this: we make plays when plays need to be made.
On the second to last offense series for the Cowboys, Cameron Heyward, our veteran DT, forced his way past the offensive lineman who was trying to block him, applied pressure to the opposing QB and was credited with half a sack. That was exactly was what needed and the defense delivered.
On the final offense drive, the Steelers ‘D’ broke up yet another pass in the endzone to win the game. Although the ‘D’ finished the game with one forced fumble, one INT, and two sacks, the aforementioned final play was just too close for comfort, but, we won so that’s all I care about.
Let’s take a look at the third thing we learned.
The Steelers players and coaches are a resilient bunch
I know I have said this in previous articles, but I will say it again: the Steelers players and coaches are a resilient group. Faced with adversity yet again and in what has seemingly been the case all season, the Steelers found a way to come from behind to secure victory and to remain undefeated.
How long this trend will last is anyone’s guess. Personally, I would like to see us get off to a fast start on offense and dominate on defense so that my 22-year old son and I can relax a little bit while watching our beloved Steelers. Unfortunately, that has not always been possible with the way the season has unfolded thus far.
The fact that we are undefeated speaks volumes about the job Mike Tomlin, our HC, has done not only against the Cowboys but all season. He and the coaching staff should be commended for keeping our players focused on playing the next down or the next series and blocking out any potential distractions.
The Steelers are an undefeated team, albeit a flawed undefeated team
I firmly believe Coach Tomlin should be in serious consideration for Coach of the Year. We could have easily lost against the Cowboys after going down by 13 points, but we did not. The Steelers ‘dug deep’ and pulled out yet another come from behind win.
As has been the case in most games, the Steelers got off to a slow start but turned it around and emerged as the victors. Personally, I think we are a great football team but we are a flawed football team. It’s good to be able to work on those flaws with another win under our belts, but I fear that those flaws will catch up with us one of these weeks.
For right now, let’s enjoy the win and prepare for our next opponent. Bring on the Bengals!