The Pittsburgh Steelers are preparing to take on the Dallas Cowboys in a highly-anticipated Sunday Night Football contest between two of the NFL's most storied franchises. These two out-of-conference opponents face each other just once every four years, and this is a game that many folks had circled on their calendars.
While a loss to the Cowboys in Week 5 would have no bearing on the divisional or conference record for the Steelers, Pittsburgh is coming off a sluggish loss to the Colts in Week 4 and would love nothing more than to stick it to 'America's Team' under the lights of their own turf at Acrisure Stadium.
In a matchup that is projected to be close, the Steelers could use a little home-field advantage from the officiating crew on hand. Here are the announcers and referees for this Sunday Night Football matchup.
Announcers for Steelers vs. Cowboys
- Network: NBC
- Play-by-play: Mike Tirico
- Color commentary: Chris Collinsworth
- Sideline reporter: Melissa Stark
In Week 4, the Steelers competed with a host of other teams for viewership during the early slate on CBS. This time around, all eyes will be on them. Pittsburgh hosts the Dallas Cowboys for a nostalgic Sunday Night Football matchup on NBC.
Mike Tirico will call the play-by-play while the brilliant (and sometimes aggravating) Chris Collinsworth will chime in as the color commentator. Melissa Stark will be on the sidelines at Acrisure Stadium with the latest news and updates from the game.
Referees for Steelers vs. Cowboys
Head Referee (Crew Chief)
The head official for Sunday Night Football in Week 5 is Shawn Hochuli. Shawn is the son of long-time referee Ed Hochuli (whose career spanned nearly two decades from 1999 to 2017). Shawn overlapped with his father as an NFL ref from 2014 to 2017.
Shawn Hochuli became a lead official in 2018. Fortunately, he's notorious for throwing fewer penalties on the home team over the years. His crew has thrown more penalties on the visiting team in five of the past six seasons.
That trend is continuing in his seventh year as a head referee. Through four games this season, Hochuli's crew has thrown 17 penalties on the home team and 21 on the away team. Hochuli is averaging 12.67 penalties thrown per game, which is slightly below the league average this year of 13.20 per contest.
Interestingly, the home team is 4-0 under Hochuli's watch in 2024.
Full Officiating Crew:
Referee: Shawn Hochuli
Umpire: Terry Killens
Down Judge: Patrick Holt
Line Judge: Tim Podraza
Field Judge: Jason Ledet
Side Judge: Jim Quirk
Back Judge: Jimmy Russell
Replay Official: Jamie Nicholson
Replay Assistant: Adam Choate