FRISCO, TEXAS — The Dallas Cowboys are heading to the Steel City, to take on the Pittsburgh Steelers for a Sunday night primetime matchup.
Making history on Sunday night:
This Sunday will be the first Sunday Night Football matchup between Dallas and Pittsburgh. The Cowboys have the most number of appearances on SNF, with their 80th being this week; the Steelers have appeared third-most in the NFL, this week being their 57th. Interestingly enough, Pittsburgh will tie the New England Patriots for the second-most number of appearances as of this Sunday—these are the only two teams to have more Super Bowl rings than the Cowboys, their six each to Dallas’ five.
Week 4 in review:
The Steelers are coming off a 27-24 loss to the Indianapolis Colts, their first of the season, where they gave up a season-high 358 total yards. The defense has been stout, allowing opponents just a combined total of 2 touchdowns and 26 points. Quarterback Justin Fields passed for 312 yards, the second highest of his career, and had 3 TDs, leading the team with 55 rushing yards. Dallas, on the other hand, got back in the win column after beating the New York Giants 20-15. The Cowboys allowed just 26 rushing yards in that one, the fewest they’ve allowed in a game since Week 2 of 2015. QB Dak Prescott completed 81.5% of his passes, going 22-of-27 for 221 passing yards and 2 TDs.
Stopping Ezekiel Elliot:
The Steelers have only allowed two players to reach 200-plus scrimmage yards: Dalvin Cook, when he played for the Minnesota Vikings in 2021, and Ezekiel Elliott, back when they won in 2016. That game saw Elliott score a game winning touchdown for 32 yards, and a career-long 83-yard TD reception for the now veteran. He only needs 15 yards on the ground to reach 9,000 rushing yards in his career—while attainable, it will still be difficult with the Steelers being ranked 4th in run defense, allowing an average of 86.8 yards per game.
WATTch out for T.J.:
Right tackle Terrance Steele will have his work cut out for him on Sunday night when he is face-to-face with linebacker T.J. Watt. He had no QB sacks or hits v. Indianapolis, he could manage to earn his 100th career sack this Sunday.
The past with Pittsburgh:
History began between these two as early as 1960: the Cowboys’ inaugural game in the NFL was against Pittsburgh, a 35-28 loss for Dallas; they also opened their second season with the Steelers, too, this time winning 27-24 in 1961. They met each other in Super Bowls X, XIII and XXX, Pittsburgh winning two of the three. Since 1996, they’ve only played one another six times. Dallas has won two of the last three meetings, most recently losing 24-19 in 2020, during Mike McCarthy’s first year at the helm, and winning in Pittsburgh 35-30 back in 2016, during Prescott’s rookie season.
