The biggest play of the Dallas Cowboys’ season to date was made by Dak Prescott, and it wasn’t his go-ahead touchdown with 20 seconds left.
It was Prescott diving on a fumble.
In the final minute Sunday night, with the Cowboys facing second-and-goal inside the 1-yard line, the Pittsburgh Steelers seemed to come up with a massive play when linebacker Elandon Roberts hit Rico Dowdle, and the ball popped loose. But Prescott was right there, and he recovered the fumble. Two plays later, on fourth down, Prescott hit Jalen Tolbert for a go-ahead touchdown with 20 seconds left. Dallas held on and won 20-17.
It wasn’t a clean game for Prescott or the Cowboys. Prescott threw two interceptions and fumbled once. Two turnovers came inside the red zone and another led to a fourth-quarter go-ahead touchdown with less than five minutes left.
But because Prescott stuck with it, after his turnovers and on Dowdle’s potentially devastating fumble, the Cowboys left Pittsburgh with a 3-2 record.
Cowboys turnovers keep it close
The Cowboys led 6-3 at half, but at very least it should have been 12-3. The Cowboys were at the 11-yard line when Prescott was hit by T.J. Watt and Nick Herbig. The ball came out and Herbig recovered it, denying the Cowboys a chance at points.
Late in the first half Prescott threw an ugly interception. It seemed there had to be some miscommunication with CeeDee Lamb on a pass to the end zone, because Prescott’s throw was nowhere close to Lamb. It went right to cornerback Donte Jackson, who had to be surprised he had such an easy interception.
It was an ugly first half after a long weather delay to start. Dallas was the team with more opportunities in the first half. But two red zone turnovers by Prescott kept the Steelers within a field goal at halftime.
That made a big difference early in the third quarter when Justin Fields, who took a hard hit at the start of Pittsburgh’s first drive of the third quarter but returned to the game right after, found Connor Heyward for a touchdown. That gave the Steelers a 10-6 lead.
On Dallas’ next drive, a sack pushed the Cowboys back and then Brandon Aubrey’s field-goal attempt was blocked. On a night that began with a huge rainstorm in Pittsburgh and a delay for over an hour, the Cowboys’ sloppiness was costing them dearly.
Steelers fall behind in 4th quarter
The Cowboys finally broke through with a touchdown early in the fourth quarter. Prescott rolled to his right and found Dowdle for a 22-yard score. For all of the Cowboys’ issues through the first three quarters, with that score they led 13-10.
The mistakes didn’t stop. With a chance to extend the lead in the fourth quarter, Prescott threw deep and overthrew Tolbert, allowing Joey Porter Jr. to pick it off. That interception turned into a touchdown for Pittsburgh. The Steelers went on a long, tough drive that was capped by tight end Pat Freiermuth scoring on a shovel pass from Fields. That gave Pittsburgh a 17-13 lead with 4:56 left. Dallas had nobody to blame but itself for trailing the game at that point.
The Cowboys still had one more drive to pull out a win. And while they usually rely on Prescott for offense, Mike McCarthy shifted the responsibility to the running game with the game on the line. Dallas drove downfield and Dowdle was given the ball on second-and-goal. He jumped but was hit hard by Roberts in the air. The ball popped out and even though Prescott recovered it, the Cowboys went back to the 4-yard line. Prescott threw incomplete on third down but came up with the game-winning play to Tolbert on fourth-and-goal.
The Cowboys have a lot to correct after Sunday night. They were far from perfect. But it’ll feel a lot better going over those mistakes with a win at Pittsburgh.