2024 Week 5: Cowboys 20, Steelers 17
The Steelers looked like the better of the two teams, but the Cowboys played a smarter game. Kudos to Mike McCarthy, and he doesn’t get that often. Pittsburgh had a ton of chances to win and never took advantage, they deserved to lose.
Dallas (3-2) is on a very lucky two-game winning streak, and they should/could have lost both of those games. The Cowboys have a very tough schedule coming up: Lions-BYE-Niners. A very lucky schedule having a BYE after playing the Lions… the Detroit hangover is real.
Pittsburgh is also (3-2) and they have a get-right game against the Raiders coming up.
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QB Report:
- This was Justin Fields' (15/27 for 131 yards, 2 TDs, 6 rushes for 27 yards) worst game of the season and it was still decent, it’s just the offense is so lame if Fields isn’t on his A-game he has disappointing numbers. Fields is the starter for now… but if they lose to the Raiders this week then I expect Russell Wilson to take over. Fields starts as long as Pittsburgh is winning games. If the Steelers could get their way they would run the ball every play featuring Russell Wilson, Najee, and any of their boring non-Pickens/Austin receivers.
Kyle Allen (1/1 for 19 yards) came in for two plays and threw a 19-yard bullet.
RB Report:
- Rico Dowdle (20-87-0, 2 catches for 27 yards, 1TD) played his best game by far. Pittsburgh wasn’t worried about Dowdle and they just let him do his thing. Dowdle’s TD only happened because a defender slipped in coverage leaving him wide open in the end zone.
- Najee Harris (14-42-0, 2 catches for 35 yards) is having the worst year of his career, and the Steelers coaches can’t get enough of it. Harris hasn’t scored a touchdown and is averaging a measly 3.3 yards per carry. Part of the issue with Harris is that the two better backs Pittsburgh has, Jaylen Warren and Cordarelle Patterson, can’t stay on the field. I have dreams of these two playing but I know it won’t happen.
WR/TE Report:
- George Pickens (3-26-0) only played 59% of the snaps and is officially in Mike Tomlin’s doghouse. Pickens has, to put it nicely, an eccentric personality. He won’t go quietly and this could have big repercussions in the locker room. Tomlin is saying Pickens is playing fewer snaps because of ‘load management’ but we all know it's BS… this is the same thing they said about Chase Claypool years ago.
- Jalen Tolbert (7-87-1/10) had a great game and was a big benefactor of the Brandin Cooks injury. The ball has to go somewhere and it mainly went to Tolbert. In the second half, DB Joey Porter Jr (4 tackles, 1 PD) locked down CeeDee Lamb (5-62-0/9) who is shown yelling at Dak Prescott (29/42 for 352 yards, 2 TDs/ 2 INTs) every game now. Dak has enough trust in Tolbert to be the guy Prescott goes to, and Lamb draws the ace coverage so Tolbert will have more opportunities. Everyone thinks that Tolbert is some ace-in-the-hole waiver pickup but when has Brandin Cooks ever shown consistency?
The real winner is TE Jake Ferguson (6-70-0/7).
D/ST Report:
- Payton Wilson (9 tackles) is on the rise… 9 tackles but still barely playing over half of the snaps.
image source: (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)