Steelers Have One Name to Worry About, Which Means They Don't Have to Worry About the Cowboys
PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Steelers head to Dallas to take on the Cowboys in Jerry World. Any other year, we'd be talking about slow starts, falling short to opponents they shouldn't have and somehow having to find three-straight wins on the road.
This season, it's different. The Steelers aren't starting slow, their two toughest games of the road trip are behind them, and somehow, they're headed to Dallas to take on what might be their worst opponents of the season.
The 2-6 Cowboys don't have much to show this season. They've lost Dak Prescott, five offensive linemen and their tight end. They haven't scored a touchdown in two weeks, and now they're looking at either Gabriel Gilbert or Cooper Rush to take over at quarterback.
It's pretty safe to say the Cowboys aren't much of a threat.
But this is the NFL. Every week, someone mentions how everyone who puts on a helmet in this league is a professional and how no one can be taken lightly. Not even the Cowboys.
"We have a lot more games," defensive end Cam Heyward said on Wednesday. "For us to get too high or too low would be ill will. Theres a lot more football to be played and if we don't play up to our standard, we're setting ourselves up for failure."
That might not necessarily be true. The Steelers head to Dallas with confidence, but even if their offense can't find points to put on the board, nothing has suggested their defense can't handle the job.
"If they can't score, you can't lose." Classic words of Mike Tomlin that ring true as the Steelers prepare for the Cowboys.
Dallas holds plenty of offense, but only one component the Steelers need to worry about. Luckily, for them, it's been their primary focus for each opponent they've faced this season.
"We're dealing with a heck of a back this week," Heyward said on Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott. "Zeke is that guy. He is the premiere running back in our league. We've got to make sure guys tackle well, we're in our gaps, and then when one guy misses, we have another three guys ready to attack."
Through eight games, Elliott has 521 yards and five touchdowns to add to the Cowboys' offense. At the same time, he's also lost four fumbles and the fourth-most rushing attempts by any running back this season.
The Steelers allowed just their second 100-yard rushing performance by an offense this season. Their 265 yards allowed to the Baltimore Ravens in Week 8 left a nasty taste in their mouth as they left M&T Bank Stadium 7-0.
"This wasn't our best defensive performance game, at all, but those two drives that we did those stops on were the most important," defensive end Stephon Tuitt said following the game Sunday. "We were in an adversity situation and we overcame it. They're a good team. We need to do better defensively in these moments, and we will."
Right now, the Cowboys don't have an answer at quarterback. Andy Dalton was placed on Reserve/COVID-19, Ben DiNucci has been benched and Dallas is now hoping scraps from the sideline can help turn this team around against the NFL's last unbeaten team.
Don't expect the Steelers to struggle against the run when they enter AT&T Stadium on Sunday. They have one player to focus on, and they've done a pretty good job shutting down running backs through seven games.
Maybe there's some concern about this team entering the final game of a three-game road trip. Perhaps they do start slow and take a little to find the endzone on offense. But don't expect them to let the Cowboys build a lead. They're just too one-dimensional to find success against the Steelers defense.
Noah Strackbein is a Publisher with AllSteelers. Follow Noah on Twitter @NoahStrack, and AllSteelers @si_steelers.
