USA TODAY International Edition
Cowboys’ DE after loss: Nobody’s elite
ARLINGTON, Texas – The Cowboys, running back Ezekiel Elliott wants to be clear, are not hunting moral victories.
“We are still here to win football games,” Elliott said Sunday after a 24- 19 loss to Pittsburgh. “And we got to figure out ways to win football games.”
But if Elliott is cautious to celebrate any discoveries about what a five- point loss to the Steelers says about the Cowboys, allow DeMarcus Lawrence to unpack what the contest said about their competition.
“I don’t feel like nobody in this league is elite,” Lawrence said as the Cowboys fell to 2- 7 and the Steelers improved to 8- 0. “You look at their schedule or their record, and their record might say different. But clearly, by looking at the game today, ain’t nobody elite. Everybody has a chance to win.”
Perhaps that came as a surprise to some after the Cowboys, starting their fourth quarterback in five weeks, were deemed 14 1⁄ 2- point underdogs at home against Pittsburgh. Add in the league’s worst rushing defense, most turnoverhappy offense and a special teams unit that failed even to consistently field 11 players in several games? The Cowboys’ outlook entering the Steelers game was bleak. Their view emerging from the game is slightly brighter.
“This was clearly our best team football that we played this year,” coach Mike McCarthy said. “That was a hardfought football game to say the least.”
A defense allowing 170.8 rushing yards per game limited Pittsburgh to 46.
The Steelers remained scoreless until the last two minutes of halftime. Ben Roethlisberger’s 2 passing yards in the first quarter was the worst mark of his career, per ESPN Stats and Info.
The defense has now strung together two energetic performances. On special teams, a trick- play pass from receiver Cedrick Wilson to defensive back C. J. Goodwin transformed a punt return into a 73- yard gain. Running back Rico Dowdle, who previously had three career carries for 13 yards, juked a kickoff return into 64 yards. Defensive lineman Tyrone Crawford blocked a Pittsburgh extra- point attempt.
An offense that hadn’t scored a touchdown in either of the last two games – and three games ago, only in garbage time of the final minutes of a blowout loss to the Cardinals – reached the end zone on a 20- yard pass from quarterback Garrett Gilbert to rookie receiver CeeDee Lamb in the second quarter. In total, Dallas scored on five of its first seven possessions.
But late in the game, the Cowboys’ performance unraveled. Gilbert threw his first interception three minutes into the fourth quarter. On the resulting series, linebackers Jaylon Smith and Leighton Vander Esch drew penalties on consecutive plays. What would have been a strip sack of Roethlisberger instead extended Pittsburgh’s drive, which culminated in a field goal.
On the Steelers’ next drive after a Cowboys punt, Roethlisberger missed receiver Chase Claypool on 3rdand- 10. Smith, however, was flagged again, this time for a roughing- thepasser penalty.