Fine line: After dealing with a 90-minute delay to start the game, the Steelers Sunday night loss to the Dallas Cowboys went down to the last second, losing, 20-17, on a touchdown with just 20 ticks left on the clock.
There were opportunities, even in the closing seconds when linebacker Elandon Roberts forced a fumble near the goal line that Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott recovered, but as Coach Mike Tomlin said, it was about the fine line.
“I told the team, there’s a fine line between drinking wine and squashing grapes in our business, and that’s an example of it,” said Tomlin. “That ball was on the ground right there in the red area, and that’s the difference.”
While that play is one that stood out at the end, Tomlin knows it wasn’t the only factor.
“I want to congratulate Dallas,” said Tomlin. “I’m going to compliment our guys on their efforts. It was a hard-fought game tonight, but it’s nothing mystical about the outcome.
“I just thought we didn’t do enough over 60 minutes to position ourselves specifically. I thought we started slow offensively, and I thought it was self-inflicted wounds, penalties, and things of that nature to get us off schedule.
“I didn’t think we were as connected as we should have been defensively and some moments in the first half didn’t necessarily manifest itself in terms of points, but it was some field positional, flipping like chunks and things of that nature.
“I thought we settled down and cleaned some of that up over the second half, but obviously when you are playing a good team, and particularly a guy like Dak Prescott, you are in tight ball games, he ends up with the ball last, you got a chance to lose. That’s really just a synopsis of what transpired.”
The Cowboys were 9-of-15 on third down, converting 60%, against a defense that takes pride in getting off the field on third down.
“Early on I didn’t think that we were connected enough from a communications standpoint,” said Tomlin. “They paced us a little bit, but a lot of that’s got to do with Dak. He’s a veteran guy. He’s good in those moments.”
Injuries continued to impact the Steelers, with outside linebacker Nick Herbig leaving the game with a hamstring injury. In addition, defensive lineman DeMarvin Leal, who has been working at outside linebacker with Alex Highsmith injured, has a neck injury that forced him to leave the game.
Back to work: On a night when linebacker T.J. Watt recorded his 100th career sack, with a total of one and a half sacks in the game, there was something much more meaningful and important that he wished would have happened.
A win.
Watt became the second fastest player to reach 100 career sacks, doing it in 109 career games. Only Hall of Famer Reggie White did it faster, reaching the 100-sack mark in 96 games. Watt is also one of only three players to reach 100 career sacks before the age of 30.
But a win would have meant much more to him.
“Like I said all along, especially this year, it’s not about individual accolades,” said Watt. “It’s all about wanting to win. We didn’t do enough to get it done.”
In the loss to the Cowboys, the Steelers allowed two long touchdown drives, one a 16-play, 90-yard drive, and the other a 15-play, 70-yard drive to end the game.
The defense also allowed the Cowboys to convert 9-of-15 third down attempts, something Watt knows isn’t a recipe for success.
“They obviously executed well and made plays in moments where plays needed to be made, and we weren’t able to get off the field,” said Watt. “There was a stretch there where they were able to run the ball on us, and that’s kind of what led to those long drives.
“I think there were (15) and 16 play drives, something like that. Obviously, when numbers are limited, it’s just a long time to be out on the field. Tip of the cap to those guys.
“They had a great game plan, and they executed better than we did.”
Tomlin said the defense wasn’t ‘connected enough’ as far as communication goes early in the game, and Watt said it’s something they have to work on.
“I’m sure we’ll come up with a plan after we watch the film,” said Watt. “Obviously, when the home environment is as loud as it is, that always creates a challenge for defenses. But we can’t make excuses.
“We just need to move forward and put out a better product.”
While Watt would have loved to have seen one of his teammates come away with the Elandon Roberts’ forced fumble in the closing seconds, one that Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott recovered, he knows the game didn’t come down to one play.
“These games in the NFL are so close,” said Watt. “It could be one play here or there, but obviously there’s a collection of work, a whole body of work that we’re going to have to go back and look at.
“It didn’t come down to just one play tonight.”
And, sitting at 3-2 after the loss, Watt said there is just one thing they have to do.
“We just need to get back to work,” said Watt.
Slow start: The Steelers offense started off slow again on Sunday night against the Cowboys, putting up only three points from a Chris Boswell field goal in the first half, before scoring 17 points in the second half.
There were opportunities, opportunities they didn’t take advantage of as quarterback Justin Fields said, they keep shooting themselves in the foot.
“Penalties make it hard,” said Fields. “Especially when you are in third and manageable, third and short. We get those penalties and make it third and ten or third and long or whatever it is. Of course, that’s going to make it harder.”
Fields is one to never shy away from putting blame on his own shoulders, including shouldering the blame for a missed attempt to Calvin Austin III.
“There was one-third down where the offensive line protected well,” said Fields. “I got the snap, and the ball was wet. Cal was over the middle. That’s on nobody but me at the end of the day.
“I think the recurring thing is just shooting ourselves in the foot. Penalties, false starts, and stuff like that. It just comes down to execution.”
Fields also pointed to a first quarter pass attempt to tight end Darnell Washington, where he took responsibility for not being able to connect with his big tight end, with safety Malik Hooker in coverage.
“I think I just threw it too hot to be honest,” said Fields. “He’s a big body. (Hooker) was pretty tight in coverage, but he didn’t have eyes back. So, I probably could have put it lower. The worst thing that would have happened was a DPI or incomplete pass, which it was. So, I just have to give him more of a chance on that. I told him that.”
