Steelers allow touchdown in final seconds, fall to Cowboys

An all-too-familiar bad start for the Pittsburgh Steelers offense was accompanied by an equally poor finish by the defense, and it added up to a deflating loss to the Dallas Cowboys early Monday morning at Acrisure Stadium.

The Steelers, held to a field goal in the first half for the second week in a row, rallied to erase a pair of second-half deficits only to have the defense give up the winning score on a fourth-down touchdown pass with 20 seconds left in a 20-17 defeat.

The loss was the second in a row for the Steelers (3-2) and came on a night when the opening kickoff was delayed for almost 90 minutes because of lightning strikes and heavy rain.

Until the final five minutes, it looked like the wait would be worth it for the paid crowd of 67,380.

Justin Fields threw two touchdown passes in the second half, the latter a 6-yard toss to Pat Freiermuth that provided a 17-13 lead with 4 minutes, 56 seconds to play.

The Cowboys, unable to generate a red-zone touchdown the entire night, went 70 yards in 15 plays and got the winning touchdown on Dak Prescott’s 4-yard pass to Jalen Tobert on fourth-and-goal.

“There’s a fine line between drinking wine and squashing grapes in our business, and that’s an example of it,” coach Mike Tomlin said after his team’s second consecutive three-point defeat in as many weeks.

For the second week in a row, the Steelers waited until the second half to score a touchdown. But unlike the previous weekend in Indianapolis when the Steelers never held a lead, they were ahead 10-6 and 17-13.

And this time a defense that forced three turnovers couldn’t come up with the final big stop that was required.

The Cowboys gained 445 yards against the NFL’s second-ranked defense, nearly doubling the Steelers’ modest 226-yard output. Prescott finished with 352 yards passing and two touchdowns. The Cowboys had 86 of their 109 rushing yards after halftime.

“These games in the NFL are so close. It could be one play here or there,” outside linebacker T.J. Watt said. “But obviously there is 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.”

On the winning drive, the Cowboys converted twice on third down — they were 9 of 15 in such situations for the game — and were inside the 1 in the final minute. Elandon Roberts forced a fumble on a second-down run, but Prescott fell on the ball for a 3-yard loss.

“That’s the difference,” Tomlin said.

After Prescott threw incomplete to the back of the end zone on third down, he found Tolbert at the goal line on fourth down. Tolbert beat safety DeShon Elliott on the play.

“I thought we had it,” Elliott said. “It’s on me, man. I gave up two touchdowns tonight. It’s on me.”

The Steelers were in man coverage, which the Cowboys combated by having Tolbert run a crossing route across the goal line.

“I’ve got to get through traffic,” Elliott said. “They ran a man-beater, and the man-beater beat the man.”

Starting for perhaps the final time before Russell Wilson is cleared to return from a calf injury, Fields completed 15 of 27 passes for 127 yards and had second-half touchdown passes to Connor Heyward and Freiermuth.

Fields left the game for two plays on the first drive of the third quarter after he was hit in the head on a play that drew a roughing-the-passer call. He returned in time to finish off a six-play, 72-yard touchdown drive that ended with a 6-yard touchdown pass to Heyward. It gave the Steelers their first lead, 10-6.

On the next possession, the Cowboys got to the red zone for the fourth time. And for the third time, they came away empty-handed. Isaiahh Loudermilk blocked Brandon Aubrey’s 28-yard field goal attempt to keep the 10-6 lead intact.

The Cowboys didn’t squander their next opportunity, driving 90 yards in 16 plays to take a 13-10 lead with 13:51 remaining on Prescott’s 22-yard touchdown pass to Rico Dowdle with Elliott in coverage. The Cowboys converted three times on third down, and a holding call against slot corner Beanie Bishop negated a third-down sack by Cameron Heyward.

Prescott’s second interception and his third turnover of the game opened the door for another comeback. The Steelers went 63 yards in 12 plays and took a 17-13 lead on Fields’ 6-yard touchdown pass to Freiermuth with 4:56 left.

Entering the drive, the Steelers were 1 of 9 on third down. They converted twice and once on fourth down. George Pickens’ gained 22 yards on a third-down reception, just his second of the game, and a late hit out of bounds moved the ball to the Dallas 6. Two plays later, Fields threw a shovel pass to Freiermuth for the touchdown.

It was the first points the Steelers got after getting a takeaway.

“We’ve got to be better,” Tomlin said. “You are plus-three in some of those instances. Man, it shouldn’t come down to that. We didn’t do a lot of things well enough to secure victory, no doubt.”

Once again, the stated goal of getting off to a fast start didn’t materialize as the Steelers trailed 6-3 at halftime.

For the second game in a row, the Steelers were held to a field goal in the first 30 minutes. They have scored just two touchdowns in the first half through five weeks and are averaging 6.4 first-half points.

After getting a 41-yard field goal from Chris Boswell on their first drive, the Steelers totaled four first downs and 32 net yards the rest of the half. They also were 1 of 7 on third down.

Fields also had another fumble, losing possession at the end of a 14-yard sack. He recovered the ball, with the Cowboys unsuccessfully challenging that they had gotten to it first.

Prescott had 188 yards passing in the opening half, but he also had two turnovers. He lost a fumble on a sack, and he threw an interception at the Steelers’ 2 with the Cowboys trying to build on their 6-3 lead.

“When you look at this game, there were a lot of ebbs and flows, a rollercoaster,” Cameron Heyward said. “We had good plays, bad plays. When you look at this game, you’re kicking yourself. We had some golden opportunities.”