Cowboys vs. Steelers: Full Report Card Grades for Dallas
In what was the toughest matchup all season for the Dallas Cowboys, Ezekiel Elliott and Dak Prescott didn't flinch. The rookie duo that has been talked about all season was once again impressive, this time on the road in one of the toughest environments in sports in Heinz Field. Against a Pittsburgh Steelers team that was in dire need of a win, the Cowboys managed to come back not only once, but twice to improve to 8-1.
In the first quarter, it looked like the Cowboys were going to get blown out. Dallas' defense had no answers for the explosive duo of Ben Roethlisberger and Le'Veon Bell. Two quick scores gave the Steelers 12 points. They failed to convert on both of their two-point conversions. In the Cowboys' second offensive series, Prescott faked the quick handoff to Lucky Whitehead and then geared back to connect with Elliott on a screen pass. Elliott took the ball the rest of the way behind his blocks, which gave the Cowboys their first score of the game.
After Pittsburgh punted, the Cowboys would score on a Dan Bailey field goal. A Pittsburgh field goal put the Steelers back on top. Near the end of the first half, the Cowboys squandered an opportunity to move the ball down the field. Pittsburgh took over and while Roethlisberger got the team within field-goal range, Chris Boswell missed on a deep field goal, which kept the score at 15-13.
Near the end of the third quarter, Prescott found Dez Bryant for a 50-yard touchdown. After the touchdown, Bryant took a moment to honor the death of his father, who died last night. Bryant was emotional after the play.
Le'Veon Bell's second touchdown on the day came with just about eight minutes left in the fourth quarter. In response to that, the Cowboys slowly drove the ball down the field. The 10-play, 75-yard drive was capped off on a 14-yard touchdown run from Elliott. A failed two-point conversion kept the score at 29-24.
With two timeouts and about 1:45 to go, the Steelers drove the football down the field with ease. After a big play from Jesse James, instead of spiking the ball to clock the ball, Roethlisberger looked deep to connect with Antonio Brown in the end zone. Pittsburgh failed on its two-point conversion attempt to put the score at 30-29.
All Dallas needed to do was get Bailey in field-goal range. After Prescott found Cole Beasley for a 10-yard reception, the Cowboys called their first of three timeouts. The next play could go down as the play of the game. Prescott found Jason Witten for a 13-yard reception. However, toward the end of the play, rookie defensive back Sean Davis pulled Witten down by the facemask, which tacked on 15 yards for the Cowboys.
The following play looked to just be an Elliott run for a few yards to make for an easier field-goal attempt for Bailey. Instead, the offensive line destroyed the Steelers front, Elliott got through and saw daylight for a 32-yard walk-off touchdown run.
Read on for full grades and analysis from the Cowboys' eighth consecutive win of the season.
Pass Offense
1 of 6
After what was a rocky start, Prescott proved again just how mature he is for a rookie quarterback. I can't express enough the impact the Cowboys coaching staff has had on Prescott. It seems he does something new and impressive each week. Going up against an underrated Pittsburgh secondary, Prescott got in rhythm and didn't look back.
Prescott finished with a 121.7 passer rating. He completed 22 of 32 passes for 319 yards and two touchdowns. His Week 10 performance was the first 300-yard performance of his career. Prescott was the orchestrator of two touchdown drives. Despite being in a difficult environment, the rookie proved again just why the Cowboys have so much faith on him. The rook is now 8-1 in his young career. It's safe to say the post-Tony Romo era looks extremely bright.
Grade: A
Rush Offense
2 of 6
Talk about sensational. Fourth overall pick Ezekiel Elliott is just that. The Cowboys are going to continue to ride Elliott and see where he can take them. The offensive line paired with a runner as quick and decisive as Elliott is a duo that has opposing defenses scared.
In this matchup, Elliott toted the rock just 23 times. However, he tallied up 209 total yards for a total of three touchdowns. That stat line is just ridiculous. Elliott had two go-ahead touchdowns late in the fourth quarter in this one. In each of his runs, Elliott was making his impact felt. The rookie can simply do it all. With No. 21 on the field, the Cowboys' ceiling is extremely high.
Grade: A+
Pass Defense
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Without Brandon Carr and Barry Church for the second consecutive week, this unit leaked heavily. Last week against the Cleveland Browns, the Cowboys secondary managed to hold up just fine. But against a future Hall of Famer in Ben Roethlisberger and perhaps the best playmaker in all of football in Antonio Brown, they were subjected to getting beat multiple times in this one.
Things didn't help in the fourth quarter when Orlando Scandrick left the game with injury. Recently promoted Leon McFadden was brought in for significant time, and the Steelers attacked the inexperienced corner. Roethlisberger finished with 408 yards on three touchdowns. In the receiving game, Brown caught 14 passes for 154 yards and a touchdown.
All that matters for Dallas is the victory, but the hope has to be that Morris Claiborne's injury is not serious. Hopefully, Claiborne can return sooner rather than later. Also, the lack of a pass rush continues to hurt the Cowboys. It may be time for defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli to get more creative and start bringing additional pass-rushers more often.
Grade: D+
Rush Defense
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In the first drive, Pittsburgh's All-Pro running back Le'Veon Bell looked destined to have a big day. Sure he had two touchdowns, but he managed just 57 yards on 17 carries. In total, the Steelers had only 48 yards on 19 carries. That's an average of 2.5 yards per carry.
The man of the night in the front seven was once again Sean Lee. The perennial Pro Bowler finished with nine total tackles, including two tackles for loss. Byron Jones was also heavily involved in the run defense with 12 total tackles. DeMarcus Lawrence also had his best performance of the year, finishing with four total tackles, a sack and a quarterback hit. If the Cowboys want to be successful, they're going to need Lawrence to produce this type of production going forward.
Grade: A+
Special Teams
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For the entire season, this part of the weekly grades has been a common occurrence. This unit continuously gets an "A" grade, and it's usually for the play of Dan Bailey and Chris Jones. In this game, Bailey was automatic from 37, 53 and 46 as well as all his extra-point attempts. Chris Jones had three punts for 145 yards. Both Bailey and Jones were excellent.
However, Lucky Whitehead finally made an impact in the return game as well. In what was the Steelers' first three-and-out in the game, Pittsburgh punter Jordan Berry boomed one 57 yards to the Cowboys' 12-yard drive. With room to run, Whitehead made three defenders miss. If Whitehead had made one more player miss, it would've been a touchdown.
Nonetheless, Whitehead returned the ball to the Steelers' 49-yard line. Three plays later, the Cowboys scored a touchdown. Whitehead has received criticism in the past for his decision-making with returns, but he got the last word against his naysayers in this game for that momentum-changing return.
Grade: A+
Coaching
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What more can be said about Jason Garrett? Now in his fifth full season as the Cowboys head coach, Garrett has this team playing excellent football. In fact, Garrett has this team at its hottest streak in decades. The last time the Cowboys won eight in a row, they went on to win the Super Bowl just a few months later. That's the goal of this Cowboys team.
Despite having youngsters all over the place, the Cowboys are showing each week why they are the true class of the NFC. Yes, there are question marks at a few places, but the Cowboys are in position to win in every single game. That doesn't happen based off luck. A lot goes into that happening, and the primary reasons are because of the impact not only Garrett has had, but also the impact coordinators Scott Linehan and Rod Marinelli have had. But as of now, Garrett is, and should be, the Coach of the Year.
Grade: A
Feel free to reach out to me on Twitter @RyanRattyNFL. I'm always willing to talk football.
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