The Dallas Cowboys had to fight to win on Sunday Night Football as it took a last-minute score to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers for their third victory of the year.
After failing to punch it in on first and second goal, the Cowboys were forced to drop back and throw on third down following a fumble from Rico Dowdle, who had a poor attempt to dive over the goal-line only to risk the game. On third down, Prescott missed a shot at wide receiver Jalen Tolbert over the middle of the end zone.
This is where things got interesting: Tolbert was visibly shaken up after the play but he remained in the huddle for fourth and goal. This was when head coach Mike McCarthy called a timeout to think about the play-call that would make or break the game.
Tolbert, who is currently the No. 2 wide receiver with Brandin Cooks on Injured Reserve, exited the field during that timeout, probably because of his being banged up. That meant the Cowboys were taking the field with CeeDee Lamb, Jalen Brooks, and debuting rookie Ryan Flournoy. In other words, not exactly a great trio of receivers.
Enter Mike Tomlin: The Steelers head coach called a timeout of his own, which resulted in Tolbert being able to re-enter the game after catching his breath. The rest is history.
Dak Prescott got a clean pocket and was able to buy some more time by stepping to his left before firing a laser to Tolbert that only the receiver could get his hands on for the go-ahead touchdown. With less than thirty seconds to go, the Cowboys were up 20-17.
You could even argue that it was poor awareness from Tomlin. He probably had his reasons to call the timeout, but you can easily make the case that he could’ve caught Tolbert exiting the field and that he should’ve dared Prescott to score on them without two of his top four receiving weapons.
It wasn’t a pretty win but it certainly was one the Cowboys needed badly. With games against the Detroit Lions and San Francisco 49ers up next, Dallas losing to the Steelers would be a massive hit for their playoff chances.
Both teams played some bad football on Sunday night but clearly, the Cowboys were able to close it out with a 90-yard touchdown drive early in the fourth quarter and a 70-yard touchdown drive ending with the Tolbert catch for the win.
