Exhilarating as it was to see Dak Prescott throw the first go-ahead touchdown of his career in the final minute of a regulation game, a comeback like this matters only if it’s a plot point in a larger arc. You will not remember what happened in Week 5 if the Cowboys backslide into mediocrity against New Orleans and Baltimore. Nor will you if these signs of growth fall short of another NFC East crown.
So it will be weeks before we know what this victory means—whether it is a flag plant or a false positive. But already, Sunday showed what these Cowboys can be: flawed, yes, but also determined and resourceful, composed and clutch.
Because Dallas had every excuse to lose. The Cowboys entered this game without all five of their leading sackers from last year and didn’t get through a quarter before second-rounder Marshawn Kneeland, their most promising fill-in for injured starters Micah Parsons and Tank Lawrence, hurt his knee and joined them on the sideline. Twenty-eight-year-old Amani Oruwariye, signed off the practice squad by what is now his fourth NFL franchise in five years, was the third player in as many weeks attempting to patch the DaRon Bland-sized hole in the secondary. There was little reason to trust the run defense, whose impressive work against the Giants didn’t fully erase a horrendous start to the year. There was even less to believe in the offense, which entered the game with the fewest rushing yards in the NFL (311) on the second-lowest average yards per carry (3.5). When first-round pick Tyler Guyton injured his knee, Dallas (justifiably) had so little faith in his backups that it forced Tyler Smith, in the running for the league’s best offensive guard, back outside, where he hadn’t played since his rookie year.
This was what the Cowboys carried into Pittsburgh against a 3-1 Steelers team whose reputation for consistency is as well-earned as Dallas’ for flightiness. And as late as 4:56 remaining in the game, both of those labels were holding strong. Here were the Steelers, riding a four-point lead thanks to a second careless Prescott interception. And there were the Cowboys, poised to yank defeat from the jaws of victory, the way they have too many times in the Mike McCarthy era.
Then the script flipped. You can credit Prescott for some of that, just as you can debit him for sticking Dallas in a hole to begin with. Two members of his supporting cast deserve far less bridled praise.
Rico Dowdle was always the Cowboys’ best running back by default, by virtue of being a normal-sized human (sorry, Deuce Vaughn) who hasn’t looked two years past his best (apologies, Zeke Elliott) and is not a fullback by trade (let it be known that Hunter Luepke is doing solid work, though). That doesn’t necessarily amount to good, however. Until last night, Dowdle skewed more in the direction of serviceable, a barometer for how bad the other options were and how far Dallas had to go to be good on the ground. But there are no caveats or qualifiers necessary for his 107 total yards and a score. Dowdle was a jackhammer, smashing away at Pittsburgh’s defense with six touches on the final drive. Not all of them were impact plays, but each one helped set the tone. There would be no stopping Dallas from pushing forward.
Not that it would have amounted to much had Jalen Tolbert not made the catch of his NFL career after, well, let’s turn it over to Smith:
The 25-year-old leveled up in real time last night, from an error-prone rotation piece grasping for a role to a key cog in a passing offense starved for contributors alongside CeeDee Lamb and Jake Ferguson. Small school players often take time to bloom, and the South Alabama product did so right when Dallas needed it most at receiver: with Brandin Cooks sidelined, without Lamb doing much of anything in the second half. Tolbert profiles as Michael Gallup more than Amari Cooper—someone who tops out as a good third option rather than a legitimate running mate for Lamb—but that still would be an important developmental win for a franchise that likely won’t put significant resources into acquiring outside help on the perimeter.
Those two helped Dallas outgain Pittsburgh by more than 200 yards, an effort that was aided by the rush defense again looking stout (the Steelers averaged 3.5 yards per carry, the same awful number Dallas brought into the game) and the pass defense clamping down on emerging third-year receiver George Pickens (and letting him hear about it, too). It was the sort of performance really good teams put together when their backs are pressed against concrete.
So forget, for a moment, Prescott’s picks and McCarthy’s latest bizarre end-game clock management. Set aside the fretting about who is healthy enough to rush the passer or capable enough to block Prescott’s blind side if Smith, who acquitted himself well, shifts back inside to guard, where he plays a whole lot better than well. None of those concerns have gone away. Any worries about whether Dallas can find the mettle to overcome them have.
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