Dallas Cowboys Team Grades: Dak Prescott Leads Cowboys To Last-Minute Win Over Steelers
The Dallas Cowboys went into Sunday's Week 10 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers with the best record in the NFC at 7-1 and rookie Dak Prescott leading the way. The Steelers took the lead with less than a minute remaining in the game and Dak Prescott proved he is not only the Dallas Cowboys quarterback of the future, but their quarterback of the present as well. Prescott led the Cowboys down the field in the final minute of the game and finished his second come-from-behind game-winning drive of the season to beat the Steelers, 35-30.
Offense: A
It is hard to find any fault in the Dallas Cowboys' offensive performance. The only thing keeping the Cowboys from getting a perfect A+ is a fumble by quarterback Dak Prescott and five drives ending in either a field goal or a punt. For the second time this season, Dak Prescott led his team in an end-of-game touchdown drive (the first time was against Philadelphia in overtime). That drive saw Prescott complete three of four passes, one of which resulted in a 15-yard facemask penalty, and culminated in an Ezekiel Elliott 32-yard touchdown run.
By the end, Prescott posted his first ever 300-yard passing game while throwing two touchdowns and no interceptions. Ezekiel Elliott ran for 114 yards and two touchdowns and caught two passes for 95 yards and a touchdown. Dez Bryant caught six balls for 116 yards and a touchdown. Cole Beasley (five catches for 33 yards) and Jason Witten (six catches for 59 yards) were also big in the game and Dallas did almost everything right on offense.
Defense: C-
The Dallas Cowboys defense has overachieved all season. They shut down Aaron Rodgers a few weeks back, but Ben Roethlisberger just picked them apart in this game. Big Ben completed 37 of 46 passes for 408 yards and three touchdowns. The Cowboys only sacked him once and he had his way with the Cowboys, including a flawless touchdown drive with under one minute left in the game.
Add to this fact that Antonio Brown caught 14 passes for 154 yards and a touchdown. That touchdown was slightly embarrassing for the Cowboys as Roethlisberger faked a spike and then threw the touchdown pass to Brown while most of the Cowboys just stood still and watched in shock. Add in Le'Veon Bell running for 57 yards and catching nine passes for 77 more with two touchdowns and this was the Cowboys' worst defensive performance of the year.
Special Teams: A-
Dan Bailey is the best kicker in the NFL and continued to show why in this game. He hit all three of his field goal attempts, including a 53-yard kick that was the longest in the history of Pittsburgh's Heinz Field. Lucky Whitehead had a nice game with at least one of his punt returns, going 39 yards and putting Dallas in position for a three-play touchdown drive. Dallas still struggles on special teams defense, though, giving up 50 yards on two kick returns and a 22-yard return by Antonio Brown in the game.
Coaching: A-
Here is what fans need to take out of this Dallas Cowboys win: The Cowboys coaching staff believes in Dak Prescott after not trusting any of their quarterbacks in 2015. They let Prescott air the ball out, trying long passes, and gave him every chance in the world to win this game. They threw the ball 32 times and ran it 25 times; their offense was coached perfectly to win. However, the defense showed cracks and almost blew the Cowboys' offensive performance.
Up next:
Up next for the Dallas Cowboys (9-1, 5-0) is a home game against the Baltimore Ravens, the team's third straight game against an AFC North team. The Ravens are 5-4 on the season, 2-2 on the road and are coming off a win over the winless Cleveland Browns this past Thursday night. That game is an early game next Sunday and Tony Romo will return, albeit as the new backup to Dak Prescott.
Post Author: Shawn S. Lealos.
