Cheat Sheet: Steelers vs. Cowboys

The Cowboys currently hold a 17-16 lead in the series, but these two teams haven't played since the Steelers' victory in Dallas in 2020. Pittsburgh is 7-4 against the Cowboys since 1985. 13 times did these franchises meet between 1960 and 1966. Naturally, Super Bowls X, XIII, and XXX were the most memorable encounters between Dallas and Pittsburgh, with the Steelers winning the first two in the 1970s.

The Steelers have a record of 3-1, including 1-0 at home. Pittsburgh has seven more home games scheduled, including this one. This season, they have outscored their opponents by 22 points. At 2-2, the Cowboys have won all of their road games this season. They are separated by minus seven points.

4.9 yards are being gained by the Steelers on each play. Dallas concedes 5.4. 5.4 yards per play is being produced by the Dallas offense. The defense of the Steelers is allowing 4.9.

The Steelers' record with no interceptions since 2022 is 19-4, while their record with at least one interceptions is 3-11. Since 2023, Pittsburgh has gone 8-1 when it has forced multiple turnovers, and 1-4 when it has only one. The Steelers are 30-7 when they win or tie the turnover battle over the past three seasons, including the three games in 2024. Over that period, Pittsburgh is 1-16-1 when it loses the battle against turnovers, with its one victory coming in Week 3. The Steelers are 22-3 when they don't turnover the ball since the start of the 2020 season.

After going minus-2 in this aspect against the Colts, Pittsburgh is now plus-2 in turnover differential. Dallas has a -1. In 2024, the Steelers have only lost the ball three times.

Dallas has surrendered 282 more rushing yards and 1.1 more yards per carry than it did in 2024. Six more rushing touchdowns have been scored by Dallas opponents than by the Cowboys.

Only 3.7 yards are allowed per rush attempt for the Steelers. However, they are also only attempting to rush for 3.7 yards per attempt. It is true that Pittsburgh generates 41.7 more rushing yards per game than it permits.

Last week, the Cowboys committed 11 penalties. This season, Pittsburgh has committed three more penalties than their opponents, but Pittsburgh's opponents have averaged 15.3 more penalty yards per game.

In its most recent game, Dallas only ran 54 offensive plays and had possession of the ball for 24:23. The Cowboys have the 29th-longest average possession time in the league, which is 27:03. In the meantime, the Steelers still have the second-best possession time in the NFL, at 33:13. Last week, Pittsburgh ran 68 offensive plays. The league's lowest average number of plays run by an opponent is 53.8 for the Steelers.

The Steelers have the league's 10th-best offense-to-defense point differential of.045, while Dallas has the league's 21st-lowest (-.022).

The Cowboys hold the NFL record for most primetime victories since 1970. With 98, the Steelers are second.

Since 1990, 4-1 teams have won their division 53.1 percent of the time and made the playoffs 78.5 percent of the time. The playoffs are won 49.7% of the time and 25.5% of the time by teams that start 3-2.

Pittsburgh passes the ball on 46.3% of its offensive snaps when Pittsburgh has the ball. There are only three lesser offenses. Pittsburgh is one of only two teams that runs the ball more frequently on first downs than any other.

The Steelers employ 14 personnel (2%), the highest rate in the NFL, and 13 personnel (17%). Additionally, they rank 28th in the utilization of 11 personnel.

Dallas' defense ranks seventh in the league for allowing 355.3 yards per game.

This season, the Steelers average just 7.3 points in the first half of games. However, Dallas averages 17 points allowed in the opening half.

Only one quarterback in the league, Justin Fields, has thrown or rushed for 100 percent of his team's offensive touchdowns.

Fields became the third quarterback in Steelers history to pass for more than 300 yards passing and rush for more than 50 yards in the same game last week. He is the ninth quarterback in NFL history to match those yardage totals with at least one passing and two rushing touchdowns. His second 300-yard passing game in his career.

Fields has the seventh-best completion percentage among qualified quarterbacks, at 70.6%.

Even though Pickens is fifth in the league in red zone targets with six and sixth in end zone targets with four, he has more receiving yards this season without a touchdown than any other receiver. Fields has hit 26.6% of his targets on Pickens. Pickens has more targets per route run than 15 pass catchers and only nine receivers have a higher target share than Pickens. Pickens has the eighth-highest average depth of target (12.9 yards) and the eighth-highest yards per route run. Only Malik Nabors and Terry McLaurin have a higher team air yardage share than he does.

Pat Freiermuth has scored 12 touchdowns in his career so far. Each has arrived in the red zone. This season, Freiermuth is the only tight end in the league to make at least four catches in each game. After failing to reach that mark in either Week 1 or Week 2, he has participated in the route at 80% the past two weeks.

Freiermuth only appeared in six of the possible 37 snaps in the first two weeks of the season, out of 12 personnel. Freiermuth has appeared in 29 of the possible 39 snaps with MyCole Pruitt out for the past two weeks.

The fourth-fewest number of receptions by tight ends against Dallas is just 2.8 per game.

When Fields uses play action, he attempts 33 passes. With the exception of Kyler Murray, who has 32, only six quarterbacks have more pass attempts overall.

Daniel Jones attempted 40 passes in Week 4, but he was only sacked once. Only four sacks have been recorded by the Cowboys' defensive players this season due to the absence of Micah Parsons and Demarcus Lawrence.

Pittsburgh leads the league with 16 runs of 10 or more yards. Dallas has allowed 17 of these runs. More has been permitted by only four defenses. The Steelers 2.69 normal surging yards after contact per convey is just better compared to the Bears, Dolphins, and Cattle rustlers.

Last week, Dallas held the Giants to just 26 rushing yards, or 1.1 yards per rush, after allowing 464 yards on the ground in Weeks 2 and 3. New York's ball carriers were contacted behind the line of scrimmage on 48% of those rush attempts on designed runs, with an average of -0.1 before contact. Dallas ranks 29th in the league by allowing a rushing touchdown every 15.9 carries. With just 10.2% of run plays resulting in no gain or loss, the Cowboys have the lowest percentage.

Last week, Najee Harris attempted 13 carries for just 19 yards. He had more than 70 yards from the line of scrimmage when his receiving yards were added. In seven games in a row, Harris has at least 70 yards from the line of scrimmage.

Running back runs on the first down are a 17.6% success rate for the Steelers. The Cowboys are worse only.

Fields has the fifth-highest drop back scrambling rate in the league, occurring on 10% of his attempts. The Steelers are planning Fields' rushing attempts on 20% of their attempts, which ranks fourth among quarterbacks. Fields is therefore getting 9.3 carries per game on average this season. On designed quarterback carries, Fields has the second-most carries (18) and the most yards (73) On designed quarterback rush attempts, Dallas gives up the fourth most yards per carry (6.7).

Dallas' defense has the 13th-best third-down conversion rate, while Pittsburgh's 43.9% conversion rate ranks eighth in the league. This season, Pittsburgh has taken the ball on third down 57 times. Only the Patriots and 49ers possess more. The early-down success rate of Pittsburgh's offense ranks 21st, while the Cowboys' defense ranks 10th. Pittsburgh's second-down average is 6.1 yards per play; only five other offenses are better. They have the fifth-best average of 7.5 yards per pass attempt on second downs. Only four defenses are worse than the Cowboys' passing defense, which gives up 7.5 yards on second downs.

Dallas only outperforms Carolina's and Miami's red zone defense.

74% of the time, Dallas allows a set of downs to result in a new set of downs or a touchdown. There are only six worse defenses.

Pittsburgh has used penalties to gain 12 first downs, while its opponents have only used three.

Dallas passes the ball on 65.6% of its offensive snaps when it has the ball, the highest percentage in the league. Only three offenses are passing with a higher percentage on first downs.

The Cowboys employ 10 personnel (9%) at the highest rate in the league, 01 personnel (2.4%) at the second highest rate, and 20 personnel (1.4%) and 22 personnel (3.8%) at the fifth highest rate. Additionally, they rank seventh in the utilization of 21 employees (11.8%).

The fourth-best defense in the league, Pittsburgh's, gives up 261.3 yards per game.

This season, the Steelers give up just four points on average in the second half of games. That is the league's best.

In Indianapolis last week, the Steelers gave up a season-high 27 points and 358 yards. Pittsburgh had allowed 26 points in three games prior to that one. Compared to seven against the Falcons, Broncos, and Chargers, the Steelers gave up eight third-down conversions against the Colts.

Dak Prescott is only behind Geno Smith and Brock Purdy in passing yards with 1,072. Before Week 4, he led the NFL. On 19 early downs, Prescott completed for 187 passing yards and two touchdowns on first and second downs, with only one incomplete pass. He ran for 221 yards in the end.

CeeDee Lamb has the eighth-most receiving yards in the NFL with 316. His team target share, however, is 21.1% lower than that of 35 other pass catchers. Lamb's goal for each route run is 21st. Lamb has the 13th highest yards per route run. He has caught at least four passes in 37 games so far this season. That is, after Michael Thomas and Julio Jones, the third-longest streak of its kind since 1970.

Lamb is using the slot for 49.5% of his snaps. Slot receivers are penalized for 8.2 yards per target, ranking Pittsburgh 25th. The sixth-highest rate, the Steelers have allowed 50% of wide receiver receptions to come from the slot.

In Week 1, Jake Ferguson suffered a knee injury. However, he has seen a team target share of 22% in Week 3 and 27% in Week 4 over the past two weeks. Last week, reaching a season high, Ferguson ran a route on 79% of Dallas' dropbacks. He has caught more than four passes in nine games in a row when he hasn't been injured. Ferguson has been targeted 18 times in the past two weeks, averaging 7.9 targets per game over his last 10 games. In terms of targets per route run, Ferguson currently leads all tight ends (.29).

The Steelers only allow tight ends 23.8 receiving yards per game, ranking fifth.

The Cowboys' running backs were led by fullback Hunter Luepke, who ran 13 routes last week.

This season, Pittsburgh has given up 388 receiving yards, which ranks seventh in the NFL.

On 21.7 percent of his drop backs, Prescott has been blitzed. At a lower rate, only six quarterbacks have been blitzed.

The seventh-highest percentage in the NFL, Pittsburgh is getting sacked on 8.8% of opponents' drop backs. However, only six defenses have a higher blitz rate than the Steelers' 20%.

The Steelers' run defense ranks first in the NFL in terms of EPA, and they allow 3.7 yards per carry more than any other defense, with the exception of Baltimore. Dallas' 3.5 yards per carry is only better than that of the Giants, making it the NFL's lowest team in terms of rushing yards per game. There are only two rushing touchdowns for the Cowboys. Only the Bears can match the Cowboys' 2.35 average rushing yards after contact per carry.

The Cowboys' most prolific rusher is Rico Dowdle, but he has only carried the ball 34 times for 134 yards. With 24 carries and 81 yards, Ezekiel Elliott is Dallas' second-leading rusher. Dowdle received rush shares of 33.2 percent and 33.3% in Weeks 1 and 2. That jumped to 615.5% and 611.1% in Weeks 3 and 4.

The Cowboys have the league's lowest success rate on running back runs on first down, at 16.7%. Additionally, Dallas has the league's lone running back with a run of 10 or more yards.

Pittsburgh's fourth-best opposing running backs average just 3.46 yards per carry.

Prescott has started 54 games since 2020. During that time, he has rushed 173 times for 684 yards. That amounts to an average of 3.2 carries per game, or 3.9 yards per attempt to rush the opponent.

The defense of Pittsburgh is allowing a third-down conversion rate of 31.9%, which ranks 11th in the league. On third downs, they also give up just 2.9 yards per rush, which is fifth best. The Cowboys' early-down success rate ranks 20th. In this metric, Pittsburgh's defense ranks seventh best. Only the Steelers and Browns are ahead of Dallas with their 3.1 yards per carry on first downs. The Steelers have the league's seventh-highest first-down average of 5.9 yards per play and the sixth-highest first-down passing average of 8.0 yards. However, with just 3.3 yards allowed per play, the Steelers rank highest in the league on second downs. They also have the best pass defense in the league, allowing only 3.2 yards per attempt on second downs. Sixth-best is Pittsburgh's 3.6 yards per rush attempt on second downs allowed.

The red zone defense of Pittsburgh ranks fourth in the NFL.

Special Teams The Cowboys have only had two missed field goals this season. Steelers games follow the same pattern.

Through four games, the Steelers have only returned one kickoff, and their opponents have a touchback percentage of 93%.

THE MOST REMEMBERABLE MOMENT: January 21, 1979 This was the third of the Steelers' four Super Bowl victories over a six-year span, and it was one of the greatest Super Bowls ever. Steelers 35, Cowboys 31 Miami Orange Bowl, Super Bowl XIII After throwing for 318 yards and four touchdowns, two of which were scored by John Stallworth, Terry Bradshaw was named Super Bowl MVP. Lynn Swann and Stallworth had a total of 239 receiving yards, and Cowboys running back Tony Dorsett averaged six yards per carry on his way to rushing for 96 yards and three touchdowns.

KEY MATCHUPS: Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb vs. Steelers CB Joey Porter: Lamb is without a doubt one of the best wide receivers in football, and Dallas just paid him accordingly. Porter will be the Cowboys' cornerback. As he always does, he will play a big role in this passing game. Lamb spends about half of his time in the slot, where he might get away from Porter. However, expect the Steelers' best cornerback to follow Lamb a lot on Sunday night.

Steelers RB Najee Harris takes on Cowboys LB DeMarvion Overshown. Overshown is a little undersized, but he is one of the most active linebackers in the NFL and can fly around the football field. However, Dallas' big men haven't been very good at protecting Overshown, and if the Steelers can get big blockers to the second level in the run game, he might be overwhelmed. That could provide Harris with opportunities in the interior run game.