PITTSBURGH – There is an old country song by Diamond Rio that describes this game to perfection.

If you take into account everything that happened, from the pre-match injuries, to the weather delay, to the loss of possession and then the dramatic final minute of play, this could certainly be described as a ‘beautiful mess’.

Yes, some people will call it ugly, but not me. This was absolutely beautiful. And no, it wasn’t because of the consistent level of top performance. It was beautiful how this Cowboys team simply found a way to win.

Yeah, if you don’t like the way the Cowboys won this game – with the players they won it with – and the way things played out in the second half – then I’m really sorry for you.

I’ve said it too many times this year, but this is who your 2024 Dallas Cowboys will be.

It won’t be perfection. It won’t be anything pretty for four quarters. They will have to fight, scratch, claw, maybe bite or claw their way for anything they can. And even that might not be enough. They were one game away from not being enough on Sunday night against the Steelers. Yet they found a way.

And honestly, it would have been a damn shame if the Cowboys didn’t win this game, because they were definitely a better football team from start to finish.

Just before kickoff, I leaned over to a few colleagues and shared my thoughts that the Cowboys would not only win, but by a comfortable margin. I had a feeling they would somehow find a way to overcome every conceivable obstacle and still be head and shoulders better than the Steelers.

In a way I was right. They were absolutely in control of the game and if they could simply execute in the red zone, this game might not have been close at all.

I just wondered if Justin Fields was really good enough to beat this team. As it turned out, Dak Prescott and the offense were the ones that got in their way – with turnovers, penalties and miscues that led to blocked field goals and everything else.

The Cowboys led 6-3 at halftime and it should have been 17-3. But that wasn’t the case. And that’s exactly what this team will have to deal with all season, I’m afraid.

Let’s go back to Dak. He definitely didn’t play his best ball. An interception before half-time was baffling. He also picked up a sack and made another fumble before that. Then in the fourth quarter, he fired a deep ball to an open receiver that was picked off.
Dak was off all night with some other throws, but in the fourth quarter he was there with the ball in his hands and needed 70 yards to the end zone for the score.

That’s what the Cowboys paid him to do: lead the team down the field and win.

And that’s what he did. Who would have thought that his best play of the night would be a loose fumble to save possession and save the game on the second goal? But that’s the kind of winning game a good team needs to have.

On third down, Dak’s throw to Tolbert was low and fell incomplete. But it ultimately set up the dramatic play where he fired the ball back to Tolbert, who made the biggest catch of his career for the game winner.

Again, this thing wasn’t pretty, but who said it would be?

First of all, it’s Pittsburgh. They don’t play nice here. It’s rough and tough and always has been. If you want to have a chance of winning, you must match their strength step by step.

And when you factor in that the Cowboys not only lost one pass rusher in Micah Parsons, but also DeMarcus Lawrence, and then… are you kidding me? Marshawn Kneeland goes down on the first drive and is ready for the match?

The Cowboys rush the passer with Carl Lawson and Tyrus Wheat, along with Chauncey Golston? Still, they figured out a way.

On offense, Tyler Guyton goes down and that forces a shift on the line where Tyler Smith kicked to the left and TJ Bass came into guard. And then Zack Martin goes down for a while and Brock Hoffman had to play.

If you had told me in training camp that the Cowboys would go to Pittsburgh and try to move the ball with an interior line consisting of Bass, Beebe and Hoffman, I would have said something like: “Well, I hope Micah Parsons and D-Law dominate the defense and maybe DaRon Bland gets a pick. Or maybe Brandin Cooks can expand the field with deep passes……. What is that? Are they all gone too??’

Yes, they found a way. It seemed quite nice to me.