PITTSBURGH (AP) — Dak Prescott drifted left and then drifted some more. What would a few more seconds hurt on a seemingly endless night?

With a flick of the wrist as TJ Watt and the rest of the Pittsburgh defense closed in, the NFL’s highest-paid player became delivered a money toss to Jalen Tolbert with 20 seconds left, that lifted the Dallas Cowboys to a 20-17 victory early Monday.

Prescott had mixed brilliant and mind-boggling plays in equal measure over the past three-plus hours, throwing a few picks and making one fumble to almost single-handedly keep the sluggish Steelers in the game.

But when Dallas (3-2) got the ball back down with 4:56 to go, Prescott calmly led the Cowboys 70 yards in 15 plays, even alertly pouncing on a fumble by teammate Rico Dowdle when the ball sprayed free when Dowdle tried. to jump into the end zone. The heads-up play gave Dallas two more shots, and after an incompletion, Prescott capped his 352-yard performance by lifting the injury-plagued Cowboys to a second straight victory.

“We talk about it, stay neutral, be resilient and understand that there will be ups and downs, ebbs and flows,” Prescott said. “We just know who we are. (If) we just stick with it, we can come out with a win. This was a great example.”

Pittsburgh (3-2) dropped its second straight game after a 3-0 start, a lethargic performance — especially on offense — on a night when the opening kickoff was delayed nearly 90 minutes due to severe weather.

The sky eventually cleared. The Steelers spent much of the night in a fog, especially on offense, gaining just 226 yards against a defense missing injured stars Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence.

“I think the recurring problem is shooting ourselves in the foot,” Steelers quarterback Justin Fields said. “Penalties, false starts, it just comes down to execution.”

Pittsburgh got the ball back after Tolbert’s go-ahead goal, but a lateral celebration went nowhere and the Cowboys flowed onto the field in victory in a game that ended a minute before 1 a.m.

Dowdle boosted the league’s worst rushing attack by rushing for 87 yards. He also added a 22-yard sliding touchdown reception on the third play of the fourth quarter to cap a 16-play, 90-yard drive that put Dallas up 13–10.

It looked like that would be enough until Prescott threw a deep ball into double coverage with about 10 minutes to play in search of the knockout blow. Instead, it ended up in the arms of Pittsburgh’s Joey Porter Jr. and the Steelers slogged 63 yards in 12 plays, the last a kick pass of 6 meters from Fields to tight end Pat Freiermuth to give the Steelers the lead.

Fields threw for 131 yards, two scores and added 27 yards rushing, but struggled with his accuracy, completing only 15 of 27 passes. Now that the calf that sidelined veteran Russell Wilson for five weeks has finally healed, Fields’ uneven performance gave head coach Mike Tomlin some wiggle room to consider moving Wilson — who won the starting job during training camp — next week in Las Vegas put back into the setup.

“We just missed shots and shot ourselves in the foot again,” Fields said.

The Cowboys squandered several chances to create some early breathing room thanks to miscues by Prescott, who fumbled while being sacked by TJ Watt and Nick Herbig to end a drive deep in Pittsburgh territory in the first quarter. The half-sack increased Watt’s career total to 100, making the All-Pro the second-fastest player to reach that plateau in NFL history (109 games).

Prescott squandered another opportunity in the second quarter when he threw late to Cee Dee Lamb in the end zone, giving Pittsburgh cornerback Donte Jackson time to step in front of the pass for an interception and keep the Steelers within striking distance.

That’s how it went for much of the night, with Dallas’ miscues — the Cowboys were also penalized 11 times for 87 yards — leaving Pittsburgh hanging around.

But just as he did in his first trip to Pittsburgh as a rookie eight years ago, Prescott again engineered a late game-winning drive to give the Cowboys some momentum after consecutive losses to New Orleans and Baltimore left them shell-shocked.

Behind a battered offensive line on a night when Dallas’ defense more than held its own without its two cornerstones, Prescott reminded why he is such an important part of the team’s foundation by buying enough time to complete his team’s season to push in the right direction.

“We have a play-calling that we love and have a lot of confidence in, regardless of the defense,” Prescott said. “Offensive line did a great job, Tolbert came open to the left, just had to make the throw.”

INJURIES

Cowboys: DE Marshawn Kneeland, starting in place of DeMarcus Lawrence, left in the first quarter with a knee injury and did not return.

Steelers: Herbig limped off the field in the third quarter with a right hamstring injury that appeared serious. … OLB DeMarvin Leal went down on a stinger in the fourth quarter, leaving Jeremiah Moon as the only other outside linebacker.

NEXT

Cowboys: Host Detroit on Sunday.

Steelers: Sunday at Las Vegas.

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AP N.F.L.: https://apnews.com/NFL