Breaking down the Cowboys game plan vs the Steelers who lost for the first time on Sunday

The Dallas Cowboys had their first of four open Sundays of their season in week four, already having a win from Thursday night at the Giants in hand to sit at 2-2. With the win coming at a costly injury price to defensive starters Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence, the extra days off come at a good time for Dallas to reset and plan for how they can use Thursday’s win to sustain any success starting in week five at the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Cowboys will not be going on the road to face an undefeated team, as the previously 3-0 Steelers lost their first game of the season 27-24 at the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.

The Colts hung on to win despite losing starting quarterback Anthony Richardson to an injury, turning to Joe Flacco who led four scoring drives – throwing a pair of touchdowns to receiver Josh Downs in his season debut and tight end Drew Ogletree.

Flacco’s ability to take care of the ball paired with Jonathan Taylor’s 21 carries for 88 yards was enough for the Colts who got out to an early 17-0 lead, putting real game pressure on Steelers quarterback Justin Fields. The Colts shocked a Steelers defense that had been their calling card to a 3-0 start with low-scoring wins against the Falcons, Broncos, and Chargers (all three games staying at 30 points or less) with big plays on the ground, leading to Fields having to drop back a season-high 34 times. Sacked four times and fumbling once, Fields had to make plays with his legs which he did by scoring twice in the second half, both of which put his team within a touchdown. The Colts would answer with points both times to extend the lead back to two scores, and come up with a final turnover on downs to seal the three-point win.

For the Cowboys, they will now face an AFC North team coming off of an upset loss for the second time this season. Dallas was unable to match the intensity of an 0-2 Ravens team that came to AT&T Stadium in week three off a loss to the Raiders and responded by beating the Cowboys 28-25 in a game that wasn’t even that close. Handing Mike Tomlin’s team their second loss in a row will also be a significant challenge, but as the league-wide trend of absolutely no teams jumping too far ahead of the pack continues, the Steelers certainly helped this cause by looking truly beatable for the first time in week four.

Here are a few other notes on their matchup with the Colts and how it could affect next Sunday’s game against the Cowboys.

The Steelers came into this game having won with their defense, more specifically a defensive line they trust to make plays perhaps more than any other in the NFL. T.J. Watt leads the way as an edge rusher that primarily lines up over right tackle, and Cam Heyward along with Larry Ogunjobi are all-around defensive tackles that can push the pocket and shed blockers to make plays against the run. The Steelers lined up with wide spacing across their defensive front regularly against the Colts, and Indy was not afraid to test them right between the tackles with their run game.

The Colts scored 17 points across their first three possessions, with six of their eight plays being runs for 38 yards on the opening touchdown drive, five of their nine plays on a drive split between Richardson and Flacco staying on the ground for 41 yards on the second touchdown, and finally a field goal drive that took nine plays before halftime with the longest being a ten yard run by WR AD Mitchell. The Steelers game plan for Richardson was to commit their linebackers to coverage and force a QB that’s struggled to read defenses in his second season beat them with his arm regularly, but when the young QB was in the game the Colts did a good job using the run game to keep him on schedule.

The Steelers should have every reason to equally like their matchups up front against the Cowboys working against rookies Tyler Guyton and Cooper Beebe as well as right tackle Terence Steele, but if it leads to the light box counts they played against the Colts, the Cowboys must find a way to get more out of their ground game and keep Prescott out of obvious long passing situations.

Rico Dowdle has led the way for the Cowboys running-back-by-committee approach, and has looked at his best running north-south between the tackles. Using Dowdle along with Ezekiel Elliott early in the game to set up some of the same play-action looks that were successful against the Giants is one way the Cowboys can avoid letting the Steelers defense wreck this game and make them play from behind again.

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Colts receiver Josh Downs caught his first touchdown of the season from Flacco to put them ahead 14-0 in the first quarter. The play was just one of many examples where Colts receivers won with inside leverage against the Steelers secondary. Patrick Queen was the linebacker responsible for getting to proper depth on underneath throws for the Steelers, but was regularly caught out of position against the Colts quick game. Even when Richardson dropped back to throw the ball, something he did just four times, he completed three of them for gains of 32, 28 and 11 yards.

The Cowboys have not been able to feature many route combinations and crosses for big plays to the likes of CeeDee Lamb and Brandin Cooks in Mike McCarthy’s offense so far early this season, and just like establishing a ground game, week five would be a great opportunity to change this off the mini-bye. Tight end Jake Ferguson is coming off his best game of the season against the Giants, but may have his hands full helping in pass protection as well against the Steelers.

The Colts top two receivers averaged over 10 yards per catch and caught 14 of 18 targets on Sunday. Saying that this is a game the Cowboys need Lamb to be a consistent WR1 and dictate the game for the pass offense is nothing new and something that will likely be true all season long, but run-after-the-catch opportunities to move the chains and avoid third downs will be key to take advantage of for Lamb, Cooks, Jalen Tolbert, and all of Dallas’ pass catchers.

Minkah Fitzpatrick and DeShon Elliott are crafty safeties that can force the type of tight window throws that Prescott has had to make all season, but the Colts found a way to be efficient against undrafted cornerback Beanie Bishop and Joey Porter. Coming off one of his most efficient games, Prescott and the Cowboys should be confident they can recreate some of this success, but things like breakdowns in pass protection and drops that have plagued them at times need to be at a minimum on the road.

On offense for the Steelers, they were made one-dimensional for the first time all season against the Colts and the results were not all that pretty. Playing without running back Jaylen Warren, Najee Harris had to be the lead back with only utility player Cordarrelle Patterson and Fields as rushing threats behind him. Harris carried 13 times for just 19 yards with a long run of five yards.

The Steelers have adequate speed at receiver with George Pickens and Calvin Austin, but still struggled to take the top off the Colts defense and get them out of bracket coverage that made every throw for Fields contested. Pickens matched his career high with seven catches for 113 yards, and four different Steelers receivers caught a pass of at least 20 yards, but Pittsburgh went 6-15 on third- and fourth-down attempts. The Colts did a good job sitting on routes they knew were only being run to the line to gain, as Fields regularly stared down his targets and was a tick late with the ball, as well as driving on throws in the middle of the field against TE Pat Freiermuth.

These types of coverages have been strengths of Mike Zimmer’s defense so far for the Cowboys, but Dallas is still depleted at cornerback. The likes of Donovan Wilson and Malik Hooker at safety should be able to help contest throws and make things difficult at times for Fields, but when the ball is completed to great open field players like Pickens and Austin, it will be more important to tackle in space and get them on the ground. The Steelers can keep Fields comfortable by continuing to run their QB and use Patterson out of the backfield to test Dallas’ discipline in run defense. With so many new faces expected to have to step up in the absence of Parsons and Lawrence on the defensive line, misdirection and read-option looks with Fields could be a real problem for Dallas on Sunday.

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Getting the ball out of Fields hands quicker will likely be a priority for Pittsburgh this week, and the Cowboys will need to be sound in their tackling on all three levels while they continue to rely on DeMarvion Overshown at linebacker.

The Cowboys have yet to put a statement win on their record in 2024, but the two they do have count just as good in a division where the Eagles also fell to 2-2 on Sunday with a loss at the Buccaneers. The Commanders won their third straight in convincing fashion 42-14 at the Cardinals for back-to-back impressive road wins that have Dan Quinn and Jayden Daniels team atop the division at 3-1.

Even though they won’t be going up against a remaining unbeaten team next week, a road win at the Steelers could go a very long way in helping the Dallas Cowboys build momentum and start to be taken more seriously as a contender as they play deeper into the season.