The 2-2 Cowboys travel to Pittsburgh as they look to hand the Steelers and Justin Fields their 2nd straight loss.
With the Cowboys struggling against the run this season, look for Fields to break away for a few long scrambles to reach the over on his rush yard prop.
The Cowboys offense has had a rocky start to the season. From CeeDee Lamb’s sideline outburst to a great performance in Week 1, to a close win against the Giants on primetime, it’s tough to predict what will happen with this offense heading into this week against the Steelers defense that ranks atop the league.
With Brandin Cooks out, Tomlin will most likely put two men on Lamb at all times while forcing one of Dowdle, Turpin, or Tolbert to make game winning plays.
This is a huge loss for Prescott who has only hit this mark in games where Dallas went down early.
The Cowboys defense without Micah Parsons is… beatable. Last week they gave up just 26 yards against the Giants with a banged-up Devin Singletary. Even with this fantastic game counting for them, they still rank 27th in opposing rush yards per game for an average of 146 yards per contest.
The only mobile Quarterback they have faced this season has been Lamar Jackson, who ran all over the ‘Boys for 87 yards and a score. Fields is 3-1 as the starter in Pittsburgh and has hit this mark in Week 1 and Week 4.
With Parsons out I’m expecting the Steelers to set the tone early with a mix of Fields, Harris, and Warren which will get the Cowboys defense on their heels where Justin will beat them on scrambles later on in the game.
Cowboys tight end Jake Ferguson has a chance to lead the team in not only yards, but touchdowns this Sunday night. The Steelers have not faced a “top tier” tight end outside of Kyle Pitts in Week 1, who scored a touchdown on 3 total catches.
With Brandin Cooks out, Ferguson will most likely serve as the key red zone threat as Lamb will be shadowed by multiple defensive backs as Tomlin will let nothing easy come his way.
Ferguson has yet to score this season but in his breakout 2023 campaign, 4 of his 5 receiving touchdowns were caught at home.
Freiermuth has come on as an impact offensive weapon so far this season. After a rough start to his 2023 campaign, he’s been solid and consistent through four games in 2024, catching 17 of 20 targets (4th) for 39 yards per game (8th).
He’s taken 70 slot snaps which ranks 7th among all Tight Ends and most notably has been playing more snaps over the last two weeks.
With the Cowboys focused on stopping the run and then making sure Pickens doesn’t get too many 1v1 opportunities, Freiermuth should dominate the middle of the field.