‘That was total BS.’ Dallas Cowboys take issue with crucial penalty in loss to Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers and their less-than-average offense tried to hand the Dallas Cowboys an upset win Sunday afternoon at AT&T Stadium.
The Cowboys’ defense, however, squandered the opportunity with several late penalty blunders by their linebackers that helped the Steelers rally for 15 fourth-quarter points and a 24-19 win in front of more than 30,000 fans, which included at least half waving Steelers’ Terrible Towels. It’s the first time the Steelers have started a season 8-0.
The first penalty came with the Cowboys leading 19-15 and the Steelers driving with under nine minutes to play. Cowboys defensive end Tyrone Crawford forced a fumble while sacking Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and defensive end Aldon Smith recovered. But linebacker Jaylon Smith was called for illegal contact on a receiver, which negated the turnover.
On the next play, after a 6-yard rushing gain, linebacker Leighton Vander Esch was called for unnecessary roughness after lightly swiping at receiver Anthony McFarland’s helmet. McFarland actually instigated the incident by holding on to Vander Esch’s face mask after being tackled. But, of course, the officials only saw Vander Esch’s retaliation. The Cowboys held the Steelers to a 43-yard field goal on the drive to preserve a 19-18 lead with 7:11 remaining.
On the Steelers’ next possession with 4:03 remaining, Smith was called for a questionable, 15-yard roughing the passer penalty on a play in which the Cowboys defense appeared to have the Steelers stopped. Smith’s open left hand made contact with Roethlisberger’s helmet on a pass attempt. The contact was incidental and minimal.
Instead of a stop, Pittsburgh got the ball at the Dallas 36 and eventually scored on Roethlisberger’s 8-yard pass to Eric Ebron. Pittsburgh’s 2-point pass attempt failed for a 24-19 lead with 2:11 remaining.
The Cowboys’ rally attempt was thwarted in the final seconds on the ensuing possession.
“The frustrating part is that it wasn’t in our control and I’m not the one to complain but that was total BS on that last call,” Cowboys defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence said of Smith’s roughing the passer penalty. “Hopefully the NFL will can take that into account and we get better from it. I don’t know where that came from but that’s very unacceptable. I don’t know what they saw there.”
Although they’re undefeated, the Steelers entered the game with the 27th-ranked offense in the NFL. The Cowboys outgained them 364 to 355 and held an almost seven-minute edge in time of possession. Dallas, however, was called for seven penalties for 70 yards compared to Pittsburgh’s three for 13.
Smith was just as dumbfounded by the roughing call.
“They thought that I hit him and was just crazy over the top,” he said. “Really, he just ran into me. A few questionable calls in the game but we have to control what we can control. I didn’t really do anything. I was just trying to press the quarterback and put my hand out. We just have to keep fighting.”
This story was originally published November 8, 2020 at 7:37 PM.
