Steelers rally past Cowboys in final minutes
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| Team Stat Comparison |
| |  |  |
| 1st Downs | 15 | 13 |
3rd down efficiency | 3-14 | 3-16 |
4th down efficiency | 0-3 | 1-2 |
| Total Yards | 289 | 238 |
| Passing | 194 | 168 |
Comp-Att | 19-36 | 17-33 |
Yards per pass | 5.4 | 5.1 |
| Rushing | 95 | 70 |
Rushing Attempts | 26 | 26 |
Yards per rush | 3.7 | 2.7 |
| Penalties | 5-24 | 2-10 |
| Turnovers | 5 | 2 |
Fumbles lost | 2 | 2 |
Interceptions thrown | 3 | 0 |
| Possession | 30:30 | 29:30 |
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| Dallas Passing | | | C/ATT | YDS | TD | INT | | Romo | 19/36 | 210 | 1 | 3 |
| | Pittsburgh Passing | | | C/ATT | YDS | TD | INT | | Roethli... | 17/33 | 204 | 1 | 0 |
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| Scoring Summary |
| SECOND QUARTER | DAL | PIT |
 | FG | 02:40 | Jeff Reed 24 Yd | 0 | 3 |
 | FG | 00:00 | Nick Folk 44 Yd | 3 | 3 |
| THIRD QUARTER | DAL | PIT |
 | TD | 09:36 | Terrell Owens 12 Yd Pass From Tony Romo (Nick Folk Kick) | 10 | 3 |
 | FG | 03:32 | Nick Folk 33 Yd | 13 | 3 |
| FOURTH QUARTER | DAL | PIT |
 | FG | 07:15 | Jeff Reed 41 Yd | 13 | 6 |
 | TD | 02:04 | Heath Miller 6 Yd Pass From Ben Roethlisberger (Jeff Reed Kick) | 13 | 13 |
 | TD | 01:40 | Deshea Townsend 25 Yd Interception Return (Jeff Reed Kick) | 13 | 20 |
Associated Press
PITTSBURGH -- Tony Romo was one play into what he expected to be a game-winning scoring drive and, with Dallas trying to preserve time late in the fourth quarter, couldn't believe it when Pittsburgh called time out.
Fast Facts
• Pittsburgh stormed back from a 13-3 fourth-quarter deficit and scored 17 unanswered in the final 7:15 of the fourth to give Mike Tomlin his second straight 10-win season.
• DeShea Townsend's 25-yard interception return for a TD with 1:40 left in the fourth quarter was the difference. It was Townsend's third career interception return for a TD, and his first since 2004.
• Tony Romo completed just 19-of-36 passes for 210 yards, a TD and three interceptions in suffering just his second loss in eight career starts vs. the AFC.
• Terrell Owens caught his 140th career TD reception, and trails Marcus Allen by five for fourth place on the all-time NFL TD list.
-- ESPN research
• Rapid Reaction
"He gave us that, 'Who called the timeout? You called the timeout?' " Steelers linebacker
James Harrison said. "Yeah, we called the timeout."
Like it has been nearly all season, Pittsburgh's league-leading defense was one play ahead of the opposing offense, even during a game in which the Steelers largely played from behind.
Deshea Townsend scored on a 25-yard interception return on the next play with 1:40 remaining as the Steelers scored their only two touchdowns 24 seconds apart, rallying from a 10-point deficit to deal the Cowboys a potentially damaging 20-13 loss on Sunday.
"Yeah, we called the timeout," Harrison said, describing what the Steelers (10-3) perceived to be almost-smug confidence by Romo and the Cowboys even as they were surrendering a 10-point lead in the final 7½ minutes. "And you're going to throw a pick to Deshea so we can win."
Afterward, the Cowboys (8-5) almost couldn't believe it: not only that Pittsburgh's bold gamble paid off, but that they couldn't hold onto an apparently decisive lead in a game they badly needed to win to make the NFC playoffs as a wild card.
"Three games to go, obviously it's a huge challenge for us," tight end
Jason Witten said.
Curtain Call
Pittsburgh held Dallas to just 289 total yards on Sunday, marking the 13th straight game the Steelers defense has held an opponent under 300 yards in a contest. The streak is now the second-longest to start a season since the merger. Here's a look at the list:
| Team |
Streak |
Season |
| Rams |
14 |
1973 |
| Steelers |
13 |
2008 |
| 49ers |
12 |
2007 |
Just before Pittsburgh's comeback began, the Cowboys celebrated wildly after dropping
Gary Russell for a 2-yard loss on a fourth-and-goal play from the Dallas 1 early in the fourth quarter to retain that 10-point lead. The Steelers noticed.
It was the third time in a month the Steelers were stopped inside the 1 on their home field, but Dallas couldn't take advantage -- just as Pittsburgh did little with the Cowboys' four turnovers in the first half.
"It's all about momentum. It's just momentum. It wasn't us thinking the game was over by any means," said
Terrell Owens, who celebrated his 35th birthday by scoring Dallas' only TD on a 12-yard catch early in the third quarter. "Sometimes it's just like that. We were excited, the game was going our way."
Not for long. The Steelers surged back to tie it on
Jeff Reed's second field goal, a 41-yarder, and
Ben Roethlisberger's 6-yard pass to
Heath Miller with 2:04 remaining. Roethlisberger found
Nate Washington three times for 51 yards on a 67-yard drive that led to the Miller score after the Cowboys twice stalled on drives that, if they had scored, probably would have sealed it.
Then, on second-and-8 from the Cowboys 17, Witten ran the wrong pass route, allowing Townsend to step in front of Romo's pass for the fifth turnover forced by a Pittsburgh defense that went into the game leading the NFL in nearly every major statistical department. Until the closing minutes, that defense had been outplayed by a determined Dallas defense that held Pittsburgh to 70 yards rushing and 238 yards.
"We did all the things we had to -- up until a point," Dallas linebacker
Bradie James said. "But evidently we didn't do enough to get a win. We didn't make enough plays to win. I said the best defense would win the game, and they won the game."
The Steelers won their fourth in a row and ended Dallas' three-game winning streak. They can win the AFC North by winning next Sunday at Baltimore, which played Washington later Sunday night.
The Steelers' comeback on a bitterly cold day with a gametime temperature of 22 and a wind chill in the low teens allowed the Giants (11-2) to win the NFC East despite losing to Philadelphia 20-14 earlier in the day.
The weather didn't help during yet another December disappointment for Dallas, which is 17-29 in the month since 1996. The Steelers are 24-9 in December since 2001.
Dallas lost despite a big day by rookie
Tashard Choice, who ran for 88 yards in his first NFL start, the most against Pittsburgh all season, and had 166 total yards. Choice filled in for the injured
Marion Barber, who stayed in Dallas with a dislocated little toe.
Romo, coming off successive 300-yard games, ended 19-of-36 for 210 yards and three interceptions. He put Dallas up 10-3 early in the third by scrambling for more than eight seconds before somehow finding Owens behind
Ike Taylor in the rear of the end zone.
Later, after the score swung, Owens was seen jawing to assistant coach Ray Sherman along the sideline, possibly because he wasn't seeing the ball at the end.
"The defense played a hell of a ballgame," Owens said. "We stunk it up on offense."
Until Owens' catch, Pittsburgh held a 77-9 scoring advantage in the third quarter this season.
Nick Folk later added his second field goal, a 33-yarder with 3:32 left in the third that made it 13-3.
Dallas, constantly stalled by the turnovers and bad field position, mounted little offense until Romo hit Witten on two passes for 31 yards to set up Folk's 44-yard field goal that made it 3-3 at halftime.
Game notes Mike Tomlin is the first coach in Steelers history to win at least 10 games in each of his first two seasons. ... ...
James Harrison's 15th sack tied
Mike Merriweather's 1984 single-season Steelers record. ...
DeMarcus Ware got his 16th for Dallas, but lost his NFL lead when
Joey Porter's two sacks for Miami against Buffalo gave him 16½. ... Romo had only one interception in his previous three games. ... Pittsburgh finished 2-2 against the NFC East, losing to the Giants and Eagles.