The Pittsburgh Steelers were back on the field Sunday for the fifth time of the 2024 regular season when they hosted the Dallas Cowboys in Week 5 of regular season action. The Steelers were losers in the contest, but that doesn’t mean every player had a good or bad performance.

Players who play well can be considered ‘Winners’, while those who left a lot to be desired can be called ‘Losers’. It may sound harsh, but it is the crux of this exercise.

Let’s check in to see who fell on which side of the ledger after the latest game…

Winners

T.J. Watt
Stat Line: 8 tackles, 7 solo, 1.5 sacks, 1 TFL, 3 QB Hits

T.J. Watt was able to reach the 100 sack mark at home in front of the Acrisure Stadium crowd, and while Watt was all over the field, his dynamic playmaking ability was not enough to garner a win. Nonetheless, that doesn’t take away just how good he is with the amount of work he has to do vs. the opposition. Watt is a winner in every sense of the word.

Nick Herbig
Stat Line: 2 tackles, 1 solo, .5 sack, 1 TFL

When Herbig and Watt were both in the game they were electric. There were several “meetings at the quarterback” but when Herbig left the game with a hamstring injury everything was thrown off. Herbig’s injury, along with another, made things even more challenging for a defense which relies on getting after the quarterback. Nonetheless, Herbig’s efforts when he was healthy were absolutely worthy of being on the winners list.

Takeaways
Stat Line: 3 takeaways

The past two games the Steelers hadn’t been able to get a takeaway, and they changed that vs. the Cowboys with three defensive takeaways. The defense needed them all, and the offense still wasn’t able to take advantage of those takeaways, more on that later. However, the Steelers takeaways were all necessary, and when you think about what could have been without those takeaways it could have been ugly.

Losers

Defensive Secondary
Stat Line: 336 yards, game winning TD

The Steelers were gashed repeatedly through the air, and while Minkah Fitzpatrick claims the fixes are “easy”, it didn’t look like it in Week 5. If anything, it was the Cowboys offense which made it look easy. The Cowboys had five receivers who had chunk plays over 20 yards, and it was with very similar route concepts against the secondary. If the Steelers can’t get home from a pass rushing standpoint, this is what you get.

Penalties
Stat Line: 8-for-50 yards

The pre-snap penalties continue, and while the total numbers for this unit aren’t horrible, it still isn’t a clean enough brand of football. This is a direct correlation with coaching and inexperience, and while they’re trending in the right direction they still aren’t there yet.

Entire Offense
Stat Line: Inconsistency all around

Some of you reading this might be waiting to see me have Justin Fields, Najee Harris, George Pickens, the offensive line, etc. on the losers list. I don’t have the time or energy to list all of those players, so I lumped the entire offense into the loser category. The Steelers slow starts continue. In 5 games the Steelers have two touchdowns in the first half of those games. Two. And at this current juncture the team has no identity. They aren’t a running team, they aren’t a quick-passing team, they aren’t a big strike team. The entire offense is on the losers list for a reason.

Coaching Staff
Stat Line: Outcoached by an undermanned team again

For the second straight week the Steelers coaching staff was out-coached, and out-manned by a team who was decimated and weak at certain points of their roster. Neither the Colts or Cowboys could stop the run, and it isn’t as if the Steelers couldn’t run the ball, they couldn’t, but they couldn’t do anything to counter the lack of a running game. There are times when you can visibly see the opposition’s coaching staff running circles around the Steelers, and this was two weeks in a row.

Injuries
Stat Line: More added to the growing list

What else can I say, the Steelers injury concerns continue to grow. Two position have been decimated, and it’s outside linebacker/EDGE and running back. Add two more to the OLB injury list:

Nick Herbig (hamstring)
DeMarvin Leal (stinger)

When you finish a game with Jeremiah Moon, who just got activated off Injured Reserve (IR) and T.J. Watt, that’s not good. The Steelers will have to be looking outside the organization for help at edge rusher if Herbig and/or Leal can’t be ready for Week 6.

P.O.T.
Stat Line: 3 turnovers, only points off one

The Steelers needed every one of their takeaways in this game, and it was good to see them get back to taking the ball away. After a two week drought the Steelers had three takeaways vs. the Cowboys, but the offense didn’t do their job with the extra possessions. It wasn’t until Joey Porter Jr.’s interception in the 4th quarter that the Steelers offense finally got some Points Off Turnovers (P.O.T.). Just not good enough.

Defensive Adjustments
Stat Line: Consistently gashed

The Steelers offense is slow starting, this is painfully obvious, but the defense has been slow to adjust in the second half of games. Even in contests where the Steelers are winning the time of possession, the Steelers defense isn’t making the big play when it matters the most. The Cowboys dominated time of possession in the second half of the game Sunday night, and that is noted, but you would hope someone, like Minkah Fitzpatrick, would help get everyone lined up and acclimated to what is being expected of them in the secondary. He, Minkah, says they are easy fixes. So, how about we fix it moving forward?

3rd Down Offense
Stat Line: 3-for-12

I don’t know what else to say, that stat line says it all. Sure, they converted on two 4th down tries, but this 3rd down offense was absolutely atrocious.

3rd Down Defense
Stat Line: DAL: 9-for-15

Almost equally as bad was the Steelers 3rd down defense. They just couldn’t get off the field the entire night. Not only did the Steelers give up 3rd downs, a lot of those conversions were big plays. You have to win those “money downs” if you want to win, and they didn’t do it on offense or defense.

Weather Delay
Stat Line: 9:45pm EST kickoff

You can’t control the weather, but that weather delay sucked. Sucked for fans at home, fans in stadium and had to suck for players and coaches alike. But it wasn’t as if it was bad for just one team. Nonetheless, staying up until 2:30am EST and the team losing in the fashion they did was a gut punch for sure.

If you want a more detailed look at the above list, check out my “Let’s Ride” podcast in the player below where I outline each Winner and Loser, and MORE!