It seemed like the Steelers had worked the new Mike Tomlin script to perfection the second quarterback Justin Fields hit tight end Pat Freiermuth with a little shovel pass for a six-yard touchdown to give the good guys a 17-13 lead with 4:56 left in the fourth quarter of a Week 5 showdown vs. the Cowboys at Acrisure Stadium on Sunday Night Football.

What’s the new Tomlin script? As I’ve stated before, it’s to minimize mistakes on offense while being so risk-averse that someone watching at home may feel comfortable making a snack during a black-and-gold possession.

What are they going to miss, right? If you said, “Usually not much,” you would be correct.

As for the defense, it’s supposed to dominate. And when it doesn’t dominate, it’s expected to make a huge play at a key moment–a sack, tackle for loss or takeaway–that either puts the risk-averse offense in an advantageous position or snuffs out a scoring threat by the other team’s offense.

The Steelers defense certainly didn’t dominate Dallas’ offense on Sunday night. Dak Prescott and Co. accrued a ton of real estate over their first nine possessions of the game. Aside from one three-and-out, no other drive had lasted less than six plays. The Cowboys’ offense found itself inside the red zone multiple times. Thankfully, one such drive was snuffed out at the Pittsburgh 11-yard line late in the first quarter when T.J. Watt and Nick Herbig made a sandwich out of Prescott, stripping him of the football and Herbig recovering it at the 20. Dallas once more found itself deep in Steelers territory late in the first half. But on second and four from the 15, cornerback Donte Jackson intercepted a horrible pass from Prescott in the end zone to prevent the visitors from extending their 6-3 lead.

The Cowboys again navigated their way just inside the Pittsburgh red zone midway through the third quarter, only to come away with nothing when Isaiahh Loudermilk blocked a field goal attempt by Brandon Aubrey.

The Steelers had just taken a 10-6 lead on a touchdown catch by Connor Heyward earlier in the second half, and the message was clear to America’s Team: You should have scored your points when you had the chance because this is our game now.

We saw how well this approach played out over the first three games when Pittsburgh held opposing offenses to a combined 26 points and won all three despite the offense scoring a combined 51 points.

Sure, the Colts kicked the defense’s butt in a 27-24 loss in Week 4, but that was just a bad day at the office, right?

It’s hard to say, but Tomlin did have to deviate from his script in Indy thanks to a 17-0 hole and some egregious early mistakes by the offense.

But, again, the script seemed to be working to perfection on SNF.

However, Dallas quickly regained possession before marching 90 yards on 16 plays and took a 13-10 lead on a 22-yard touchdown pass from Prescott to running back Rico Dowdle early in the fourth quarter.

It was unfortunate that Pittsburgh’s offense had done very little through three-plus quarters–just 177 yards by the time Corliss Waitman laid foot to his fifth punt of the night after yet another inept possession by Arthur Smith’s unit. However, the game was playing out just like Tomlin wanted it to. The defense needed to step up and produce another key play. Cornerback Joey Porter Jr. came through with one when he intercepted a deep pass by Prescott and returned it to the Pittsburgh 37.

The offense then did its part by marching 63 yards on a 12-play drive that culminated in the previously discussed touchdown pass to Freiermuth.

Now, it was up to the defense to do what it got paid for. Sadly, the Cowboys embarked on a 15-play, 70-yard drive that didn’t end until Prescott connected with receiver Jalen Tolbert for a four-yard touchdown with just 20 seconds left in regulation. The defense almost finished things off. Hell, linebacker Elandon Roberts nearly etched his name into Steelers/Cowboys lore when he separated Rowdle from the football on a run up the middle on second and goal from the one. Unfortunately, Dallas recovered and eventually took advantage of its second chance.

Game over. Steelers lose, 20-17, but what an effort by the defense, no? That damn offense, am I right?

Give me a break.

The defense gets paid as much as it does to come up big in those moments. It’s supposed to do most of the heavy lifting. It’s expected to close out games when the offense manages to give it a lead late in the fourth quarter.

Don’t give me this garbage about the defense being gassed. Sure, it was gassed, but was it because of the offense or because it allowed Dallas to march up and down the field for most of the game–including drives of 16 and 15 plays in the second half?

What is it with Steelers fans and their unwillingness to blame the defense even when it is directly responsible for a loss at the end? Why do we dissect offensive play calls that occurred in the second quarter, but we want to talk about the defense’s whole body of work after it allows the game-winning touchdown with mere seconds left in regulation?

“When a defense creates three takeaways and a blocked field goal, you should win the game.” No, when a supposedly ELITE defense gets handed a late lead, it’s supposed to win the game.

Pittsburgh’s defense is supposed to be elite, right? Steelers fans love to talk about how much they like defensive battles. OK, well, it’s hard not to have defensive battles every game when Van Jefferson is your second-best wide-out and someone named Brandon Johnson is catching key passes. It’s hard to do anything on offense when Jefferson and Calvin Austin are in on more plays than George “Diva” Pickens, you know, because of “snap management.”

Will Roman Wilson ever play? You mean to tell me he’s so behind the learning curve as a rookie that he can’t get a helmet but someone named Brandon Johnson can?

The Steelers offense sucks out loud. We knew that coming into the season. We started to prepare for that reality when nobody of significance was acquired to replace Diontae Johnson.

Maybe it’s fair to blame both the offense and defense for Sunday’s loss; I can go along with that. But don’t give me this crap about the defense being victimized by the offense.

Steelers fans love their defense. They are eager to tell you that you win games on that side of the ball.

Fine. That side of the ball yielded 445 yards of total offense against the Cowboys. It allowed nine successful conversions on 15 third-down attempts.

OK, but even good defenses have off nights. Still, that side of the ball was handed a late lead and a chance to win the game against America’s Team on Sunday Night Football.

That side of the ball was given one final opportunity to prove that Mike Tomlin’s script was good enough to win games in today’s quarterback-driven NFL.

A national audience watched as that side of the ball flubbed its lines in the final scene.