The Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers are about to square off on “Sunday Night Football.” The Steelers are looking to bounce back after their lone loss of the 2024 season, while the Cowboys are trying to improve to 3-2 despite being without several key pieces (Micah Parsons, DeMarcus Lawrence, and Brandin Cooks). However, the game’s opening kickoff has been delayed. Here’s everything you need to know.
Cowboys vs. Steelers Hasn’t Started Due to a Lightning Delay
An hour before the game was set to kick off, a huge storm was heading toward Pittsburgh and many wondered if there might be a lightning delay.
Sure enough, that’s exactly what ended up happening.
The Cowboys and Steelers will have to wait.
Due to lightning in the area of Pittsburgh's Acrisure Stadium, "Sunday Night Football" is in a weather delay. pic.twitter.com/jkYMlMBkYF
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 7, 2024
After multiple 30-minute delays, the game is currently scheduled to kick off at 9:45 p.m. ET (assuming there aren’t any additional delays).
Some projections have the storm hitting Pittsburgh hardest from 8 p.m. ET to 9 p.m. ET, so the hope is that the weather will improve after this second delay. In addition to lightning and rain, there’s also hail coming down at Acisure Stadium.
The scene at Acrisure Stadium for SNF ☔️
Kickoff time for Cowboys-Steelers is TBA.pic.twitter.com/5015AFm1sb
— Pro Football Network (@PFN365) October 7, 2024
Unfortunately, according to meteorologist Collin Meyers, once this thunderstorm passes, there could be additional bands of bad weather that cause further delays.
“A line of thunderstorms is moving fairly quickly through downtown Pittsburgh, but more are following back to the west,” Meyers said. “Plenty of lightning in these cells.”
MORE: NFL Weather Delay Rules: Can NFL Games Be Cancelled Due to Lightning?
Both teams are currently in their locker rooms while they wait out the weather delay.
Here’s a look at the lightning in the area that caused the delay.
Slow motion lightning over Acrisure Stadium in #Pittsburgh before the Steelers game. Ridiculous stuff. pic.twitter.com/QQw92HLHXY
— Dave DiCello (@DaveDiCello) October 7, 2024
Once this lightning delay is over and the game begins, it will be interesting to see if this storm affects either team. Could we see more rushing attempts if both passing attacks are limited due to the weather?
Check back for the latest news on the weather delay and an ETA on the opening kickoff. Pro Football Network will keep you up-to-date as new information is available.
Cowboys vs. Steelers Preview and Prediction
According to TruMedia, the Cowboys are the No. 1 team in the league at generating pressure since drafting Parsons in 2021. In that time, he and Lawrence have accounted for 37.9% of those pressures.
It will be a tall task for the Cowboys to try to replace this kind of production. This is a relieving turn of events considering the Steelers have lost both Troy Fautanu and James Daniels for the remainder of the season.
Sadly, this is the play that James Daniels tore his Achilles on #Steelers #NFL 🙏 pic.twitter.com/y4HFSc0B0R
— Steelers Depot 7⃣ (@Steelersdepot) September 30, 2024
The Steelers allowed 18 pressures and were sacked four times against the Indianapolis Colts last Sunday. This season, their offensive line has allowed the 13th-most pressures generated per dropback; that’s not terrible considering their injuries and Pittsburgh’s eighth-longest average pass time in the league.
If you consider just quick pressures (time to throw under 2.5 seconds), the Steelers have given up the seventh-least amount of pressures.
Pittsburgh also ranked sixth in the league in EPA (expected points added) when pressured. The Cowboys’ run defense is ranked 28th in the league in EPA, 26th in success rate (stopping the run consistently), and 27th in runs of 10 or more yards given up. That should balance out a Steelers ground attack that has been abysmal this year, ranking 31st in the NFL in rush EPA.
Pittsburgh’s defense ranks second in rush EPA and 13th in pass EPA, showing that it stops both at a solid level. This lines up well with the Cowboys’ offensive strengths, which ranks 12th in rush EPA and 23rd in pass EPA.
MORE: FREE Betting Odds Calculator
Oddly, you cannot chalk up the Cowboys’ offensive woes to struggling under pressure; Dallas is the fourth-best team this year when pressured. The team’s main issue has been penalties, as it ranks third in EPA lost due to penalties.
(A quick side note: I choose EPA because it measures the impact of each play on a team’s chances of scoring while accounting for down, distance, field position, and game situation. Unlike raw yardage, EPA adjusts for how valuable those yards are based on when and where they occur in a game. Think of EPA as if it is yards with context.)
Vegas already favors the Steelers by 2.5 points, which means oddsmakers are baking in the adjustments from injuries to the Cowboys’ defensive line. The Steelers are in the same boat as the New York Giants last week, where they don’t have the play style or skill set to take advantage of key weaknesses in Dallas’ run game.
The big difference is that the Steelers’ pass game and defense are much, much tougher than the Giants’.
Pick: Cowboys alternate spread +3 (-122)
Give yourself the extra half-point in a game-winning field-goal situation.
Alternate Pick: CeeDee Lamb 90+ receiving yards (+145)
CeeDee Lamb is averaging 79 receiving yards per game, posting 90 or more against both the Giants and New Orleans Saints’ secondaries. DraftKings is giving 90 or more yards at +145 in odds, which equates to a 42.55% implied probability.
Cowboys vs. Steelers Stats and Insights
Here’s a data-driven breakdown of tonight’s “Sunday Night Football” contest.
Dallas Cowboys
Team: The Cowboys have held the ball for just 27:03 per game this season, a rate that would have ranked ahead of only one team in 2023 (Seahawks).
QB: Dak Prescott averaged just 5.5 air yards per throw on Thursday night, the eighth lowest of his career for a game where he threw over 25 passes. In Weeks 1-3, his average throw traveled 9.0 yards in the air.
Offense: After a league-high 41.8% of their drives reached the red zone last season, only 20.5% this season have reached the opponents’ 20-yard line.
Defense: Dallas is creating pressure with just 38.9% of its blitzes this season — this rate has been over 44% in each of the five seasons prior (2023: 49.2%).
Fantasy: Across the last two weeks, Jake Ferguson has seen 27.7% of the targets when he’s been on the field (71.1% snap share), showcasing versatility in the process with an 8.3 aDOT in Week 3 and a 2.9 rate in Week 4.
Betting: The Cowboys are 1-3 ATS this season. In Weeks 1-4 over the previous three seasons combined, they covered 10 of 12 games (83.3% cover rate).
Pittsburgh Steelers
Team: Over their last 10 games coming off of a loss, the Steelers are 8-2 (seven of those 10 games have been decided by a single possession).
QB: Justin Fields has improved his in-pocket completion percentage in every season of his career:
- 2021: 61.2%
- 2022: 63.1%
- 2023: 65.7%
- 2024: 71.9%
Offense: The Steelers use 2+ TEs on a league-high 46.3% of their plays. The Cowboys allow the most yards per play on defense (6.8) when facing 2+ TE sets.
Defense: The Steelers allowed 17 points on the Colts’ first three drives in Week 4. In their other 39 drives, they’ve allowed just 36 points.
Fantasy: Pat Freiermuth is on pace for 663 yards and caught his first touchdown of the season in Week 4 – he’s been a top-10 producer at the position every week this season.
Betting: From 2017-21, Mike Tomlin’s Steelers were 9-15 ATS (37.5%) in primetime, playoffs included. They are 7-2 ATS (77.8%) in such spots since.