Gameday: Dallas Cowboys

1. Steelers corners vs Cowboys receivers

This might seem like beating a dead horse at this point, but the Steelers ability to cover the Cowboys receivers will be the biggest matchup in the game. Keenan Lewis has been good this year, but without Ike Taylor and possibly Cortez Allen, the Steelers will be strapped to cover both Dallas’ receivers. All signs point to Dez Bryant attempting to play through his broken finger, which is bad news for the Steelers. If Allen isn’t able to go, Curtis Brown, the third round pick in 2011, figures to start opposite Lewis. Brown struggled against the Chargers, giving up 6 third down conversions. Behind Brown on the depth chart is Josh Victorian who made the practice squad out of training camp and dressed for the first time last week. Demarcus Van Dyke, who the Steelers claimed off waivers from Oakland, has been a penalty machine on Special Teams and could also see time in the secondary. All of these represent bad matchups for the Steelers and if they aren’t able to get pressure on Romo it could be a long day for the defense.

2. David DeCastro

After suffering a knee injury in the third week of preseason, Steelers first round pick David DeCastro will finally make his first start of the year. DeCastro has dressed the last two weeks and played on the field goal team, but with the injuries along the line, DeCastro will finally see game action. The starting lineup figures to be Max Starks at LT, Ramon Foster who has played the whole year at RG moving to LG, Maurkice Pouncey at C, DeCastro at RG and Kelvin Beachum at RT. This is a bit of a concern as having Beachum, the rookie 7th-rounder out of SMU, beside DeCastro means there will be two rookies on the right side of the line.

3. Pressure Romo

Dallas has one of the worst rushing offenses in the league. They are 31st in rushing yards and dead last in yards per attempt. Additionally, they have the fifth-fewest rushing attempts in the league. Conversely, they have the third most passing attempts, which means the ball will be in Romo’s hand for much of the day. If the Steelers are going to give their young, inexperienced corners any help, the front seven is going to have to get pressure on Romo and force him into some bad decisions. Getting LaMarr Woodley back on the left side should be a big improvement over Jason Worlids and James Harrison has been playing his best ball in over a year. Aside from Big Ben, Romo might be the best quarterback in the league at getting out of pressure and making plays down the field. He will try to fit the ball into tight spaces, so the Steelers need to be ready to try and jump some routes. Romo has actually been a better quarterback away from home this season. At home, Romo has only two fewer touchdowns but eight more interceptions and nine more sacks. This all adds up to a quarterback rating that is 17 points lower at home than it is on the road.

4. Run the ball

The Chargers stacked the box against us and made the Steelers rushing attack a non-factor. With Rashard Mendenhall’s suspension, the onus is on Jonathan Dwyer and Isaac Redman to put this team on their backs. The Steelers biggest problem against the Chargers was their lack of rhythm on offense. They couldn’t pick up first downs and couldn’t stay on the field. Dallas has the 16th-ranked run defense in the league but has given up over 100 yards in each of their last four games and in seven of the last eight. In fact, only one team this year has run for less than 80 yards against the Cowboys defense. The Steelers should be able to attack the Cowboys up the middle with NT Jay Ratliff out and NT Josh Brent also out.

5. Turn Back the Clocks

At this point it might seem like I’m beating a dead horse, but the trend is so alarming that it bears repeating. In the Mike Tomlin era the Steelers are 67-34 overall, a 66.3% winning percentage. They are 62-21 in the Eastern Time Zone, a 74.7% winning percentage. Their biggest issues have been outside the Eastern Time Zone where they are a mere 5-13 (27.7%). This is a marked contrast to their overall road record of 27-21 (56.3%) and even their road record in Eastern Time of 22-9 (71%). The Steelers struggles outside of Eastern Time have not all been against superior opponents. They have dropped games to teams like Oakland and Tennessee on the road this season. The Steelers have not won outside of Eastern Time since beating the Chiefs on Monday Night last season and carry a 5-game losing streak into Dallas. Their losses were to San Francisco, Denver (playoffs), Denver, Oakland and Tennessee.