Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers tied the game in the second quarter

Each team started with a field goal on its first drive. Everyone then watched as their quarterback turned the ball over on his second attempt. Pressure from TJ Watt, the Steelers’ star rush end, collapsed the pocket around Dak Prescott and forced a fumble that Pittsburgh recovered in the final seconds of the first quarter.

It was a shaky second possession for Steelers QB Justin Fields. One play after beating an open receiver and nearly being intercepted, Fields fumbled when the Cowboys’ Linval Joseph broke through the line and hit Fields in the backfield.

Fumbling has been a problem for Fields all season; He managed this four times in his first four games.

Marshawn Kneeland, the defensive end who was injured early in the first quarter, is considered questionable to return after apparently injuring his right leg. Kneeland was taken to the locker room on a cart.

And that’s where it hurts the Cowboys that they don’t have a strong threat. They rushed to the line of scrimmage and faced third-and-1, hoping to unbalance Pittsburgh’s defense, but they passed and it ended in an intentional grounding penalty against Dallas. The first punt of the evening is up for Dallas.

Both teams open with field goals on the first drive. Pittsburgh answers Dallas with a 41-yard field goal from Chris Boswell.

It’s Steelers 3, Cowboys 3, 7:33 remaining in the first quarter.

Rookie Cowboys defensive end Marshawn Kneeland limped off the field during the Steelers’ opening series. Should Kneeland miss time, there would be trouble for a defense that has already struggled this season. Kneeland only started because the Cowboys’ other edge rushers, Micah Parson and DeMarcus Lawrence, are out tonight due to injuries.

Brandon Aubrey’s 55-yard field goal caps the Cowboys’ first six-play, 21-yard scoring drive. Dallas leans on Dak Prescott’s arm early, as expected.

As this game prepares for a delayed kickoff, Dallas will receive the opening kickoff. Watch to see if the Cowboys can get even a semblance of a running game going. They have averaged 75.3 rush yards per game this season, which is last in the league.

In their first four games under defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer this season, the Cowboys rank 26th in total defense (355.3 yds/gm) and are tied for 27th in scoring defense (26.0 pts/game). The defense remained strong in each of Dallas’ two victories, but was challenged in both losses.

Zimmer took over for Dan Quinn, who was the Cowboys’ defensive coordinator for the past three years (2021-2023) before taking the head coaching job in Washington this offseason.

With rain and thunderstorms moving over Pittsburgh, tonight’s “Sunday Night Football” match is expected to begin at 9:45 p.m. ET.

The game went into a weather delay before the start of the first quarter. If it starts at 9:45 a.m., the game will have been delayed by almost 90 minutes. Buckle up, it’s getting late, folks.

Before Week 4, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin was asked about naming a permanent starting QB for the future. However, he said there was “no need” to do so at this stage:

“There is no need… If (Russell Wilson) reaches a reasonable level of health and we need to make a decision, I will make it and announce it, and I will be really transparent about it. But until then, no matter how many times you ask me, I have no intention of making the decision, which is unnecessary at this point.”

This week, Tomlin was asked if they would continue to work with Fields once Wilson returns from his calf injury.

“There’s potential for it,” Tomlin said. “But we’re not as far along as I’m standing here today.”

This offseason, the Steelers signed QB Russell Wilson and traded him for QB Justin Fields, giving the Bears a conditional 6th round pick. Wilson, who battled a calf injury during the preseason, was named the starting quarterback before Week 1.

However, Wilson has yet to play this season due to his injury, as Fields was pushed into the starting lineup and won his first three starts for Pittsburgh before losing to the Colts in Week 4.

In his three previous NFL seasons (all with Chicago), Fields won more than three games only once (5-8 in 13 starts last season).

This season, Fields has completed 70.6% of his passes for 830 yards with three passing touchdowns and one interception. He also has 145 rushing yards and has accounted for all three of the Steelers’ rushing scores this season.

Jake Ferguson is second on Dallas in catches (16) and third on the team in receiving yards (159) after playing in three games (he missed Week 2 against New Orleans with a knee injury). Since returning from injury, Ferguson has a team-high 13 catches for 144 yards (second on the team) in the last two games.

The star WR leads Dallas in every major receiving category this season (20 receptions, 316 receiving yards, 2 receiving touchdowns), which he has done each of the last two seasons. In the Week 4 win at the Giants, he set season highs in catches (7) and receiving yards (98) and had a 55-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter.

Last season, Lamb set career highs in receptions (135 – most in the NFL), receiving yards (1,749 – second in the NFL behind Tyreek Hill) and receiving touchdowns (12 – third in the NFL behind Hill and Mike Evans) and scoring earning his first All-Pro selection and his third consecutive Pro Bowl honor.

▪ Lamb’s 135 receptions and 1,749 receiving yards were Cowboys franchise records (surpassing Hall of Famer Michael Irvin’s records in 1995) and he became the fourth Cowboy with three straight seasons of over 1,000 receiving yards (Irvin, Terrell Owens and Dez Bryant).

At 2-2, the Cowboys are off to their worst start since 2020, coach Mike McCarthy’s first season and the only year of his tenure in which Dallas missed the playoffs (ended 2020 at 6-10).

After Dallas’ Week 2 loss to the Saints, owner Jerry Jones said McCarthy — who is in the final year of his contract — will be measured by postseason success.

“I don’t think it has anything to do with where (McCarthy) is on his contract.” [the Week 1 win at] Cleveland…or how we played (in Week 2 loss to NO). We’re trying to get this team fit and ready to really get into the playoffs. … If we have a problem, it’s that we’ve been a good to very good team for the last four to five years with Mike in season and we haven’t done well this season in the playoffs. So let’s trade some challenges during the season for a good showing in the playoffs, if you want to look at it that way.”

The Cowboys and Steelers are two of the NFL’s most storied teams and this week they meet for the first time on SNF.

• Dallas and Pittsburgh have combined to win 11 Super Bowl titles (six for Pittsburgh, five for Dallas) and have played in 16 Super Bowl games (eight for both teams).

• The two teams met in three Super Bowls, making the Cowboys-Steelers the most Super Bowl matchup in NFL history. They played against each other in Super Bowl X in the 1975 season, XIII in the 1978 season and XXX in the 1995 season. Pittsburgh won both Super Bowls in the 1970s, while Dallas won the duel in the 1990s.

• The Cowboys and Steelers are the two teams with the most wins in the Super Bowl era. The two teams also rank first and second in regular season winning percentage in the Super Bowl era (Dallas leads at .598, while Pittsburgh is second at .590).

Since the Super Bowl XXX meeting nearly 29 years ago, the DAL and PIT have met only six times, with each team winning three times.