The Dallas Cowboys earned a hard-fought victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday Night Football in Week 5. Following a weather delay that pushed kickoff back to 9:48 PM ET, the Cowboys overcame adversity with a strong second half from Dak Prescott and the offense, leaving ESPN's Stephen A. Smith in utter disarray.
Ahead of his First Take appearance on Monday, Smith was emotional about the Sunday Night Football result. It's clear that he wasn't in the peppiest of moods.
“Getting ready for @FirstTake today after the Cowboys beat my Steelers,” Smith said, per his post on X, formerly Twitter.
Ahead of the Week 5 matchup, Smith was highly confident that the Steelers would conquer the struggling Cowboys on primetime. The Steelers loss comes just days after Smith's bold Dak Prescott statement surfaced online about contract demands. Prescott put forth a clutch 15-play, 70-yard drive, that ended with a touchdown pass to Jalen Tolbert with 20 seconds remaining. Given Smith's voiced fandom of the Steelers, it's possible that the oft-criticized QB wanted to clap back at the previous comments.
Dak Prescott comes through for Cowboys on Sunday Night Football
Despite the Cowboys being without defensive stars Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence, they proved resilient. Dak Prescott put forth a clutch 15-play, 70-yard drive, that ended with a touchdown pass to Jalen Tolbert with 20 seconds remaining. It was a vintage showing from Prescott, who appeared to scoff at the damp field conditions, and proceeded to play to his strengths. The three-time Pro Bowler completed 29-of-42 passes for 352 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions.
Along with Prescott's performance, and robust finish, Rico Dowdle gave another quality outing as the team's lead running back. He recorded 20 rushing attempts for 87 yards, and two catches for 27 yards and one touchdown against Pittsburgh's stout defense. It was Dowdle's most impressive line of the season, and there appears to be a new workhorse ball-carrier in Dallas for the moment.
As for the Steelers, it will be interesting to see how they respond after such a close loss. Fields' 158 total yards looked encouraging on the game field, and would likely hold more weight if Pittsburgh had come out with a win, but is it actually enough to consistently win games? Head coach Mike Tomlin will likely take another look at the QB spot, and figure out if it's time to give Russell Wilson an opportunity.
Stephen A. Smith will give his official reactions to the game when First Take airs on Monday. Stay tuned.