NFL Old School Game of the Week: Steelers Come From Behind to Beat Cowboys in Slugfest

Steelers cornerback Deshea Townsend avoids the tackle of Cowboys tight end Jason Witten as he would score the game-winning touchdown on a pick-six.

Even they meet sparingly, whenever the Dallas Cowboys and the Pittsburgh Steelers play each other, it is a big game, primarily because of the history the two teams share in the Super Bowl, with the Steelers defeating the Cowboys 21-17 in Super Bowl X and 35-31 in Super Bowl XIII, while the Cowboys would knock off the Steelers 27-17 in Super Bowl XXX.

When they got together in week 14 of the 2008 NFL season in Pittsburgh, it was a critical game for both teams' chances of the playoffs.

The Steelers entered the game with a 9-3 record under second-year head coach Mike Tomlin who help craft the league's #1 defense which featured all-pro free safety Troy Polamalu and eventual NFL defensive player of the year in linebacker James Harrison.

The Steelers' defense were ranked #1 in nearly every defensive category and with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger leading the offense, Pittsburgh hoped to win its second Super Bowl in four years.

Meanwhile, the Cowboys entered the game with a 8-4 record as they were under the direction of head coach Wade Phillips, who was in his second season as the Cowboys' head coach.

The Cowboys were hoping to return to the postseason after being knocked out by the New York Giants in the Divisional Round after Dallas went 13-3 to finish the 2007 regular season.

With quarterback Tony Romo and the highly combustible but talented wide receiver Terrell Owens, the Cowboys had their work cut out for them as they not only were about to face a defense that was given up nearly 14 points per game, but the weather as the temperature at gametime was 22 degrees with a wind chill of just 8 degrees.

 The Cowboys got the ball to start the game but gave it right back on the third play of the game when Romo was intercepted by Polamalu to give the Steelers the ball at the Dallas 47-yard-line.

A 23-yard pass from Roethlisberger to Holmes set up a 45-yard field goal attempt by Jeff Reed, but his kick sailed wide right keeping the game scoreless.

Dallas would get the ball back at their 35-yard-line and drive to the Steelers' 33-yard-line where they faced a 4th & 1 situation.

Phillips opted to go for the 1st down, but the decision backfired when running back Deon Anderson was stopped at the line of scrimmage by Polamalu and Harrison, giving the Steelers the ball at their 33-yard-line.

A pair of passes to running back Mewelde Moore totaled 23 yards and got Pittsburgh into Dallas territory but the drive stalled at the Cowboys' 36-yard-line which lead to a Steeler punt.

After forcing the Cowboys to go three-and-out on their next possession, the Steelers got the ball back at their 46-yard-line only to turn it over when tight end Heath Miller lost the football after a hit by Cowboys linebacker Bradie James, leading to a fumble that was recovered by Dallas free safety Ken Hamlin at the Cowboys' 46-yard-line.

The Cowboys would drive to the Pittsburgh 34-yard-line where they faced another 4th down situation, this time needing two yards to pick up the 1st down.

However, Romo's pass for Owens fell incomplete giving the ball to Pittsburgh as the game moved into the second quarter still scoreless.

Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo would struggle as he threw three interceptions and lost a fumble.

The Steelers would go three-and-out and punt the ball back to the Cowboys, who took over at their 34-yard-line and appeared to have a drive going only to have Romo get sacked by Harrison  which forced a fumble that was recovered by Steelers defensive end Travis Kirschke at the Dallas 45-yard-line.

But just three plays later, the Steelers would give it right back to the Cowboys after Roethlisberger fumbled the ball on a quarterback sneak, which was recovered by James at the Dallas 34-yard-line.

The parade of turnovers would stop temporaily as both teams punted on their ensuing possessions until Romo was picked off by Steelers cornerback Ike Taylor at the Cowboys' 22-yard-line.

Eventually, the Steelers would drive to the Cowboys' six-yard-line where they would call on Reed to attempt a 24-yard field goal.

Reed's kick was true and the Steelers had broken the scoreless deadlock to take a 3-0 lead with just 2:44 to go before halftime.

The Cowboys would take over at their 25-yard-line where they would drive 49 yards in seven plays, with three of those being passes from Romo to tight end Jason Witten which gained 38 yards, to set up Nick Folk's 44-yard field goal as time expired in the first half with the game tied at 3.

After the Steelers went three-and-out on their opening possession of the second half, the Cowboys got the ball at their 33-yard-line and decided to go rely on running back Tashard Choice to get them down the field.

Choice would carry the ball four times for 36 yards, leading to a 12-yard touchdown pass from Romo to Owens, in which Romo scrambled around for what seemed like ages until he found a wide open Owens in the end zone to give the Cowboys a 10-3 lead with 9:49 left in the third quarter.

It seemed that the momentum was on the Cowboys' side, especially after the Steelers to punt on their next possession to get the ball back at the Dallas 28-yard-line when Romo hit Owens for 11 yards to start the drive, then connected with Choice on a 50-yard screen pass to give the Cowboys 1st & goal at the Dallas 10-yard-line.

However, the Pittsburgh defense would rise up as linebacker James Farrior sacked Romo for an eight-yard loss on 3rd & goal, forcing the Cowboys to settle for a 33-yard field goal to increase Dallas' lead to 13-3 with 3:36 to go in the third quarter.

Cowboys running back Tashard Choice would carry the ball 23 times for 88 yards and catch five passes for 78 yards.

Down 10 points, the Steelers offense needed to get moving as they begun their next possession at their 26-yard-line.

The drive got off to an auspicious start as Roethlisberger was sacked by Cowboys linebacker Kevin Burnett for a six-yard loss on 1st down.

However on 3rd & 16, Roethlisberger hit Holmes for a 47-yard completion to give Pittsburgh a much needed 1st down at the Cowboys' 33-yard-line.

Three plays later, Roethlisberger would connect with Holmes again this time for 12 yards on 2nd & 18 to put Pittsburgh at the Dallas 14-yard-line as the third quarter came to a close.

An offsides penalty on Cowboys defensive end Greg Ellis and a four-yard run by fullback Gary Russell gave the Steelers a 1st & goal at the Dallas five-yard-line.

Two runs by Willie Parker for four yards and then a pass to Carey Davis that gained nothing set up a 4th & goal at the one-yard-line.

Instead of kicking the field goal which would make it a one-touchdown game, Tomlin decided to go for it and see if the Steelers could get in the end zone.

But Russell was dropped for a two-yard loss by James and strong safety Keith Davis giving Dallas the ball at their three-yard-line still holding on to a 13-3 lead with 12:26 left in the fourth quarter.

The Steelers would force the Cowboys to punt and would get great field position as Holmes returned the punt 35 yards to the Dallas 25-yard-line.

But on 3rd & 2, Roethlisberger was sacked by Cowboys nose tackle Jay Ratliff, dropping him for a six-yard-loss and forcing the Steelers to settle for a 41-yard field goal by Reed to cut the Dallas lead to a touchdown at 13-6 with 7:20 left in the fourth quarter.

The Cowboys would begin their next possession at their 40-yard-line after Reed's kickoff went out of bounds, but the Steelers' defense was able to force a three-and-out, keyed by a sack by Kirschke of Romo.

Sam Paulsecu would then shank the punt as it would go only 23 yards to give Pittsburgh the ball at its 33-yard-line with 5:10 left in regulation to tie the game.

That is when Nate Washington stepped up as he caught a 14-yard pass from Roethlisberger to start the drive, then caught a 21-yard pass on the very next play to give Pittsburgh a 1st down at the Dallas 32-yard-line.

Roethlisberger would then throw two straight incomplete passes before scrambling for nine yards on 3rd down to set up a 4th & 1 at the Dallas 23-yard-line.

The Steelers went for it and this time got the 1st down as Roethlisberger sneaked it for one yard, then found Washington across the middle for 16 yards to give the Steelers a 1st & goal at the six-yard-line.

Then Roethlisberger lofted a six-yard touchdown pass to Miller that with Reed's extra point tied the game at 13 with 2:04 left in regulation.

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger would account for all 67 yards on the Steelers' eight-play, 67-yard touchdown drive which tied the game.

The Cowboys would get the ball at their 15-yard-line to begin what they hoped to be a drive that would produce at least a field goal that would win them the game.

But after Choice picked up two yards on 1st down, Romo overthrew Witten on 2nd down and was picked off by Steelers cornerback Deshea Townsend who ran it back for a 26-yard pick-six to give the Steelers a 20-13 lead with 1:40 to go.

The Cowboys would get the ball back at the 18-yard-line and after a 10-yard catch by Roy Williams picked up a 1st down, Romo would throw four straight incomplete passes, giving the ball back to the Steelers who took over at the Dallas' 28-yard-line.

The Steelers would run out the clock and come away with the 20-13 win, their 10th of the season.

The Cowboys would go on to lose their final two games of the regular season, including a 44-6 thrashing at the hands of the Philadelphia Eagles for the final Wild Card spot in the NFC playoffs as Dallas finished the season with a 9-7 record.

Meanwhile, the Steelers would finish the regular season with a 12-4 record, good enough to win the AFC North Division and the #2 seed in the AFC playoffs where they would knock off the San Diego Chargers 35-24 in the Divisional Round, then their AFC North rivals, the Baltimore Ravens 23-14 in the AFC Championship Game, to earn Pittsburgh a second trip to the Super Bowl in four years.

In Super Bowl XLIII, the Steelers took a 20-7 lead into the fourth quarter, thanks in large part to Harrison's 100-yard interception return for a touchdown, only to give up 16 unanswered points and fall behind 23-20 to the Arizona Cardinals with 2:37 left in the game.

The Steelers would drive 78 yards in seven plays, culminating with Holmes' remarkable tip-toe touchdown catch with 35 seconds left to give Pittsburgh a 27-23 win and their sixth Super Bowl title, breaking a tie with the Cowboys.