The Pittsburgh Steelers were about 23 yards from losing their first game of the season but the defense held strong and prevented a game-winning Garrett Gilbert touchdown pass.
The Steelers defeated the Dallas Cowboys, 24-19. Pittsburgh is 8-0 for the first time in history.
But the Steelers needed to dig deep and make a comeback.
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Dallas went into half time up 13-9. Gilbert, in his first career start, had a 20-yard touchdown pass to CeeDee Lamb in the second quarter to go up 13-0. The Steelers would answer with a touchdown pass from Ben Roethlisberger to James Washington and then a Chris Boswell 59-yard field goal.
The Cowboys would tack on two more field goals in the second quarter and really only needed a touchdown to potentially put the game away. Dallas had a 19-9 lead in the fourth quarter.
Like in so many games this season, no lead was safe in the fourth quarter.
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Roethlisberger threw the go-ahead touchdown pass with 2:19 remaining in the game to put the Steelers up 24-19. It was the cap to 15 consecutive points in the final period.
Roethlisberger, who briefly left the game because of a knee injury, finished 29-for-42 with 306 passing yards and three touchdown passes. JuJu Smith-Schuster led the way with six catches for 93 yards.
Gilbert wasn’t terrible in his first start. He finished 21-for-38 with 243 passing yards, a touchdown pass and an interception. Lamb had four catches for 71 yards.
Tony Pollard led all running backs with 57 yards on the ground on nine carries.
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Pittsburgh is off to the best start in franchise history with its eighth straight victory to start the season.
Dallas falls to 2-7 and have a minuscule lead over the New York Giants in the NFC East.
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