8-0: Steelers Gameplan Worked, Gilbert Just Played Well

The Pittsburgh Steelers knew if they were going to beat the Dallas Cowboys, they needed Garrett Gilbert to throw the football.

The gameplan heading into Sunday was to put the ball in the hands of Garrett Gilbert and make the Dallas Cowboys throw the football to win the game. 

Essentially, that's what happened.

Gilbert, who carried six NFL passes into his first career start, finished 21-for-38 for 243 passing yards, 28 rushing yards and a touchdown to one interception.

The Steelers don't feel as if they stepped out of line with their gameplan, though. All week, Pittsburgh's goal was to stop Ezekiel Elliott, who rushed for 51 yards on 18 attempts. 

From there, it was about containing the unknown quarterback. 

"They worked hard to stay on schedule. That was helpful to them," head coach Mike Tomlin said about the Cowboys' offense. "They were in manageable third downs, they were able to run the ball some on third downs. We weren't doing a good job of possessing it on offense, so it kept the pressure off him and them. It was a good gameplan and execution by them."

The Steelers knew little coming into the game about Gilbert. His experience in the NFL was spent mostly on practice squads, with five of his six regular season games coming in 2019 for the Cleveland Browns. 

"We wanted to hold up early," defensive end Cam Heyward explained to how the defense approached Gilbert. "We didn't have a lot of film on him and that can be kind of deceiving. You take chances, you don't know if he's more mobile than you think." 

Still, they felt as if they knew what they were working with. Sometimes, Gilbert just got the best of them. 

"Nothing really surprised us," safety Minkah Fitzpatrick said after the game. "He got out of the pocket a couple times. But it was stuff that we did on our part. It wasn't like they schemed anything up that really hurt us. We knew he had a good arm. We were seeing that throughout the game, he was making good throws down the field, in windows with zone coverage. He's a good player. He's in the NFL for a reason."

Poor play against an inexperienced quarterback behind them, the Steelers are 8-0 for the first time, ever, defeating the Cowboys 24-19 in comeback fashion.

"8-0 for the first time in franchise history," Tomlin said. "We're humbled and honored to be that group."

The team never worried about having to step up in crunch time. Ben Roethlisberger left the first half early with a knee injury, but returned after half to lead his team to their eighth win of the regular season. 

"We know that we're able to come back," wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster said. "We know that we were able to come back in the second half. We have those moments. We've shown that."

Roethlisberger finished with 306 passing yards and three touchdowns, including two in the fourth quarter.

The win doesn't change anything, though. Pittsburgh has kept this entire season one game at a time. From the moment the final buzzer sounds, this group is already focused on their next opponent. Being the first team to hit the midway point unbeaten doesn't change that. 

"It's significant as we sit here today, but once I go to work tomorrow, it'll be less significant," Tomlin said. "We'll be singularly focused on getting ready for our next AFC North opponent. That's life. I'm appreciative of it but I'm not going to dwell on it. We've got big-time business coming up with AFC North ball." 

Heyward said this start means one thing, the Steelers still have a chance to finish 8-8. 

It doesn't look likely with the talent and momentum they've built to this point. Their come-from-behind wins over the last two weeks have certainly boosted their confidence in each other. But moving on to Week 10, it just means they need to keep winning. 

"I'm glad we're in a position where everybody is looking at us," Heyward said. "You don't have to wait for other people to do their jobs, they've got to catch you."

Noah Strackbein is a Publisher with AllSteelers. Follow Noah on Twitter @NoahStrack, and AllSteelers @si_steelers.