Dec 7th 2008 9:26PM by JJ Cooper (author feed)
Filed under: Cowboys, Steelers, AFC North, NFC EastFor 53 minutes, this was setting up to be one of those games where Cowboys fans would breathe a sigh of relief, while Steelers fans would bang their heads against walls.

Pittsburgh forced four first-half turnovers and still went to the half tied 3-3. Tony Romo had played about as bad as he could play in the first half, and all Pittsburgh had gotten out of it was a tie.

Dallas then took control of the game in the third quarter, scored a touchdown (something that seemed very hard to do in a game that the defenses dominated), added a field goal and continued to hold the Steelers offense down to double digits in total yardage. Even when the Steelers finally started moving the ball, Dallas stuffed the Steelers on fourth and goal to take away the Steelers first good chance at a touchdown. With the Falcons losing, Dallas’ chances of taking control of the wild card race was looking very good.

And then everything changed. Santonio Holmes returned a punt 35 yards to the Cowboys 25. Even when Pittsburgh was held to two yards on three plays, it was still enough to give the Steelers a field goal that cut the lead to seven, 13-6. The Steelers’ defense steppped up to force a three and out, and the Steelers went to the no-huddle. That finally seemed to get the Steelers’ passing game finally going, as Ben Roethlisberger found Nate Washington for 14, 21 and 16 yards, setting up a touchdown pass to Heath Miller that tied the score at 13-13.
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