Steelers Set to Shut Down Cowboys & Romo at Home

Willie Parker of the Pittsburgh Steelers

The Dallas Cowboys travel to Pittsburgh this week to face Steelers for first time at Heinz Field.

The game features two teams currently riding 3 game winning streaks and two of the NFL's best quarterbacks in Tony Romo and Ben Roethlisberger.

Both Romo and Roethlisberger appear to have healed from injuries earlier this season.

Romo continues to play with a broken right pinky finger while Roethlisberger has been nursing a seperated right shoulder. Big Ben has not missed any game time despite sustaining the shoulder injury on his throwing arm. Since Romo's return to the Cowboys lineup on November 16, 2008, the Cowboys have won 3 consecutive games.

The Steelers three game winning streak has been shouldered mainly by their top-ranked defense. The Steelers defense continues to lead the NFL in least points allowed per game (14.2), total yards per game (238.0), rushing yards per game (166.8) and rushing yards (71.2)

Meanwhile, the Cowboys have feasted on relatively weaker opponents at home in their two past games against the Seahawks (34 - 9) and 49ers (35 - 22) after a hard fought victory against the Redskins in Washington (14 -10) in NFL 2008 Week 11.

Romo has led the Cowboys to three consecutive wins in spite of a broken pinkie.

However, this week is a different story as the Cowboys pay a visit to the "Blitzburgh" Steelers and the NFLs best defense.

Despite the pinkie injury, Tony Romo comes off a 331-yard three touchdown Thanksgiving Day game performance in which he led the Dallas Cowboys to touchdowns in their first three possessions and points in its first four that ended in a 34-9 win over the Seattle Seahawks.

But this is a Steelers team with QB BEN ROETHLISBERGER who is 14-4 lifetime against the NFC at the helm of a consistent offense and a defense that blitzes and distracts opponents into total confusion and ultimate submission.

The Steelers rank first in the NFL this season in overall, rushing and passing defense.

And that defensive unit, under 71-year-old coordinator DICK LE BEAU, has yet to allow a 100-yard rushing or 300-yard passing performance this 2008 season and has surrendered 10 or fewer points in four of the Pittsburgh Steelers past five games.

With all of Romo and Roethlisberger's cannon arms, things could well come down to the blitzers.

Three of the league's top six sackers will be in action -- Dallas LB DE MARCUS WARE (NFL-leading 15.0 sacks) and Steelers LBs JAMES HARRISON (14.0) and LA MARR WOODLEY (11.5) -- who already have the most sacks (25.5) of any tandem in an NFL season in Steelers franchise history.

Dallas Cowboys (8-4) at Pittsburgh Steelers (9-3)

The Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers have faced each other 29 times with Dallas holding a 15-14 series advantage. 15 of the 29 series games have been decided by seven points or less, including 10 games by four points or less.

The Cowboys and Steelers last played each other on October 17, 2004 at Texas Stadium on Oct. 17, 2004 in front of 64,162 fans. The Steelers left Dallas with a 24-20 win. Pittsburgh RB Jerome Bettis scored on a 2 yard TD run with 30 seconds left in the game to give the Steelers their 4th consecutive victory at the time.

NFL 2008 Week 13: Pittsburgh Steelers 33 NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS 10

In NFL 2008 Week 13, The Pittsburgh Steelers improved to 9-3 on the season after their 33-10 victory over the New England Patriots on the road.

The Steelers were led by Ben Roethlisberger who completed 17-of-33 passes for 179 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Willie Parker carried the ball 16 times for 87 yards while Hines Ward caught a team-high five passes for 37 yards with one touchdown.

Despite a field goal during the first quarter for an early lead, the Pittsburgh Steelers were trailing the Patriots 10-3 in the second quarter. However, Roethlisberger found Santonio Holmes for a 19-yard strike before halftime to knot the game up at 10-10.

The Pittsburgh Steelers scored 23 unanswered points in the second half, highlighted by three Jeff Reed field goals, while the Steelers number 1 ranked defense held the Patriots scoreless in the second to secure the 33 - 10 victory.

The Steelers head into week 14 with a three game winning streak and have won 4 of their last 5 games. The road victory maintains the Steelers one game lead over the Baltimore Ravens (8-4) in the AFC North.

NFL 2008 Week 13: DALLAS COWBOYS 34 Seattle Seahawks 9

Last week, the Dallas Cowboys improved their Thanksgiving Day record to 26-14-1 as the Cowboys trounced the Seattle Seahawks 34-9.

The Cowboys ran up a 14 -3 first quarter lead as Martellus Bennett caught a 16-yard pass from Tony Romo on the first drive of the game. Julius Jones' fumble on the Seahawks ensuing drive was recovered by Anthony Henry. Dallas capitalized on the turnover when Marion Barber scored on a two-yard run.

Olindo Mare hit a 44-yard field to give Seattle its first points of the game.

The Cowboys scored on its next two drives in the second quarter as Romo threw his second touchdown of the game this time a seven-yard pass to Jason Witten. Nick Folk added a 41-yard field goal to give the Cowboys a 24-3 advantage. The Seahawks were able to move the ball close enough to add a 38-yard Mare field goal to trim the Cowboys lead to 24 - 6 to close out the first half.

Mare hit his third field goal of the game (25 yard FG) on the opening drive of the third quarter to make the score 24-9, but those points were the last points scored by Seattle in the game. The Cowboys added 10 more points in the second half as Romo hit Terrell Owens for a 19-yard scoring toss in the third quarter and Folk connected on his second field goal - a 42-yarder - in the fourth quarter to provide the final 34 - 9 outcome.

This was the Cowboys third consecutive win as they have won 4 of their last 5 to improve their record to 8 and 4. The victory over the Seahawks combined with the Redskins loss to the Giants last Sunday give the Cowboys sole possession of second place in the NFC East.

Dallas Cowboys (8-4)

  • - The Cowboys aim for their 4th win in row
  • - Team has scored 34+ points & gained 400+ yards in each of their past 2 games.
  • - QB TONY ROMO is 6-1 (.857) in career vs. AFC opponents. Romo aims for his 4th game in a row vs. AFC with a 100.0+ passer rating. The Cowboys are 18-3 (.857) when Romo starts & has 100.0+ rating
  • - When RB MARION BARBER has 11+ carries, Cowboys are 26-4 (.867). Has 37 TDs (31 rush, 6 rec.) in past 43. Has 9 rush TDs in past 9 vs. AFC
  • - WR TERRELL OWENS aims for 5th in row vs. AFC with TD. Has 20 TDs in past 22 vs. AFC. In past 2 games, Owens has 12 catches for 311 yards (155.5 per game) & 2 TDs. TE JASON WITTEN had 8th career 100-yard game last week with 9 catches for 115 yards & 1 TD. Rookie TE MARTELLUS BENNETT aims for 4th in row with TD
  • - LB DE MARCUS WARE has 29.0 sacks in past 26. Has 1.0+ sack in 22 of past 26. Tied career-high with 3.0 sacks last week. LB GREG ELLIS has 17.5 sacks in past 25. Had sack in last meeting. LB BRADIE JAMES had 2.0 sacks last week & has 5.0 sacks in past 6. CB TERENCE NEWMAN has INT in 2 of past 3

Pittsburgh Steelers (9-3)

  • - Head coach MIKE TOMLIN aims for his 2nd consecutive season with at least 10 wins
  • - The Steelers are 8-1 (.889) against AFC in 2008
  • - In 1 career start against Cowboys, QB BEN ROETHLISBERGER completed 21 of 25 passes (84.0 pct.) for 193 yards with 2 TDs vs. 0 INTs & 125.5 passer rating. Including playoffs, team is 29-2 (.935), when Roethlisberger has 100+ passer rating
  • - Since 2006, RB WILLIE PARKER has averaged 106.2 rush yards per game at home (2,019) with 12 games of 100 or more rush yards. RB GARY RUSSELL aims for 3rd consecutive game with rush TD
  • - In past 3 at home, WR HINES WARD is averaging 91 rec. yards per game (273 total). Ward totaled 9 catches for 76 yards (8.4 avg.) in last meeting against Dal
  • The Steelers defense leads NFL with 42 sacks this season

  • - LB JAMES HARRISON (14) & LB LA MARR WOODLEY (11.5) have totaled 25.5 sacks in 2008. Harrison (14) needs 2 sacks to surpass MIKE MERRIWEATHER (15 in 1984) for most sacks in Steelers franchise history
  • - S TROY POLAMALU aims for 4th consecutive game with INT.

PREDICTION: Pittsburgh Steelers 20 Dallas Cowboys 16

The Cowboys have had extra time to prepare for the Steelers by playing on Thanksgiving Day last week while the Steelers travelled to New England and faced a much better opponent in the Patriots last week. That all said give credit to the Cowboys for having won while Romo was on the sidelines with his injury as many had written the Cowboys off for the NFL 2008 season.

However, home field advantage and December cold weather Pittsburgh-style gives the Steelers their 10th victory of the season. The Cowboys will need to rely on their running game as Romo will be relatively infective throwing against the Steelers.

Cowboys - Steelers Super Bowl Matchups

The Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers have faced each other in three Super Bowls - X, XIII and XXX - with Pittsburgh winning two of those championships. No other teams have faced each other more times in Super Bowl games than the Dallas Cowboys and and Pittsburgh Steelers.

Week 14 Dallas Cowboys vs Pittsburgh Steelers - NFL 2008