Dallas Cowboys, Pittsburgh Steelers must fix big problems ahead of 2021 NFL season

It needs to be a marquee matchup, however is it?

The Dallas Cowboys face the Pittsburgh Steelers to kick off the 2021 NFL preseason with the annual Corridor of Fame recreation in August. However earlier than they do, they need to reply some necessary questions.

Dallas and Pittsburgh are two of the league’s most storied franchises, however their most up-to-date seasons got here to abrupt ends.

The Steelers, with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger main the best way, began on an 11-0 tear earlier than posting a dropping file of their ultimate 5 video games (1-4). 

In the meantime, Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott lit up the league by means of the air (1,856 passing yards and 9 touchdowns) earlier than struggling a season-ending harm in Week 5 in opposition to the New York Giants.

Now, with the 2021 offseason upon us, which workforce has essentially the most to determine as a way to have a profitable marketing campaign subsequent season?

On Tuesday’s version of “Speak For Yourself,” Marcellus Wiley mentioned Pittsburgh has an issue on the QB place — one the present starter can’t resolve.

“The final 5 video games they had been 1-4. … [Ben Roethlisberger’s] completion proportion went down, yards per try went down, touchdown-interception ratio acquired ugly, passer ranking dropped all the way down to 83. So my tour information will not be so good.”

The 38-year-old Roethlisberger, after being sidelined in 2019 due to a proper elbow harm, began the 2020 season on a tear, throwing for 25 touchdowns and 6 interceptions by means of the primary 11 weeks to assist Pittsburgh to its excellent begin. 

He then cooled off considerably in Weeks 12-15, tossing eight landing passes and 4 picks, posting a passer ranking of 80.1 and finishing simply 60.3% of his passes. The Steelers went 1-3 with him as a starter down the stretch (he sat out Week 16 after Pittsburgh clinched the division).

Roethlisberger completed along with his fewest passing yards (3,803) since 2012, and for the second straight season, the Steelers didn’t have a 1,000-yard receiver after having one on the roster in six consecutive seasons from 2013 to ’18.

Following Pittsburgh’s early exit within the wild-card spherical of the playoffs, questions swirled about whether or not Roethlisberger would return for the ultimate 12 months of his contract.

As of Wednesday morning, his standing with the workforce appeared to be extra in flux than ever. 

Roethlisberger has a $41 million cap hit for 2021, and although he’s prepared to take a pay lower, the Steelers are prone to lose extra items, together with their prime broad receiver, JuJu Smith-Schuster.

Their beginning heart, Maurkice Pouncey, has already introduced his retirement.

Pittsburgh has the No. 24 choose within the 2020 NFL Draft, and FOX Sports betting analyst Jason McIntyre has the club picking up an offensive tackle, presumably to assist the veteran Roethlisberger.

Wiley additionally identified that the Steelers play within the extremely aggressive AFC North, and the division’s 4 groups mixed for a 38-25-1 file in 2020, good for the perfect win proportion within the NFL.

Nonetheless, even with a great deal of roster uncertainty in Pittsburgh, Wiley’s co-host, Emmanuel Acho, mentioned Tuesday that the Cowboys have extra unknowns than the Steelers heading into subsequent season.

“They’ve query marks in every single place, as I see it. Cowboys have a query mark as their head coach. Is [Mike McCarthy] a top quality head coach? … My second query is across the star gamers. … Solely Amari Cooper performed all of the video games and performed effectively final 12 months. … And now, I even have questions in regards to the quarterback place.

“The distinction between the Cowboys and Steelers is on the primary day of the offseason this 12 months, the Cowboys do not have a quarterback. Dak Prescott technically must be tagged once more. Ben Roethlisberger continues to be beneath contract.”

What’s subsequent for Dallas at quarterback could be not solely the largest query for the Cowboys but additionally the most important query in your complete NFL.

Prescott’s future continues to be up within the air. The franchise might place a second franchise tag on him or signal him to a long-term deal. Both approach, cash goes to be a problem, as the Cowboys are anticipated to have solely round $18 million in cap area in 2021.

Dallas is understood for paying its gamers, and the Cowboys presently have hefty contracts on each side of the ball, together with for working again Ezekiel Elliott (six years, $90 million), receiver Amari Cooper (5 years, $100 million) and defensive finish Demarcus Lawrence (5 years, $105 million).

These contracts aren’t precisely panning out up to now.

In 2020, Elliott had profession lows in dashing yards (979), dashing yards per try (4.0), dashing yards per recreation (65.3) and dashing makes an attempt per recreation (16.3). He additionally tied his profession excessive with six fumbles.

On the defensive aspect of the ball, the Cowboys had been twenty sixth within the NFL in QB hits (74) and twenty seventh in tackles for loss (54). Dallas had the Thirty first-ranked dashing protection, permitting 158.8 dashing yards per recreation, and the Twenty eighth-ranked scoring protection, permitting 29.6 factors per recreation.

How the franchise will repair these dastardly defensive numbers stays to be seen.

Whereas some high-paid gamers did not fairly dwell as much as expectations final season, neither did McCarthy in his first 12 months on the sideline.

After a disappointing 6-10 end, McCarthy has a dropping file his previous three seasons (17-26-1), and he has a 12-22-1 profession file outdoors of his time with Corridor of Fame-caliber QBs in Aaron Rodgers and Brett Favre.

As for what’s to come back within the quick future, the Cowboys have the tenth choose within the NFL draft, and McCarthy & Co. must determine what to handle first.

The Steelers will choose at No. 24.

One factor is for sure: Each Pittsburgh and Dallas are already on the clock.

Take a look at Marcellus and Emmanuel’s total dialog beneath:

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