Terence Steele played poorly in the Dallas Cowboys’ Week 9 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. How did he respond in the days before a Week 10 divisional matchup?
Few players did more to sink the Dallas Cowboys’ chances in Week 9 than tackle Terence Steele. Dallas lost on the road, 28-23, against a vaunted Philadelphia Eagles team and came excruciatingly close to making the NFC East a real race.
Instead, Philadelphia’s pass rush won the day. Quarterback Dak Prescott was sacked five times on 19 pressures, ultimately stifling an otherwise herculean effort. Steele wasn’t only a culprit, he became a target for Eagles pass rushers.
Steele gave up 12 pressures in Week 9. He generated a cataclysmically poor pass-protection grade from Pro Football Focus (15.0) and was blamed for four of Prescott’s sacks. In a game where the Cowboys came up just inches short, setting the offense back yards at a time was a death sentence for Dallas’ hopes of winning the division.
That wasn’t the version of Steele the Cowboys anticipated when they extended him with a five-year, $82.5 million deal — and there’s little in the form of reinforcements on the way. Simply put, he needs to be better.
Steele spoke about rebounding in the wake of such a poor performance.
“It’s just keeping a level head,” Steele said. “Just watching the film, learning from my mistakes. No one is harder on me than myself.”
Prescott and head coach Mike McCarthy both extended support for Steele, who has had to deal with the personal and social-media consequences of last Sunday’s action. With nothing left to do but address the issues he put on film, he remains focused on his technique.
“It really just came down to me, my fundamentals,” Steele said. “Just staying true to it. I got a little sloppy there at the end.”
It’s possible Steele’s inconsistencies stem from an ACL tear suffered in Week 13 of last season. His recovery had been encouraging, but he hasn’t returned to his 2022 form, which saw him break out as one of the league’s better linemen.
With the left side of the offensive line dominating and right guard Zack Martin continuing to play at a high level, Steele feels like the final piece to an otherwise strong unit. Offensive lines are only as good as their worst starter, and it’s easy to imagine the cascading effects Steele’s improvement would bring.
While there’s no guarantee Steele poetically rebounds from the loss, McCarthy made it clear that it’s not an issue of dedication.
“He’s one of our hardest workers,” he said. “I’ll anticipate he’ll respond Sunday, too. He’s had a good week.”
Thankfully, Week 10 will offer Steele and the Cowboys a chance to bounce back in dominant fashion. The New York Giants will visit Dallas on Sunday having generated just 15 sacks in nine games.
