ARLINGTON, Texas -- Over the course of their 7-0 start, the Steelers had gotten major contributions from role players such Robert Spillane, Cam Sutton and others.
The stars? Oh, they had been contributing but hadn't necessarily had to do all of the heavy lifting.
That changed Sunday. The Steelers needed their stars to escape from AT&T Stadium with their unbeaten record intact.
And that's exactly what happened, as Ben Roethlisberger and Minkah Fitzpatrick put the team on their backs in the fourth quarter to will the Steelers to a team-record 8-0 start by beating the Cowboys, 24-19, before a large contingent of Pittsburgh fans.
Roethlisberger threw for 144 of his 306 passing yards and two of his three touchdown passes in the final 15 minutes, helping the Steelers turn a 19-9 deficit into a 24-19 advantage.
It was the 34th fourth-quarter comeback in Roethlisberger's career -- his first came here in 2004. That moves him into a tie with Johnny Unitas for fourth-place on the all-time list.
"I don’t want to let my guys down," said Roethlisberger, who has now led fourth-quarter comebacks in back-to-back weeks. "I think so many times, the line and guys are looking at me and they’re like, ‘We believe in you.’
"I just don’t want to let them down. I want to give everything I have and fight. I wish that we didn’t have to have fourth-quarter comebacks. I wish I had played better earlier in the games and we were up and didn’t have to do it. But that’s the way it is. If we have to have a situation like this where we have to score, as long as we win, I’ll take it."
Fitzpatrick, meanwhile, had a key interception in the end zone that kept the Cowboys (2-7) from extending their lead early in the fourth quarter, allowing the Steelers to come back. He then was in place to knock down Dallas quarterback Garrett Gilbert's last-ditch throw into the end zone to finish off the victory.
"It’s just reading the keys, being in the right position and knowing what the offense is trying to do," said Fitzpatrick, who also recovered a fumble at the end of the first half to set up Chris Boswell's team-record 59-yard field goal. "It’s more than just being in the right spot. There’s more to it than that."
There is. And it's about the stars refusing to allow this team to lose, something that looked like it was in danger of happening, despite the Steelers being 14-point favorites in this game.
But the Cowboys, who were using their fourth quarterback of the season in the well-travelled Gilbert -- who is on his seventh NFL team -- pulled out all of the stops.
They rolled Gilbert out. They used a throwback lateral on a punt return to get a 73-yard return by former Steelers practice squad player C.J. Goodwin to set up one of Greg Zeurlein's four field goals. They played as if their season was on the line.
"I’m really proud of our team, 8-0 for the first time in franchise history. We’re humbled and honored to be that group," Mike Tomlin said. "It was not without its trials. Some of that was created by us. You have to give the Cowboys credit. They came to play in all three phases. They were beating us to the punch. It starts with coaching and then playing. They were on it. We were not."
But Roethlisberger took matters into his hands starting late in the third quarter.
After a Cowboys field goal made it 19-9, things were looking bleak. But Roethlisberger went to work with the four-receiver, one-tight end package the Steelers had used with success last week in a comeback win over the Ravens.
And, like he did last week, he utilized JuJu Smith-Schuster to spark the offense. He connected with Smith-Schuster four times on an 80-yard touchdown drive, accounting for all 80 yards, the last being a 31-yard touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter.
"He’s a playmaker. He’s a guy I trust," Roethlisberger said of Smith-Schuster, who finished with six catches for 93 yards. "He’s a guy that I know is going to make plays when you put it in his area. He showed that again that he’s a guy who just battles. He’s competitive. He’s a warrior."
That seemed to be the spark the Steelers needed, though the extra point was blocked, and the lead was cut to 19-15.
The Cowboys were penalized for unnecessary roughness, as well on the play, and the Steelers took the 15 yards on the kickoff, hoping to put the ball up at the one and pin the Cowboys back deep. Instead, Dallas return man Rico Dowdle made Justin Layne miss along the sideline and stayed in bounds for a 64-yard return to the Pittsburgh 34 before being caught from behind by Cam Sutton.
But on third-and-goal from the 5, Fitzpatrick would turn the Cowboys away without points.
With Gilbert being pressured by Cam Heyward and Robert Spillane, he floated a ball into the end zone that Fitzpatrick picked off. And though Terrell Edmunds was called for a blindside block that put the ball at the 1, the Steelers kept the Cowboys from extending their lead.
That would prove to be a big deal as the Steelers drove to the Dallas 24 to get a 43-yard field goal by Boswell that made it 19-18 with 7:15 remaining in the game. The drive was aided by an illegal contact penalty on Dallas linebacker Jaylon Smith for knocking down Chase Claypool in his route that negated a Roethlisberger fumble.
Roethlisberger completed 6 of 8 passes for 49 yards on that possession.
The Steelers got a quick stop and got the ball back again for Roethlisberger, and this time, he went 4-for-6 for 64 yards, with the big play coming on a 42-yard catch and run by Diontae Johnson on which he tip-toed down the sideline to set the Steelers up for a go-ahead score.
That set the stage for Roethlisberger's third touchdown pass of the game, this one to tight end Eric Ebron, who wasn't necessarily supposed to score on the play.
"When I called it, the idea was that he was going to run a flat and maybe get five or six yards," Roethlisberger said. "Same thing as usual, I’m getting the ball out of my hands and into the playmakers hands. As soon as he caught it, he turned it up. I was happy he was going to pick up some yards. Next thing you know, he’s being a freak athlete and jumping people and scoring."
Well, it's a play you just have to see, as Ebron hurdles cornerback Anthony Brown to get into the end zone.
The Steelers went for two, but failed, giving them a 24-19 lead.
And that looked like it might hold up as Heyward and T.J. Watt sacked Gilbert on fourth down to turn the ball over to the Steelers with 1:37 remaining at the Dallas 24.
But the Steelers ran the ball three times -- forcing the Cowboys to burn their remaining timeouts -- and then Tomlin eschewed kicking a field goal that would have given the Steelers a 27-19 lead, instead running James Conner on fourth-and-1. He was stopped for a 4-yard loss and Dallas got the ball back with 38 seconds remaining.
"We had struggled so much with our field goal group early in the game that I just didn’t feel good about it," Tomlin said.
Gilbert got the Cowboys to the Pittsburgh 23 with four seconds remaining, but his last-second pitch into the end zone while pressured by Bud Dupree was knocked down by a diving Fitzpatrick to seal the win.
"I’m just really proud of the way the guys fought and played good football," said Roethlisberger. "We didn’t do what we wanted. We didn’t control the football. We didn’t convert on third downs a lot, but we found a way to win."
Even if it wasn't by as much or in a manner that many would have wanted.
The Cowboys rushed for 144 yards on 31 carries and Gilbert, who was making his first career start, threw for 243 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
But the Steelers won't apologize for winning. And they know that now at 8-0, they've got a target on them that is bigger than it even usually is.
"It’s the NFL. There are no easy games," Roethlisberger said. "We’re the Pittsburgh Steelers. We know everybody is coming for us."