Sunday Night Football features a matchup of your uncle’s favorite team. Whether it’s the Cowboys or the Steelers, everyone has that one uncle who recounts the glory days when they were winning Super Bowls every year, had franchise quarterbacks, and were among the most popular teams in America. 

The Cowboys are annual playoff choke artists with an old-school owner who holds the franchise back. They don’t have Emmitt Smith or Tony Dorsett. They’re rolling out Rico Dowdle and an old, decrepit Ezekiel Elliot.

The Steelers are a good football team, maybe? But they haven’t had an offensive coordinator worth his paycheck since Bruce Arians. They’ve cycled through Todd Haley, Randy Fichtner, and Matt Canada to find anything with a heartbeat to pair with their defense. And somehow, someway, this is the first time that Dallas and Pittsburgh have played each other on Sunday Night Football.

Dallas Cowboys @ Pittsburgh Steelers (-2.5), O/U 44.5

These are some yucky offenses. Dallas has no run game, and the answer for it doesn’t seem to be on the roster. They’re also losing Brandin Cooks for this game, making Ceedee Lamb essentially the only dynamic playmaker on this offense outside of Dak Prescott. They struggled to put away the Giants, let the Ravens take a huge lead on them, and got demolished by the Saints.

On the flip side, the Steelers have won three games by keeping their opponents to 10 or fewer points. They want to choke teams into submission by playing defense and running the ball.

So, it has to be the under, right? WRONG. The Cowboys won’t have their two best defenders, DeMarcus Lawrence and Micah Parsons, in this game. This will allow the Steelers’ severely injured offensive line to keep Justin Fields upright enough to make some plays. And if you put the Cowboys in a position to come back, they’ve shown they can put points on the board by slinging the ball.

Pick: Over 44.5 Total Points

Who Will Step Up On Offense To Get Us Over the Total?

The Steelers are pretty banged up on offense, but that opens up an opportunity for some long shots to get a shot at scoring the football. Najee Harris is the lead back, but sometimes he looks like he’s running through a pool of Jell-O. They love to have a change of pace back to pair with him to provide some lightning to his thunder.

Harris’ backfield mates Jaylen Warren and Cordarrelle Patterson are both listed as questionable for this game, and I’m not optimistic we’ll see them in this one. The only other RB on the roster at this moment is something called Aaron Shampklin. I’ll pass on that one. But WR Calvin Austin III is an electric runner that they’ve used in the run game before on end-around plays to add some versatility. If Najee gets stuffed at the line a couple of times, look for them to get the ball in Austin’s hands in the red zone.

Pick: Calvin Austin III Anytime TD