National Football League

Old Rivals On Opposite Roads

Updated Jul. 14, 2021 4:34 p.m. ET

By Kevin Cooney

Editor's Note: This content is sponsored by FOX Bet. FOX Bet was developed by a division of Flutter Entertainment in partnership with FOX Sports, a unit of FOX Corporation. FOX Bet is solely responsible for this content and the products and services it provides.

They were the two NFL super teams of the late 1970s, filled with players crafting Hall of Fame résumés and known by nicknames.

Doomsday vs. the Steel Curtain. Roger The Dodger vs. The Blonde Bomber. Franco vs. Tony D.

Whenever the Dallas Cowboys face the Pittsburgh Steelers, it is must-see television, fueled by star power.

The rivals have clashed in three memorable Super Bowl clashes – two won by the Steelers in the 1970s, one by the Cowboys in the 1990s.

And yet, when the two storied franchises meet at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Sunday afternoon (4:25 p.m., CBS), that long history is the only real connection the two teams will share.

Pittsburgh is the last remaining undefeated team in the NFL, going 7-0 for the first time since its Super Bowl-winning season in 1978. Dallas is a hot mess, falling to 2-6 with a loss at Philadelphia last week and starting a practice squad quarterback in his NFL debut this week.

You can place a wager on the action with a bet on FOXBet.com – the best place to find the latest odds, prop bets and bet boosts. Check it out now for special promotions when you open an account. FOX Bet is available in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Colorado through the FOX Bet app and online at FOXBet.com.

THE LINES:
The Steelers are 14-point favorites at the FOXBet.com Sportsbook. Pittsburgh is a whopping minus-1100 on the money line (a $1100 bet is needed to win $100.) Meanwhile, Dallas is +700 on the money line (a $100 bet wins $700). The over-under on this game is 42 points – presumably because of the offensive uncertainty for Dallas.

There are plenty of custom bets available at the FOXBet.com Sportsbook for you to choose. If you want an easy way to double your money, Ben Roethlisberger throwing two TD passes and the Steelers winning would double your bet.

THE HISTORY:
The Cowboys are 16-13 in this series and have won the last two meetings between the two teams, including a 35-30 victory at Pittsburgh in 2016 that finished with Ezekiel Elliott's 32-yard rushing touchdown with nine seconds left.

In Super Bowls, the two have met three times with the Steelers winning two – Super Bowl X and XIII – while the Cowboys took home the Lombardi Trophy in Super Bowl XXX.

THE STORYLINES:
The final game of a brutal three-game road trip – at Tennessee, at Baltimore and at Dallas – awaits the Steelers, who have mastered the art of the close game with three one-possession victories in their last four.

The weapons that Roethlisberger has around him are multi-dimensional between James Conner, Chase Claypool, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Eric Ebron. All that goes along with a Steelers defense that is plus-5 in the turnover ratio while piling up 30 sacks in the first seven games.

Dallas, on the other hand, has all kinds of awful stats. They are a minus-11 in turnovers, the worst mark in the league. They have allowed 33.3 points a game defensively, also the worst in the league. The two quarterbacks who might start this week for Dallas are Cooper Rush and Garrett Gilbert. Either will likely need to rely on Elliott to try to move the ball. The fire is pretty intense and that’s never good in Dallas’s microscope.