PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Steelers feel like they beat themselves Sunday night.
The offense held a late lead, but the defense couldn’t make it stand as Jalen Tolbert caught a four-yard touchdown from Dak Prescott on fourth-and-goal in the final 30 seconds to help Dallas defeat Pittsburgh 20-17.
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PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Steelers feel like they beat themselves Sunday night.
Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin talks to reporters following an NFL football game against the Dallas Cowboys, early Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in Pittsburgh. The Cowboys won 20-17. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Jalen Tolbert (1) celebrates his touchdown catch with running back Rico Dowdle (23) during the second half of an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, early Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in Pittsburgh. The Cowboys won 20-17. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, front, is stopped short of the goal line by Pittsburgh Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick during the second half of an NFL football game, early Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in Pittsburgh. The Cowboys won 20-17. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth (88) dives in for a touchdown on a pass from quarterback Justin Fields during the second half of an NFL football game against the Dallas Cowboys, early Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Matt Freed)
Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Joey Porter Jr., right, puts a stiff arm on Dallas Cowboys tight end Jake Ferguson after making an interception during the second half of an NFL football game, early Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in Pittsburgh. The Cowboys won 20-17. (AP Photo/Matt Freed)
Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, left, talks to line judge Tim Podraza (47) during the first half of an NFL football game against the Dallas Cowboys, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
“It came down to one play,” Steelers DT Cam Heyward said. “They were on the right side of it.”
Pat Freiermuth caught a 6-yard touchdown from Justin Fields in the final five minutes to give Pittsburgh a brief 17-13 lead, but the advantage was short-lived.
Pittsburgh’s No. 2-ranked defense forced three turnovers and blocked a field goal, but allowed 445 yards and couldn’t keep Tolbert out of the end zone on the final play of the Cowboys’ last drive, as he capped a 15-play, 70-yard series. Pittsburgh has lost two straight after a 3-0 start.
Dallas converted a pair of third downs on the winning drive to set up first-and-goal from the 4-yard line. Rico Dowdle fumbled at the 1-yard line on second down, and Prescott jumped on the loose ball. Tolbert then beat DeShon Elliott to the pylon two plays later for the winning touchdown.
“We had to stop them on that one play,” Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick said.
Fields finished 15 of 27 for 131 yards with touchdowns to Freiermuth and Connor Heyward.
Dallas held Fields and the Steeler offense to just 226 yards of total offense despite playing without top pass rushers DeMarcus Lawrence (foot) and Micah Parsons (ankle), an All-Pro who missed a game because of injury for the first time in his career. Marshawn Kneeland, who started because of the injuries, also left in the first quarter with a knee injury.
Still, Pittsburgh only managed a first-half field goal and 89 yards of total offense, as Dallas held a 6-3 lead at the break. Pittsburgh scored fewer than 10 first-half points for the fourth time in five games.
“We know how important fast starts are,” Heyward said. “You want to finish strong, you want to play a complete game, but we didn’t do that. We fell short.”
The fifth-highest crowd for a Steelers game had to wait for the Sunday night showdown between two of the NFL’s marquee franchises because of a nearly 90-minute weather delay. Thunderstorms made their way through downtown Pittsburgh shortly before the opening kickoff.
Neither team scored a first-half touchdown, but Steelers outside linebacker T.J. Watt became the second-fastest player in league history to reach 100 sacks on the final play of the first quarter.
Pittsburgh took a 10-6 lead with a touchdown on the first possession of the second half. Fields briefly left the game after Tyrus Wheat was called for roughing the passer. But Kyle Allen sparked the drive with a 19-yard completion to Freiermuth on second-and-5 from midfield. Fields capped the six-play, 72-yard drive with a 16-yard touchdown pass to Heyward.
The Cowboys took a 13-10 lead early in the fourth quarter following a mammoth 13-play, 90-yard drive that spanned 8:32. Dallas converted four third downs and Dowdle capped the series with a sliding 22-yard reception from Prescott near the front pylon.
Pittsburgh capitalized on a Prescott interception and took a 17-13 lead in the final five minutes.
The Steelers converted a fourth-and-1 and later had a first-and-goal from the 6. Fields gave Pittsburgh the lead with a six-yard shovel pass to Freiermuth, but the defense couldn’t keep the advantage.
“We have to bounce back quickly,” Freiermuth said. “Obviously, we lost two in a row, but we have to go to Vegas next week and put it all together.”
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Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt talks to reporters following an NFL football game against the Dallas Cowboys, early Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in Pittsburgh. The Cowboys won 20-17. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin talks to reporters following an NFL football game against the Dallas Cowboys, early Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in Pittsburgh. The Cowboys won 20-17. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Jalen Tolbert (1) celebrates his touchdown catch with running back Rico Dowdle (23) during the second half of an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, early Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in Pittsburgh. The Cowboys won 20-17. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, front, is stopped short of the goal line by Pittsburgh Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick during the second half of an NFL football game, early Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in Pittsburgh. The Cowboys won 20-17. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth (88) dives in for a touchdown on a pass from quarterback Justin Fields during the second half of an NFL football game against the Dallas Cowboys, early Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Matt Freed)
Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Joey Porter Jr., right, puts a stiff arm on Dallas Cowboys tight end Jake Ferguson after making an interception during the second half of an NFL football game, early Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, in Pittsburgh. The Cowboys won 20-17. (AP Photo/Matt Freed)
Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, left, talks to line judge Tim Podraza (47) during the first half of an NFL football game against the Dallas Cowboys, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Tunisia’s incumbent president said he would wait for official results before declaring victory while acknowledge exit polls showing him winning by a landslide in an election Sunday marred by earlier arrests of his opponents.
President Kais Saied's supporters jubilantly honked and celebrated after voting ended and public television broadcast images of the president pledging to pursue traitors and those acting against Tunisia, much like he has throughout his tenure.
“We’re going to cleanse the country of all the corrupt and schemers," Saied said at his campaign headquarters.
Tunisia's public television broadcast exit polls from Sigma Conseil, an independent firm that has historically published figures not far off official tallies, showing Saied winning more than 89% of the vote over imprisoned businessman Ayachi Zammel and Zouhair Maghzaoui, a leftist who supported Saied before choosing to run against him.
In the North African country known as the birthplace of the Arab Spring, much of the opposition chose to boycott the election. They called it a sham with Saied's leading critics imprisoned alongside journalists, lawyers, activists and leading civil society figures. They emphasized the low voter turn out in Sunday's election. Official results are expected on Monday.
At the time polling stations closed, only 2.7 million voters, 27.7% of the electorate, had cast ballots — far fewer than the 49% who participated in the first round of the last presidential race in 2019.
Supporters of the president — who rode anti-establishment backlash to win a first term five years ago — said his second win would send a clear message to the political class that preceded his ascendance.
“We're tired of the governance we had before. We want a leader who wants to work for Tunisia. This country was on the road to ruin,” said Layla Baccouchi, a Saied supporter.
The election was Tunisia's third since the nation became known as the birthplace of the Arab Spring uprisings that toppled dictators throughout the region. Weeks after a fruit vendor set himself ablaze to protest police humiliation and corruption, President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali abdicated and fled the country.
In the years that followed, Tunisia enshrined a new democratic constitution, created a Truth and Dignity Commission to bring justice to citizens tortured under the former regime and saw its leading civil society groups win the Nobel Peace Prize for brokering political compromise. But its new leaders were unable to buoy its struggling economy and quickly became unpopular amid constant political infighting and episodes of violence and terrorism.
Observers judged the country's first two post-Arab Spring elections as free and fair. However the lead-up to this year's race saw the arrests of several declared challengers and the ongoing incarceration of his most prominent right-wing and Islamist critics.
Dozens of candidates had expressed interest in challenging the president and 17 submitted preliminary paperwork to run in Sunday’s race. However, members of the election commission, all of whom are appointed by the president, approved only the three. Zammel was subsequently charged with violating election laws and sentenced to years behind bars.
The president's detractors have routinely staged protests since July 2021, when he used emergency powers to suspend parliament and later rewrote the constitution giving himself more power. Since then, dozens of his opponents have been imprisoned on charges including inciting disorder, undermining state security and violating a controversial anti-fake news law that critics say is used to stifle dissent.
Among the changes enshrined in Saied's constitution, which voters approved via referendum the following year, was allowing the president to appoint all members of Tunisia's election authority, ISIE. It has faced scrutiny this year for ignoring court rulings ordering it put candidates it rejected back on the ballot and denying election monitors permission to observe the polls.
Such conditions led many to boycott the race, including Siwar Gmati, a 27-year-old who works for I Watch, one of the non-governmental organizations whose application to monitor the polls was rejected.
“We, as young people, are more attached to what the revolution brought to us,” Gmati said at a Friday protest. “We were raised after the revolution to speak our minds.”
Apart from Friday's protest and Sunday's celebration in downtown Tunis, there were few signs that an election was even underway throughout campaign season. The mood was a pronounced departure from the country's past two presidential elections, which were Tunisia's first contested races in decades.
Critics have called years of crackdown on Saied's opponents democratic backsliding and a reversal the progress made after the Arab Spring. Additionally, the country’s economy continues to face major challenges. Unemployment has steadily increased to one of the region’s highest at 16%, the government owes billions to international lenders and an increasing number of Tunisians attempted to migrate to Europe without authorization each year from 2019 to 2023.
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AP reporters Sam Metz and Mehdi El Arem contributed.
Election officials open a ballot box to count votes after the presidential elections, in the capital Tunis, Tunisia, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Anis Mili)
An election official stands next to a ballot box ahead of the vote counting after the presidential elections in the capital Tunis, Tunisia, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Anis Mili)
Election officials count votes after the presidential elections in the capital Tunis, Tunisia, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Anis Mili)
Election officials count the votes after the presidential elections in the capital Tunis, Tunisia, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Anis Mili)
Tunisian President Presidential candidate Zouhair Maghzaoui prepares to cast his vote at a polling station during the presidential elections, in the capital Tunis, Tunisia, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Ons Abid)
Voters queue to cast their ballot outside a polling station during the presidential elections, in the capital Tunis, Tunisia, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024 (AP Photo/Ons Abid)
Ballot boxes inside a polling station during the presidential elections, in the capital Tunis, Tunisia, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024 (AP Photo/Ons Abid)
Voters and officials gather outside a polling station during the presidential elections, in the capital Tunis, Tunisia, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Anis Mili)
A Tunisian voter casts her ballot at a polling station during the presidential elections, in the capital Tunis, Tunisia, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Anis Mili)
CORRECTS TO NASIR DISTRICT - Tunisian President and candidate for re-election Kais Saied and his wife Ichraf Chebil Saïed, leave a polling station after casting their votes, at Nasr district of the capital Tunis, Tunisia, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Anis Mili)
Tunisian President Presidential candidate Zouhair Maghzaoui prepares to cast his vote at a polling station during the presidential elections, in the capital Tunis, Tunisia, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Ons Abid)
A voter casts his ballot at a polling station during the presidential elections, in the capital Tunis, Tunisia, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024 (AP Photo/Ons Abid)
Tunisian President and candidate for re-election Kais Saied, center, and his wife Ichraf Chebil Saïed, leave a polling station after casting their votes, in Tunis, Tunisia, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024 (AP Photo/Anis Mili)
