HOUSTON — On the 25th season anniversary of the franchise, the Texans invited the latest iteration of their first victims back for a reunion. Didn’t go as well as it did last time, though not for a lack of effort on the Cowboys‘ part to make it interesting.
The Cowboys’ 34-30 win over the 0-4 Texans came within one point of the same score in Rio, where their fortunes weren’t the same, either. This week bore too close of a resemblance to last week, frankly, but the bottom line is they’re not 1-3, which might have been an ender.
CeeDee Lamb’s 21 targets and 17 receptions, both career highs, for 189 yards and a touchdown offset the pyrotechnics of Houston’s Nico Collins, who had 118 yards and two touchdowns. After a slow start, Dak Prescott passed for 335 yards and a touchdown. Javonte Williams scored three touchdowns but averaged just 3.3 yards per carry. The running game remains a work in progress.
On the game’s first play, C.J. Stroud completed a 45-yard pass to Nico Collins, and the rout looked like it was on. The Texans gouged chunks from Christian Parker’s defense. Only Houston’s 13 penalties for 90 yards — five penalties in the first quarter alone — kept the Texans from running away early. The defense picked up in the second half and recorded two sacks, as many as it had in the previous three games, but it’s still a fire drill back there.
A blocked field goal attempt — the second in two weeks — set up a field goal for the Texans before the half, and a 26.5-yard kickoff return by the Texans set up a touchdown drive. But KaVontae Turpin also returned a kick 29 yards to kickstart a touchdown drive, and Brandon Aubrey kicked field goals of 39 and 50 yards and missed wide left from 65.
Brian Schottenheimer is well-liked by his players, who consider him nearly a spiritual leader. But five days after he was called out by his boss on his radio show for mistakes made at the end of the loss to the Ravens, he made at least one highly questionable decision Sunday: attempting a 62-yarder in the final seconds of the first half instead of punting. The Texans got great field position as a result and kicked their own FG, extending their halftime lead to 10.
The Greatest Offense There Is — Dak’s description, not mine — isn’t all that, but it’s pretty good, even without much of a running game. If teams try to take away George Pickens, as the Texans did Sunday, Dak can always turn to Lamb, which he did. Continually. The defense is still a struggle. Joey Porter looked good the few times he was put on Nico Collins, but that’s not enough. And now they’ve got Tampa Bay in four days. But at least they’re 2-2.