{"id":455977,"date":"2026-10-04T07:46:54","date_gmt":"2026-10-04T07:46:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/455977\/"},"modified":"2026-10-04T07:46:54","modified_gmt":"2026-10-04T07:46:54","slug":"3-keys-for-dallas-cowboys-to-survive-the-texans-ferocious-pass-rush-and-steal-a-much-needed-second-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/455977\/","title":{"rendered":"3 keys for Dallas Cowboys to survive the Texans’ ferocious pass rush and steal a much-needed second win"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\tHome<\/a><\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDallas Cowboys<\/a><\/p>\n

The Dallas Cowboys are underdogs against a Houston Texans team that has yet to win a game. Here\u2019s how they can flip the script in the in-state rivalry.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Sep
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSep 27, 2026; Rio De Janeiro, BRA; Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (4) sets the play against the Baltimore Ravens during the game at Maracana Stadium.
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tKirby Lee-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

The Dallas Cowboys face a winless Houston Texans team on Sunday. Don\u2019t let the record fool you, though. This isn\u2019t an easy game, and I think pretty much everyone around the Cowboys knows that by now.<\/p>\n

The Texans have one of the best defenses in the NFL. More importantly for this matchup, they have one of the most ferocious pass rushes in football. Dallas needs its second win after a tough loss to the Ravens in Brazil, and getting it starts with surviving that defensive front.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s break it down.<\/p>\n

Protecting Dak Prescott comes first<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start where we should start: Will Anderson Jr.<\/p>\n

The Texans\u2019 edge rusher is one of the best in the game, and he\u2019s going to be in the Defensive Player of the Year conversation. Through three games, Anderson ranks second in the NFL in sacks with four. He\u2019s also second in tackles for loss, second in quarterback pressures with 20, and second in third-down quarterback pressures.<\/p>\n

And yet, I\u2019m just as worried about Danielle Hunter. Here\u2019s why.<\/p>\n

Cowboys right tackle Terence Steele has to be better. I understand why a large portion of the fan base wants to see Broderick Jones, the tackle Dallas acquired from the Pittsburgh Steelers. But I\u2019m not sure that\u2019s what the Cowboys want to do. Jones was struggling with the Steelers before that trade.<\/p>\n

Say whatever you want about the compensation. I believe the Cowboys gave up those picks with a long-term play in mind, not to start Jones right away. I don\u2019t think that was ever the plan. Steele gives you something in the run game, and that\u2019s still a question mark for Jones.<\/p>\n

On the other side, Tyler Guyton has improved. I\u2019ve been impressed with him so far. But Anderson is going to get him at some point. In fact, at many points. That\u2019s just what it is. The question is how many snaps Guyton loses.<\/p>\n

Hunter against Steele, however, is the kind of matchup that could put the Dallas offense in serious trouble. Not to mention, Anderson Jr. and Hunter move around interchangeably, so both tackles will be forced to face both edge rushers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why I want to see as many max protect situations as possible. Get the tight ends involved in pass protection. I know this is the week where everyone is pointing fingers at head coach Brian Schottenheimer, and rightfully so. The Ravens loss is on him. But the max protection schemes he\u2019s come up with going back to 2025 have been pretty solid.<\/p>\n

Expect Dak Prescott under center a lot, with tight ends staying in to block. The Buffalo Bills had success with multiple tight end sets against Houston in Week 1. I\u2019d expect a heavy dose of 12 personnel, with Brevyn Spann-Ford on the field as a blocker alongside Jake Ferguson, while George Pickens and CeeDee Lamb try to win outside.<\/p>\n

This is a good secondary. But Dallas has elite wide receivers, and it can win that matchup if Prescott has time. The Texans have allowed the most deep passes in the NFL. To be fair, a lot of that comes from Josh Allen playing lights-out football in Week 1. Still, Prescott is one of the best deep passers in the league, so the explosives should be there.<\/p>\n

Attack the banged-up linebackers<\/p>\n

For all the talk about the Texans\u2019 edge rushers, the position you need to circle is linebacker.<\/p>\n

Houston is without starting linebacker Henry To\u2019oTo\u2019o, who is on injured reserve, and it\u2019s also down Azeez Al-Shaair. Backup linebacker Jake Hansen is questionable. The obvious answer is the run game. This could be a game where the Cowboys lean on Javonte Williams, maybe a lot.<\/p>\n

But I go back to the film from the loss in Brazil. The Ravens had Zay Flowers attack Dee Winters pretty much back to back to back, and it worked. Wouldn\u2019t it be nice to see Lamb or Pickens isolated on a backup linebacker? I\u2019d love to see Schottenheimer and offensive coordinator Klayton Adams scheme up ways to target those reserves.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s even a chance the Texans call up Kenneth Murray from the practice squad. To Cowboys fans, Murray needs no introduction. He was one of the worst linebackers I\u2019ve ever seen play for Dallas.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s how banged up Houston is right now.<\/p>\n

The Joey Porter Jr. effect<\/p>\n

Finally, the defense. The Cowboys haven\u2019t confirmed whether Joey Porter Jr. will play, but they\u2019ve said they\u2019re hopeful. Porter has said the back injury is gone.<\/p>\n

His arrival doesn\u2019t fix everything. But if he plays, I think it\u2019s going to be felt starting Sunday. Cowboys defensive coordinator Christian Parker said it best: they look at him as an eraser. They look at him as somebody who can take care of the boundary wide receiver and take him out of a play for the most part.<\/p>\n

That doesn\u2019t necessarily mean Porter follows Nico Collins around. It means whoever lines up as the isolated receiver deals with Porter, often one-on-one. That frees up safety help for the other cornerback. It could also mean rotating the strong safety into the box more often, or getting more comfortable blitzing to manufacture a pass rush, something Dallas has struggled with mightily through three weeks.<\/p>\n

Against one of the league\u2019s most inconsistent offenses, Porter is going to help a lot.<\/p>\n

Prediction: Cowboys win<\/p>\n

The Cowboys are underdogs, with prediction markets giving them only a 43% chance to win. I\u2019m taking them anyway.<\/p>\n

Both teams are desperate. But I\u2019ll take the best quarterback in the game, the best wide receiver duo in the game, and the best unit in the game. It\u2019s the Cowboys\u2019 offense against a severely banged-up Texans defense. The Dallas defense has to do better, but so does the Houston offense.<\/p>\n

Give me the Cowboys.<\/p>\n

\"Play<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\"Aug\t\t<\/p>\n

Dallas Cowboys News<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tUnexpected development on final injury report boosts the Dallas Cowboys\u2019 chances of beating the Houston Texans in Week 4\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

The Dallas Cowboys spent most of the week sweating out their secondary ahead of an in-state showdown with the Houston Texans. Friday\u2019s injury report finally delivered some clarity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Home \/ NFL \/ Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are underdogs against a Houston Texans team that has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":455978,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[153,114,102,113,104,103,154703],"class_list":["post-455977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-american-football","tag-dak-prescott","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-cowboys","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news","tag-joey-porter-jr"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/455977","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=455977"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/455977\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/455978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=455977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=455977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=455977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}