What we learned from Houston’s 34-10 win

On By Littum

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  1. Houston wins primetime. Houston got off to a hot start, then settled into a very underwhelming spot for most of its Week 11 meeting with Dallas. The Texans can clap Joe Mixon on his shoulder pads for his contribution, because without him Monday night’s game would have lacked highlights. We knew Dallas wasn’t going to produce many (although the Cowboys did get one off KaVontae Turpin via a 64-yard touchdown reception), but the Texans lacked punch offensively most of the night. Fortunately, Jalen Pitre and Derek Barnett combined to produce the best play of the night, with Barnett recording a strip-sack and Pitre putting his whole body into the Cowboys offensive lineman Tyler Guytonwhich forced a fumble that Barnett recovered and returned for a score. That play put the Cowboys to bed and eliminated any intrigue in a game that was already expected to be a blowout game but needed a big defensive play to become one. However, they all count the same.
  2. Rush is better in the second start, but not nearly good enough to win. Dallas didn’t pose any kind of threat in its blowout loss to Philadelphia last week, which was also the team’s first outing without Dak Prescott in 2024. The good news is that Cooper Rush was better in his second start, throwing for 354 yards and a touchdown, stringing together enough drives to at least make this game interesting. The bad news is Dallas asked him to throw 55 passes, failing to back him up with a run game and expecting him to just make it work with CeeDee Lamb and Turpin. The two receivers finished with a combined 179 receiving yards and a score, but let’s be honest, this offense doesn’t threaten most right now. Unlike last week, it wasn’t the Rush’s fault, but it also won’t make Cowboys fans feel any better about the rest of the 2024 season.
  3. The Texans’ offense is still leaving points on the field. Look, it wasn’t pretty for most of Monday night. With the exception of a quick-strike scoring drive to open the night, Houston’s offense remained disjointed, especially on third down (the Texans finished 3 for 11). CJ Stroud still isn’t being protected consistently, and offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik seems to have lost his magic touch. And yet the Texans are 7-4. Stroud still completed 23 of 34 passes for 257 yards, but didn’t throw a touchdown pass and also threw a pretty nasty interception in the red zone. Fortunately, they have Joe Mixon, who broke for 100 yards on the night and scored three touchdowns on the ground. I have issues with how Houston handles its rushing attempts on third down, and when it tried it Monday night on third and a short 1, the call — a sideline throw to Tank Dell — was incredibly confusing, regardless of the outcome (it failed). These things need to be fixed if the Texans really hope to contend beyond the dreadful AFC South.
  4. Anderson’s presence was missed. By the end of the game, the numbers obscured that observation, but early in this contest it was shocking to see how often Cooper Rush had time to throw. Without Will Anderson Jr.Houston struggled mightily to generate a pass rush, opting instead to play coverage and hope the front four would break through eventually. They did, recording five sacks on the night, but for about two and a half quarters it was clear the Texans were missing their reigning Defensive Rookie of the Year. Barnett and Danielle Hunter ended up making up for Anderson’s absence by combining for three of the Texans’ five sacks, but their pressure rate still landed at 26.2% on the night. That won’t fly against better teams – just look at what happened last week against Detroit.
  5. The Cowboys continue their miserable trudge to nowhere. Honestly, where does Dallas go from here? The sky is legitimately falling at AT&T Stadium, where the descent of a piece of metal from the facility’s roof before the game raised concerns and forced officials to take action. We’ve already heard a lot about the Cowboys’ problems with where the sun sets. They’ve lost their quarterback, they have at most two weapons in their lineup right now (Lamb and Turpin), and they’re not scaring anyone back on their schedule. Even Micah Parsons‘ return couldn’t bring the defense out of its struggles, and with seven games remaining, there’s simply not much to look forward to for Dallas fans. Are coaching changes imminent? Perhaps. But before that happens, Cowboys fans will be forced to saddle up for more of these ugly outings in the final weeks of 2024. Maybe they’ll find their footing in two weeks against the Giants — which, of course, will be way too late to save this season .

Next Gen Stats Insight from Texans-Cowboys (via NFL Pro): KaVontae Turpin topped out at 22.36 mph on his 64-yard touchdown reception, the fastest speed by a quarterback this season and the fastest play by a Cowboys quarterback in the NGS era (since 2016).

NFL Research: With Monday night’s 34-10 loss to the Texans, the Cowboys have trailed by at least 20 points in six straight home games dating back to last season’s NFL-record Super Wild Card Weekend loss to Green Bay.