The Cowboys versus the Texans is a whole bunch of the same.
Dallas gave up 97 yards on two throws in the first quarter. We watched C.J. Stroud hit Nico Collins for 45 yards and then Jaylon Noel for 52, and at that point I was already tired of watching this exhausting defense.
DaRon Bland has to stop jumping routes and stay with his receiver. I want interceptions just as much as the next guy, but not at the expense of giving up half the field because he guesses wrong most of the time.
There is nothing wrong with covering your guy and making C.J. Stroud or any quarterback find somewhere else to throw. This defense needs corners who stay in their assignments more than big plays.
Guess What? The Cowboys Still have Communication Issues Against the Texans
Caleb Downs moved towards the line of scrimmage on the Nico Collins’ touchdown, leaving the middle of the field wide open. I don’t know the coverage call, but it looked to me like he left the area he was responsible for.
The communication concerns on defense coming into this game seem to still be there in Week 4. After four weeks, I would think most of these kinks would have been worked out, but here we are.
Six Points Isn’t Good Enough
The defense finally settled down enough in the second quarter to force consecutive three-and-outs. After the frustrating first quarter, I will give them credit. They gave the offense chances they didn’t take advantage of.
Instead, we watched Brandon Aubrey trot out four different times. He made 39 and 50-yard field goals. Followed by a Will Anderson Jr. blocked 62-yard attempt and missed from 65. I can’t blame Aubrey for the miss, but I am irritated the offense couldn’t do anything.
I mean come on Dallas, you have Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, and George Pickens, and went through the first half without a touchdown.
We cannot see Aubrey’s range become an excuse for the offense. At some point, this group had to finish a drive instead of asking its kicker to bail them out.
The first half ended with the score Cowboys 6 and Texans16.
Where Was This Offense the First Half?
I spent the first half of this article complaining about the offense, so I’ll give it credit for scoring on its first two possessions of the third quarter. I don’t understand why Dallas needed a whole half to fall behind just to make it up.
KaVontae Turpin’s 47-yard kickoff return gave the Cowboys great field position. Then Dak hit Lamb for 30 yards, and Javonte Williams finished the four-play, 49-yard drive with an 8-yard touchdown.
That series was followed up by the offense with a 54-yard pass to Pickens. The completions to Lamb and Pickens this half were for 84 yards. Dak had 87 passing yards the entire first half.
I don’t expect deep completions every time, but with these receivers, I expect Dallas to create more opportunities like those.
Javonte Williams scored again from a yard out on this series. Dallas needed a penalty from the defense to keep the drive going, but I’ll take a touchdown after a defensive mistake instead of wasting another possession.
We Couldn’t Enjoy It Too Long
This defense is just irritating. Between those two scores, the Texans had a Jaylin Noel 53-yard kickoff return. Then we watched as C.J. Stroud escaped pressure and found Collins for a 22-yard touchdown.
Reddy Steward hit him on the catch, but Collins held on. I don’t know whether Collins was Steward’s receiver or not, so I will leave that alone for now, but Dallas getting close to Stroud without getting him down is frustrating.
I wanted a stop there, even holding the Texans to a field goal would have helped. Instead, we got to watch Dallas go down by 10 points again.
Cowboys Went Down to the Wire Again
I’ve been hard on this offense, but I liked the way Dallas finished its 14-play, 81-yard drive. Javonte Williams scored his third touchdown from two yards out, putting the Cowboys ahead 27-23 with 11:17 left.
Lamb reached 12 catches for 148 yards on that series, and I was happy Dallas kept handing the ball to Williams.
Then Quinnen Williams sacked Stroud on third-and-3 to a force a punt. That was the stop I’d wanted after the early touchdowns. Dallas finally had the lead, and the defense got the ball back instead of letting Houston answer.
Well, that escalated quickly. The Texans used a hook-and-lateral to get near the goal line, and Woody Marks scored from six yards out with 2:23 left to put the Texans back on top 30-27.
Then Dak and CeeDee Lamb took apart the Texans’ defense on their last series as Lamb caught his 17th pass for a 12-yard touchdown to take the lead.
The Texans tried to make a comeback, but the defense actually made a stop on a hailmary attempt to end the game.
The Cowboys took the win 34-30 to get to 2-2 on the year.
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