Dallas Cowboys (3-7) – Houston Texans (7-4): 10-34
The Cowboys' season continues to unfold, but they still held off the Texans for part of the game. Certainly, they never led. Certainly, they finished far away on the scoreboard. But we had to wait for defensive action for the match to change.
At the start of the last quarter, Cooper Rush (32/55, 354 yards, 1 TD, 1 int) had the ball snatched away by Derek Barnett. A ball recovered by Tyler Guyton… in turn dispossessed of the leather by Jalen Pitre. Barnett then appeared again to take the ball and score the touchdown which allowed Houston to take the lead (10-27).
But Rush delivered an honest performance to keep his team in the game for so long. Especially without a ground game to help him. It was a bit of the opposite for the Texans. CJ Stroud (23/34, 257 yards, 1 int) still seemed in difficulty at times. And it was the defense and Joe Mixon (20 races, 109 yards, 3 TDs – 2 rec, 44 yards) who got him out of a possible bad situation.
Joe Mixon pitches Texans
Author of a 45-yard touchdown on the first possession of the match, Joe Mixon ideally launched his team. And it is he who doubles the lead at the end of the first quarter (0-14). Meanwhile, CJ Stroud threw an ugly interception. Still poorly protected, the second year player was not helped by the offensive choices either, despite the return to business of Nico Collins (4 rec, 54 yards), finally back from injury.
With Will Anderson absent, the lack of pressure on Cooper Rush at the start of the match allowed him to find Kavonte Turpin (3 rec, 86 yards, 1 TD) for a 64-yard touchdown. CeeDee Lamb (8 rec, 93 yards) is also there to help Rush. After an exchange of field goals, the score is 17-7 for Houston at the break.
Cowboys too short
If they are not dropped, the Cowboys struggle to be truly dangerous. In the third quarter, trailing by 10 points (10-20), they failed on a 4th&2 8 yards from the end zone. They get the leather back a little later, but that's where Rush's fumble kills the game.
A punt and another failure on fourth attempt follow. Above all, Joe Mixon scores a hat-trick to make the score much larger (10-34).
Unsurprisingly, the Cowboys were no match, and their season continued to fall apart. Like the roof of their stadium, a piece of which fell while it was opening before the match. Fortunately, no one was injured.
Houston ends a series of two defeats, but the approximations in the protection of CJ Stroud and the aerial game leave room for improvement.
