Texans defeat Cowboys
By Elwyn Henderson
The 3-6 Dallas Cowboys entertained the 6-4 Houston Texans at AT&T Stadium in Arlington Monday night with the Governor’s Cup up for grabs. No one expected the Cowboys to win or even play a close game and neither of those things happened as Houston grabbed a 34-10 victory.
Things got off to a bad start about 3 hours before kickoff. The plan had been to open the roof and the end zone doors for the game but as the roof was being opened a sheet of aluminum fell off the top of the roof and came close to hitting a few fans on the field. Fortunately, no one was injured. It was then discovered that more steel was on the crossbars at the top of the stadium and they had to be removed so they didn’t pose any danger for the game. It was believed that the wind with the storms that blew through early in the morning.
Dallas won the coin toss and elected to defer to the second half. Brandon Aubrey’s kick was taken at the and returned to the 27 where CJ Stroud and the Texans set up shop for their opening possession.
On the first play of the game Stroud hit Nico Collins who was returning from an injury for a 67-yard TD pass and run around the left end, but Houston was called for holding, bringing the ball back to the 22. That didn’t slow the Texans down at all as they moved into the end zone for the first score with 12:42 left in the first quarter. The score came on a 45-yard TD run by Joe Mixon. Ka’Imi Fairbairn added the PAT and Houston led 7-0. The drive was 6 plays, 77 yards and took 2:18.
Fairbairn’s kickoff after the score was returned to the Dallas 37 by KaVante Turpin but Dallas was called for holding on the play and they set up at their 18 after the penalty mark off. The offense managed one first down and went for a fake punt on 4th and 9 and picked up only 6 yards and the ball turned over on downs to Houston at the Dallas 37.
The Texans moved the ball down the field and went for a 4th and 3. Stroud threw an interception to Malik Hooker at the12 and he returned the pick to the 33 ending the scoring threat.
Cooper Rush led the offense back on the field for their second possession. On a key 3rd down Rush was intercepted by Derek Stingley Jr at the Houston 37 and Stroud and company were back on the offensive once again with 5:49 left in the first quarter.
The Cowboys defense had no answer to stop the visitors and Houston scored on the drive on a 1-yard run by Mixon with 49 seconds left in the opening stanza. The drive was 10 plays, 63 yards and took exactly 5 minutes. Fairbairn added the extra point and Houston extended the lead to 14-0.
Turpin returned the ensuing Fairbairn kickoff to his 36 and Rush brought the offense back on the field.
Rush hit Turpin on a 64-yard TD pass with 14:51 left in the second quarter to get Dallas back in the game. Aubrey nailed the point after and the deficit was cut in half, 14-7. The drive was 3 plays, 64 yards and took 58 seconds.
Dameon Pierce bobbled the ball and finally got it under control at his 8 where he was tackled immediately and Stroud and the Houston offense were in a precarious position to begin their next drive.
Stroud moved the visitors down to the Dallas 10 and on a 4th and 4 Fairbairn came in for a 28-yard field goal attempt. The Texans were flagged for delay of game and the attempt was from 33 yards. It was good with 9:10 left in the first half, and Houston extended the lead to 17-7. The drive was 9 plays, 77 yards and took 5:41 off the second quarter clock.
After a touchback Dallas went back to work on their 30. They moved down to the Texans 35 where Aubrey kicked a 53-yard field goal with 5:55 left in the half, bringing the score to 17-10. The drive was 8 plays, 35 yards and took 3:50.
Stroud and the Houston offense set up on their 30 after a touchback of Aubrey’s kick after the score. They moved up to their 49 and Tommy Townsend punted the ball into the end zone for a touchback setting Dallas up at their 20 with 3:55 left in the half.
Rush led his guys down to the Texans 22 where on 4th and 7 Aubrey came in to attempt a 40-yard field goal. The kick hit the right upright and bounced off and was no good, leaving the score 17-0 and giving Houston one more chance to add to the score before the half ended.
It was a quick three-and-out and Anger punted the ball with 45 seconds left in the half. The kick was fair caught by Turpin at the 19 and Rush got one last chance to try and pull a rabbit out of the hat. They were unable to accomplish anything and the
teams headed to the locker room with Houston on top 17-10.
Dallas got the ball to begin the second half. The ‘Boys got the ball at their 30 after a touchback of Fairbairn’s kickoff. It was a quick three-and-out and Anger punted the ball back to Houston. Robert Woods fair caught the ball at his 25 and Stroud returned to the field with his unit.
Stroud moved the team down to the Cowboys 11 and on 4th down and 9 Fairbairn came in and kicked a 34-yard field goal putting the visitors up 20-10 with 7:05 left in the third quarter. The drive was 10 plays, 65 yards and took 5:47.
Fairbairn’s kick after the field goal resulted in a touchback and Rush brought the offense back on the field to try and get something going.
The offense moved the ball down to the Texans 8, but on a 4th down attempt Rush’s pass was incomplete and Stroud and company went back on the offensive with 2:13 left in the quarter. They couldn’t move the ball and Townsend had to punt the ball back. It was downed on the Dallas 7 with 14:26 left in the game.
Rush fumbled a snap and Tyler Guyton picked the ball up and he was hit and fumbled and Derek Barnett picked the ball up and rambled 28 yards into the end zone with 12:31 left in the game. Fairbairn added the extra point and the game was officially in the “L” column for Dallas as they trailed 27-10.
Dallas had to punt from their 39 after a holding call. Woods called for a fair catch at his 19 and Houston went back on offense again.
Stroud moved the Texans up to their 47 where Townsend had to punt the ball back to the Cowboys. The kick was fair caught at the 9 and Rush hit the field again. After picking up a couple of first downs they went for a 4th and 15 from their 41. Rush was sacked at the 35 and the Texans went back on offense with 6:06 left in the game.
Stroud led his unit into the end zone for another TD with 3:16 left in the game. The score came on a 2-yard run into the end zone by Joe Mixon. Fairbairn added the extra point and Houston led 34-10. The drive was 6 plays, 35 yards and took 2:50 off the clock.
The Cowboys ran out the clock and the game ended with another blowout loss at home, 34-10. With the loss Dallas drops to 3-7 on the year and Houston moves to 7-4. Dallas travels to Washington Sunday and Houston returns to NRG Stadium to host the Tennessee Titans.
In his postgame presser Coach Mike McCarthy looked stupefied when he was asked to explain the 5 straight home losses.
“It’s very frustrating. It’s frustrating for everybody, frustrating for players, frustrating for coaches. I know it’s disappointing for the fans. We have a lot of moving parts going on, and we just have to be cleaner and more detailed in certain spots. We’re not playing well enough, executing well enough, coaching well enough to overcome some of the mistakes we’re making at the critical times of the game. Even in the first half, we had some opportunities there, you know, to get some more points and didn’t get it done. We just have to play cleaner in these tight spots, and we did not do that tonight.”
The Mirror asked quarterback Cooper Rush when he faced the media after the embarrassing loss how tough it was to have lost his last 2 starts after doing so well in his past starts and how he keeps a positive mindset the way things are going for the team.
“Yeah, losing is never fun. I was fortunate to get off to a hot start with the wins, but this is the NFL. Everything comes to a balance and winning is hard. We want to get that losing taste out of our mouths.”
“It’s just the competitive nature in me. Luckily, the NFL is not slowing down and our game is coming. The competitor in you; it sucks. You’re happy to have another chance to get out there. But you definitely want to get rid of the bad taste in your mouth.”
As you would expect there was nothing but jubilation when Texans Coach DeMeco Ryans met with the media after the big win. He voiced his thoughts on the game and was asked about the play of the defense.
“We’re just thankful for this opportunity on this stage. Man, we’re blessed to get to do what we do and our guys, we’re very thankful for this moment, thankful for this opportunity to play on Monday night football. It’s a big deal for us. A lot of young guys haven’t played in it before, so I’m really proud of the way young guys competed and finished today.”
“The defense played with the elite energy and we executed really well. And all for like one big play that we gave up, I’d like that one back, but overall, I think our guys played really well and attacked the football. The D-line really picked up the pressure in the second half. Derek Barnett, the play he made really change the game for us. They flipped the momentum and got everybody juiced up on the sideline. It was just a huge play. Him, get the strip sack for Pitrie to come up and force the ball out. Something we talk about, we harp on, is attacking the football. And we talked about, this week, not just attacking it but going to score. So that was a huge play for us defensively, and I thought the D-line really played well in the second half. And Stingley, really great job in coverage all game. And we get the pick, that was big time for us.”
Quarterback CJ Stroud made an opening statement, and as he always does when he goes to the podium he thanked God.
“First, I just want to thank Jesus Christ himself. I am just in awe of who He is and how He takes the unqualified and makes them qualified. Playing in AT&T Stadium on Monday night, I am just super blessed to have the opportunity to play. I feel like I don’t deserve it. But He has blessed me and I just want to give Him thanks because He saved my life. I just really am at a loss for words about who He is, the love that He gives. He is a father, He is a friend. He is just a comforter. The Holy Spirit has comforted me. I am just blessed enough to be His son.”
Houston appears to have their ship righted now, but Dallas is continuing to spiral downward with almost no hope of turning their fortunes around. Cowboys’ fans can’t wait for the season to be over.
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