Texans-Cowboys on ‘Monday Night Football’: What We Learned from Houston’s 34-10 win

FULL BOX SCORE

1. Houston grinds out prime-time win. Houston got off to a hot start, then settled into a very underwhelming place for much of its Week 11 meeting with Dallas. The Texans can pat Joe Mixon” data-link=”/players/joe-mixon/” data-slug=”joe-mixon”>Joe Mixon on his shoulder pads for his contributions, because without him, the Monday night game would’ve lacked highlights. We knew Dallas wouldn’t produce many (though the Cowboys did get one from KaVontae Turpin” data-link=”/players/kavontae-turpin/” data-slug=”kavontae-turpin”>KaVontae Turpin via a 64-yard touchdown reception), but the Texans lacked punch offensively for much of the night. Fortunately, Jalen Pitre” data-link=”/players/jalen-pitre/” data-slug=”jalen-pitre”>Jalen Pitre and Derek Barnett” data-link=”/players/derek-barnett/” data-slug=”derek-barnett”>Derek Barnett teamed up to produce the best play of the night, with Barnett recording a strip-sack and Pitre rocketing his entire body into Cowboys offensive lineman Tyler Guyton” data-link=”/players/tyler-guyton/” data-slug=”tyler-guyton”>Tyler Guyton, forcing 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, but needed a big defensive play to become one. They all count the same, though.
2. Rush is better in second start, but not nearly good enough to win. Dallas didn’t present a threat of any kind in its blowout loss to Philadelphia last week, which was also the team’s first outing without Dak Prescott” data-link=”/players/dak-prescott/” data-slug=”dak-prescott”>Dak Prescott in 2024. The good news is that Cooper Rush” data-link=”/players/cooper-rush/” data-slug=”cooper-rush”>Cooper Rush was better in his second start, throwing for 354 yards and a touchdown, and stringing together enough drives to at least make this game interesting. The bad news is that Dallas asked him to throw 55 passes, failing to support him with a running game and expecting him to just make it work with CeeDee Lamb” data-link=”/players/ceedee-lamb/” data-slug=”ceedee-lamb”>CeeDee Lamb and Turpin. The two receivers finished with a combined 179 receiving yards and a score, but let’s be honest, this offense isn’t threatening most anyone right now. Unlike last week, that wasn’t Rush’s fault, but that also won’t make Cowboys fans feel any better about the remainder of the 2024 season.
3. Texans’ offense is still leaving points on field. Look, it wasn’t pretty for most of Monday night. Save for a quick-strike scoring drive to open the night, Houston’s offense remained disjointed, especially on third down (the Texans finished 3 for 11). C.J. Stroud” data-link=”/players/c-j-stroud/” data-slug=”c-j-stroud”>C.J. 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 toss a touchdown pass and also threw a pretty ugly interception in the red zone. Luckily, they have Joe Mixon, who broke 100 yards on the night and scored three touchdowns on the ground. I have issues with how Houston handles its hurry-up 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” data-link=”/players/tank-dell/” data-slug=”tank-dell”>Tank Dell — was incredibly perplexing, regardless of the outcome (it failed). These things need to be fixed if the Texans hope to seriously contend beyond the dreadful AFC South.