The Dallas Cowboys have faced a gauntlet of defensive-minded head coaches to start the 2026 season, and twice in the span of the next week, this trend will continue. For a Cowboys team with a deeply talented and experienced offense, the way they’ve struggled at times to protect a defense that needs time to learn under Christian Parker has been concerning. At the same time, the way the defense couldn’t keep the Baltimore Ravens out of field goal range in just seven seconds at the end of last week’s
game in Brazil was perhaps even more concerning.
Head coach Brian Schottenheimer has caught the most heat this week for both aspects of this in his role as offensive play-caller and head coach overseeing. His next assignment to scheme against is DeMeco Ryans and the Houston Texans.
Solely on paper, this game is there for the taking for the Cowboys as the Texans are 0-3. Football is never played on paper, and this all-Texas matchup sees the home team in the same spot they were a year ago – and one they dug out of very well.
It’s time for our weekly look at how the Cowboys can win this game, and why they might not.
The Dallas Cowboys will beat the Houston Texans if…
their EDGE rushers make a splash.
Last week against the Ravens, we put this spotlight on the defensive tackles against Derrick Henry and that physical Baltimore offense. Kenny Clark, Quinnen Williams, and the rest of this group actually passed the test with a solid grade, and in turn the Cowboys should have won the game to go with this lift they got from their highly-paid defensive interior.
Now against the Texans, it is time for the pass rush off the edge to get in on the mix a lot more.
As much as Cowboys fans are unhappy with the coaching on offense at the moment, Texans fans have jumped right back into being unhappy with second-year offensive coordinator Nick Caley. Their offense has continued to look static in the pre-snap phase, they can’t push the ball downfield well, new addition David Montgomery has faced loaded boxes out of the backfield, and as a result of all this the protection hasn’t been there for C.J. Stroud.
If the Cowboys defensive front picks up where it left off against the Ravens, they can drop bodies into coverage to clog the passing lanes for Stroud. This will be a necessity anyway, as the Cowboys’ coverage unit won’t include P.J. Locke, Cobie Durant, or Jalen Thompson for the foreseeable future. The next piece to this is pressuring Stroud in the pocket, and getting to the quarterback that’s been sacked more than any other besides Baker Mayfield this season.
The time is right now though for the Cowboys to get more off the edge in this defense. Rashan Gary did not play well against the Ravens, Donovan Ezeiruaku was around the QB a bit but still couldn’t finish, and Von Miller was a non-factor. Malachi Lawrence only played 17 snaps.
For the entire outlook of the season, the Cowboys need more production here, but if it starts with this matchup against the Texans, that outlook will be improved at 2-2.
The Dallas Cowboys will lose to the Houston Texans if…
they don’t finish in the red zone again.
The red area of the field will be critical for both teams in this game, and the Cowboys need to keep the pressure on with touchdowns in these situations. So far in three games, the Texans held the Bills to 1-3 converting touchdowns in the red zone, the Colts to 1-3 last week, and didn’t even allow the Bengals to reach the red zone (despite losing 20-6) in week two. Houston being a woeful 0-4 in this game was a big factor here.
The Cowboys will have their options to attack the Texans defense in the scoring area, but as has been discussed this week, perhaps that’s not the best case scenario for Schotty’s offense. Getting too cute with spreading the ball around in ways it didn’t need to be cost the Cowboys points against the Ravens. The Texans have struggled to cover from the linebacker position this season, and if opportunities are there for Jake Ferguson to stretch the field Dallas should take them, but this would also be an opportune spot to continue the CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens show – all the way down the field.
The Texans defense is going to swarm and look to stay true to their identity with their backs firmly against the wall, but the Cowboys have the players to stay composed. Not getting cute in big spots to hand the Texans momentum and answering the bell by leaning on Javonte Williams and the big two at receiver is the key here.
The Houston offense is likely to have Nico Collins on the field for the first time since the opener, their own answer to who can score six points for them in the red zone, giving even more reason for the Cowboys to need a highly-efficient game of their own here.
I’d like to thank one of the first-ever people I met while living in the state of Texas, a die-hard Texans fan named Ricardo, who gave me some insights on his favorite team this week. Enjoy the Texas showdown in H-Town.
