The trip to Brazil ended in one of the most painful ways possible for the Dallas Cowboys. Dallas fought Baltimore all the way to the final second, only for Tyler Loop’s 56-yard field goal to give the Ravens a 34-31 victory. That leaves the Cowboys at 1-2.
But there are plenty of reasons to believe Dallas can travel to Houston and come home with its second victory of the season. The first reason is becoming increasingly obvious, Dak Prescott is playing some exceptionally good football.
Through three
games Prescott has completed 73 of 105 passes for 730 yards, seven touchdowns and only one interception with a passer rating of 107.2. Thanks to Dak and his leadership, Dallas is averaging over 29 points per game, seventh-best in the NFL. Houston is averaging only 18 points, ranking 24th. That is an important difference.
Dallas has shown that it can score enough points to survive difficult games, Houston hasn’t. The Texans are 0-3 and have scored only 54 points across those games, Dallas has scored 88.
And Houston’s most recent performance gives the Cowboys another reason for confidence. The Texans faced an Indianapolis defense that had been struggling badly through the opening two weeks and managed only 223 total yards. C.J. Stroud threw for only 167 yards and the entire offense rushed for just 70 yards.
That tells Dallas something very important. The Cowboys don’t need a perfect game to beat Houston. They need to play clean football, put points on the scoreboard and force the Texans offense to try and keep pace.
Then of course there’s CeeDee Lamb. Through three games Lamb already has 20 catches for 309 yards and three touchdowns. That’s an average of 103 receiving yards per game. His last two performances have been even better. Lamb exploded for 153 yards and two touchdowns against Washington before adding another 112 receiving yards against Baltimore. That gives him consecutive 100-yard games. And he isn’t doing it by simply catching short passes. Lamb is averaging 15.5 yards per reception, with five catches already going for at least 20 yards.
Houston now has to work out how to stop him. And concentrating completely on Lamb creates another problem. George Pickens finished the Baltimore game with 82 receiving yards.
Another major positive from Brazil was Javonte Williams. The Cowboys struggled to establish their running game over the first two weeks. That changed against Baltimore. Williams carried the ball 19 times for 98 yards and a touchdown, averaging 5.2 yards per carry. That was easily his best rushing performance of the season. He was so effective early that Dallas was repeatedly moving Baltimore off the line of scrimmage.
Then the Cowboys defense. Stroud has has already been sacked 10 times through three games. And Houston has been dealing with problems up front. Starting guard Ed Ingram missed the last two games with a groin injury. Houston hopes he can return against Dallas, but his availability remains something to watch when the official injury reports begin later this week.
Even if Ingram returns, this line has spent three weeks allowing a lot of pressure to reach its quarterback. That gives players such as Quinnen Williams a matchup they can attack. Dallas hasn’t turned its pressure into enough sacks yet. But sometimes the opponent creates the opportunity. This is a chance for the Cowboys pass rush to finally have its breakout performance.
As for the ground game, Dallas’ defense has had problems stopping the run this season. Thankfully, Houston hasn’t exactly looked like a team ready to take advantage. The Texans’ leading rusher is David Montgomery, who has only 103 rushing yards through three games and is averaging just 2.8 yards per carry.
Houston ran for only 60 yards against Cincinnati. Then it managed just 70 rushing yards at 3.3 yards per attempt against Indianapolis. Across those last two games, that’s only 130 rushing yards combined. That is significant for Dallas. The biggest concern defensively has been opponents controlling games on the ground and keeping Prescott standing on the sideline. Houston has not shown it can consistently do that.
One of the more surprising things about Houston’s start has been its inability to finish drives. Against Cincinnati in Week 2, the Texans reached the red zone four times and failed to score a touchdown on any of them. This is another positive for the Cowboys defense.
Another situation worth watching is Nico Collins. Collins caught seven passes for 75 yards and a touchdown in Houston’s opener against Buffalo. He hasn’t played since. A hamstring injury kept him out against Cincinnati and Indianapolis, and Houston is hopeful he can return against Dallas.
Dallas enters this game on the road, but it is facing a Houston team that is 0-2 in its own stadium and 0-3 overall. And Dallas doesn’t need to travel thousands of miles this week, they just take the short hop to Houston.
