The Dallas Cowboys survived a war for the state and possibly their 2026 season byupsetting the Houston Texans, 34-30. Dallas needed Houston's first-half mistakes to survive, then four second-half touchdown drives, including one with under a minute left in the game. After how the team failed to score last week against the Baltimore Ravens, this was quite a turnaround.
No area of the team was perfect, but the Dallas defense made five stops, including five drives of four plays or fewer, to get the offense the ball back quickly. Turpin had nearly 200 return yards, averaging just under 30 on kick returns and 12 on punt returns, so the offense had shorter fields for their drives, and the offense gave the ball to Javonte Williams in the red zone for three
rushing scores. All three phases needed to have some positives to survive the Texans, and they all stepped up in clutch situations.
The Texans' self-inflicted mistakes kept Dallas in it early
Houston went right down the field on the opening drive for a touchdown, then hit a 50-yard pass on the second drive. They started exactly as they needed to to demoralize a struggling Dallas defense. A holding call moved the Texans back, and they ended up having to kick a field goal. Their next offensive drive began with a false start. They threw a 10-yard pass, but still went three-and-out. The Dallas defense struggled early, but the Texans' mistakes gave the Cowboys a chance to adjust and make some stops as the game went on. Houston had an incredibly poor 13 penalties for 90 yards. They had more yards per play, rushing and passing, but continued setting themselves back. They gave Dallas’ high-powered offense four first downs by penalty, and those early mistakes ended up crushing them later. Last week it was Brian Schottenheimer who was apologizing for his mistakes, but a week later, it's the opposing teams hurting themselves.
CeeDee can be unstoppable if defenses focus on Pickens
CeeDee Lamb nearly set the Cowboys' record for most completions in a game. He was one catch short of Jason Witten’s 18-reception mark as Lamb caught 17 passes for 189 yards and the game-winning touchdown. In the fourth quarter, with the game on the line, Lamb led the way for two touchdown drives. He had a 21-yard and 17-yard reception on the first fourth quarter drive, and then five receptions on the game-winning one. He had a clutch 15-yard reception on 2nd-and-10 and a 12-yard touchdown catch to pull out the victory.
George Pickens had only three targets all game, with the Houston defense shading coverage his way, but the risk of that strategy is what Lamb did all game.
looking like 😃 😬 https://t.co/k3vJpvn7cF
— TheCowboysWire (@TheCowboysWire) October 5, 2026
Dak Prescott can turn a bad performance into an MVP worthy one
In the first half, Prescott was struggling to his standards. He was 12-for-20 for 76 yards in the first half, leading two field-goal drives and two long-field-goal-attempt drives that ended in a miss from 65 yards and a block from 62 yards. As good as the Texans defense is, the offense in Dallas should be able to do more, and in the second half the quarterback woke up. Prescott led four touchdown drives in five second-half attempts.
Today was just the epitome of the trust, the brotherhood, the practice, the details, everything that we put into this, the communication. And we just have to build off of it." - Prescott via DallasCowboys.com
A four-play, 49-yard drive to open the half, followed by seven plays for 64 yards and a score, then a 14-play, 81-yard monster drive for a go-ahead touchdown. After a punt for Dallas and a Texans touchdown, the Cowboys had to drive for a score to win, and Prescott pulled it out with an 11-play, 74-yard drive. He ended the second half by going 20-for-25 for 248 yards and the game-winning touchdown pass with 40 seconds left.
You can find Mike Crum on Twitter @cdpiglet or on YouTube at Across the Cowboys podcast
This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Prescott, Cowboys teach 'epitome of trust' lesson in Week 4 win
