Who would have thought the Houston Texans lived in a world where the offense would be doing enough to win games, but the defense would be coming up short.
Well, welcome to 2026, friends.
Behind a career-high 17 catches, CeeDee Lamb found his way into the end zone for a 22-yard game-sealing touchdown with 34 seconds left as the Dallas Cowboys
overcame a 10-point comeback to secure the 34-30 win at Reliant Stadium.For the first time in the DeMeco Ryans era and the second time since 2020, Houston will begin the year 0-4.
Here's our report card grades from the Texans' loss at home.
Quarterback: A-
At some point, you can't blame the quarterback despite the fact that he's the reason that last pass didn't connect. We're four games into the season and C.J. Stroud already
has two 300-yard passing games, something that hasn't occured since his rookie season back in 2023.
Stroud once again was on point, direct with his calls and didn't by much. In fact, one could say he had maybe two errant passes among his 31 pass attempts. Even if they were off-target, Stroud still finished 21-of-31 for 347 yards and two touchdowns. He also connected on five passes of over 20 yards downfield.
Nearly a quarter of the way through the season and Stroud has yet to throw an interception. He's back to likely being inside the top five of passing yards among quarterbacks, while his QBR only continues to climb.
Yes, the Texans have faults on offense. Stroud is likely the furthest down the pecking order when it comes to issues for Nick Caley's personnel entering Year 2. In fact, the one costant right now is Stroud keeping drives alive.
Running Back: D
What more is there to say? This was supposed to be a dynamic unit that could have two runners combine for over 100 yards per game. Right now, they're barely combining for 60. Woody Marks and David Montgomery finished with just 46 yards and one touchdown, which didn't even come until the final offensive drive of the fourth quarter with two minutes remaining.
But at least Montgomery picked up the first down with the lateral, so I'll bump the grade up half a letter grade.
Wide Receivers: A-
Nico Collins was our player of the game for his efforts on Sunday. That alone earns an A+ after the Pro Bowler finished with over 100 yards and two touchdown receptions. As for the rest of the crew, they also had a decent afternoon when free in space.
Jaylin Noel had three catches for 85 yards, and Xavier Hutchinson had three catches for 46 yards. Kayshon Boutte had a diving grab for a pickup of 14 yards and came down with another catch for a gain of 21 yards. One would certainly love to see Noel or Hutchinson find their way into the end zone, but you can't complain much when their receptions set up Houston for opportunities to score.
Tight Ends: B+
It was a mostly quiet day for the unit after last week's success. Dalton Schultz once again led the way with two catches and nine yards. Cade Stover picked up a first down with an 11-yard reception in the third quarter, while Brevin Jordan made his first catch in two years after suffering season-ending lower-body injuries early in the season.
But the play of the afternoon came from Schultz's lateral to Montgomery, who gained 19 yards on a third-and-14 to extend Houston’s drive and set up the Marks' touchdown run. That has to count for something, right?
Offensive Line: D-
There's two ways to look at the Texans' offensive line. The good? They only allowed two sacks.
The bad? Everything else.
Dallas' front seven had struggled to win at the line of scrimmage in past games, mostly with pressures on quarterbacks. They finished with 16 and nearly had two more sacks that Stroud was able to avoid. The big problem came with the lack of a run game, which was expected to be a strength for the offense after free agency.
Perhaps the worst part of the game was the penalties. Houston was flagged five times, including twice on the final drive for false starts and twice more times for holding calls.
But at least was kept upright, right?
Defense: C
How can we grade this fairly.
Well, the defensive line gets an A, the linebackers get a B and the secondary gets an F. Fair?
Will Anderson was credited with only half a sack, but that doesn't mean he was held in check. He blocked a field goal before halftime, had three quarterback hits and four pressures up the middle. Jadeveon Clowney and Danielle Hunter were each credited with a sack while the interior defensive line held the Cowboys' run game to 3.1 yards per carry.
But the secondary, a unit that was supposed to be a strength, failed to deliver in the second half. The third-year woes for Kamari Lassiter continue to pile up. On Sunday, he was flagged for a pass interference call and a defensive holding, resulting in a touchdown run by Javontae Williams. Derek Stingley Jr. also allowed seven catches in coverage against CeeDee Lamb, who finished with 17 catches for 189 yards and the game-winning touchdown reception.
Even if Stingley or Lassiter weren't in coverage, Lamb had room to run. Reed Blankenship missed a tackle and Jalen Pitre gave up the touchdown reception after allowing the All-Pro wideout to take the inside shoulder.
Special Teams: C
KaVontae Turpin has been a problem for most teams over the past year, so allowing two explosive returns isn't uncommon. But Houston tacked on extra yards for a pair of illegal blocks in the back penalties, and a holding call on a promising return from Jaylin Noel.
But Houston also blocked a Brandon Aubrey kick and forced another missed shot from 60 yards out. Noel also had his best return of the season for a pick up of 48, setting up the Collins touchdown reception.
This article originally appeared on Texans Wire: Texans Report Card: Grading the performance in Houston's Week 4 loss to Cowboys
