The highs and lows of a chaotic Cowboys victory
Watching the Dallas Cowboys toggle between greatness and embarrassment has been taxing on their fanbase, but after Sunday’s performance, they are showing no sign of changing things up. This past weekend’s game against the Houston Texans was another wild ride, featuring a little bit of everything, making it really hard to figure them out.
After taking a closer look at the game film, how do we feel about this football team? They have the firepower to compete with anyone, but they have also shown an ability to self-destruct at the worst moments. What did we get this time? Let’s run down the things we learned after further review.
The Cowboys have a really good offense. The first part of the game might have made us question that statement, but we must remember that the Texans have a really great defense. When you think about how the offensive line handled Will Anderson Jr., who still looked amazing, and all the talented players they had upfront, it was an impressive showing.
Yes, it was a struggle early. The Texans were content rushing four defenders and forcing Dak Prescott to sift through his progressions to find open receivers. He had problems at times. Houston’s coverage was tight, forcing Prescott to hold the ball, look around, and occasionally fire into dangerously tight windows. The Cowboys are lucky that one of Prescott’s tipped balls did not fall into enemy hands.
While the first half was rough, the offense eventually started figuring things out. The play-calling looked miles better as the game went on, and Prescott made some great last-second adjustments at the line. At times, they turned a smothering Texans defense into a group that got confused and got turned around on plays, leaving receivers wide open. And when that happened, Prescott capitalized.
Everyone got involved. What more can you say about CeeDee Lamb? He is truly sensational. George Pickens was not targeted much, but that didn’t stop him from making a couple of big plays, including another one of his patented spectacular catches.
Jake Ferguson didn’t have a good game, but he came through when it mattered with a clutch fourth-down catch. And we cannot say enough about Brevyn Spann-Ford. If you go back and watch any successful running play from this game, you will find that guy wrestling a defender into submission to help spring the runner. You have to love his self-sacrificing playing style.
Defensively, it was a frustrating watch at times. It wasn’t fun to watch the Texans come out with bootlegs and misdirection plays as the Cowboys defense falls for those fakes every time. When C.J. Stroud took off for a nice first-down run on Houston’s opening possession, fans collectively muttered ‘here we go again.’
Fortunately, the quarterback run-a-thon that plagued Dallas in previous weeks did not continue on Sunday. That early scramble was basically it for Stroud on the ground. The Cowboys’ entire run defense was exceptional. Are we feeling better about Quinnen Williams? He was outstanding, constantly blowing up plays in the backfield against the run and even picking up a sack. He and the entire interior defensive line came to play.
The secondary struggled, though. Even with a strong debut from new cornerback Joey Porter Jr., the unit had glaring issues in coverage. DaRon Bland was picked on early and often, giving up several big plays. It also looked like rookie safety Caleb Downs had some trouble handling coverage shifts while playing a deeper safety role in this game. He is clearly a much better, more impactful player when he is allowed to hunt near the line of scrimmage.
On the bright side, there was a massive improvement in getting off the field on third downs. That was refreshing. There were four separate instances where Houston drives lasted four plays or less. Giving the Cowboys offense more opportunities definitely helped fuel the comeback. They just have to figure out how to stop giving up chunk plays in the passing game. Nico Collins absolutely killed them in the first half, though the defense deserves credit for tightening up and keeping him relatively quiet after halftime except for a touchdown.
The defensive line came away with two sacks, but that shouldn’t be all that surprising. In fact, it could be viewed as a bit of a letdown considering how bad the Texans’ offensive line is. Getting consistent pressure on the quarterback remains a major concern for this defense.
You have to applaud the unit’s resiliency in the second half. After giving up a touchdown drive on a short field following a big Houston kickoff return, the defense clamped down and forced two consecutive quick stops. That gave the Cowboys offense exactly what it needed to string together three straight second-half touchdown drives and climb back into the game.
Still, allowing an 87-yard drive late in the fourth quarter that took less than five minutes was tough to witness. That possession acts as a bit of a dark cloud on an otherwise solid second-half showing by the defense. It doesn’t inspire confidence, especially since we know there will be moments later this season when Dallas will have to rely on a game-saving stop. Hopefully, they will have some things worked out by then.
Special teams remain a weird, confusing entity. Why is this unit struggling to keep defenders from sneaking through the line and blocking Brandon Aubrey’s long field goals? There is plenty of debate on whether the coaching staff should even attempt those deep kicks, especially since those recent misses turned into direct points for the Texans.
But when you have an accurate, long-distance cheat code like Aubrey, you are playing indoors, and you desperately need points, it seems perfectly reasonable to trot him out there. The man has made more 60-yard field goals than anyone else on planet Earth.
Special teams coordinator Nick Sorensen is rightfully under fire because his unit has been all over the place. One positive thing we should recognize is how the Cowboys dominated the starting field position following kicks. In this game, the Cowboys started inside their own 25-yard-line just once, compared to seven times for the Texans.
Aubrey’s squib kicks were spot on in this one, with one hitting right on the 20-yard-line mark while staying perfectly within the landing zone. The coverage was excellent, minus that one time when they allowed the long return. As is tradition with this special teams group lately, you get some great stuff mixed in with some bad stuff.
The win is big, as a loss would have demoralized the team. The Cowboys showed they have the mental toughness to fight through a deficit and actually finish things off. If they can build on the offensive rhythm while cleaning up the breakdowns in the secondary, this team has a chance to be a contender down the stretch. But if they can’t fix their coverage lapses and special teams blunders continue to pop up, this team can only go so far.
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