FRISCO, Texas – On Sunday, two teams in need of a victory will meet in the 1-2 Cowboys and 0-3 Texans.
Houston may be in need of one more after a winless start, but Dallas is looking to bounce back after a frustrating 24-21 loss to Baltimore in Rio de Janeiro, where the Cowboys felt they had opportunities to win it but continued to struggle with self-inflicted wounds.
The Texans are no pushover 0-3 team. Two of their losses have been by one possession, and they have a top five defense against the run and a top ten passing offense through three games this season.
What goes into this game, and how can the Cowboys get back to .500? Let's take a look in this week's Here We Goooo:
Cowboys can't let up in the run game
After struggling to find anything on the ground through the first two weeks of the season, Javonte Williams and Dallas' run game found some rhythm against the Ravens. Williams picked up 98 yards on 19 carries and a touchdown, while Tyler Goodson also added 22 yards on six carries in his first action with Dallas.
A lot of Williams' success came on Dallas' outside zone rushes, where he's averaging 7.2 yards per carry. On all other carries, Williams is averaging 2.9 yards per carry. The Texans defense is the fourth-best in the NFL defending outside runs, holding opponents to just 112 yards and a touchdown on 30 carries. For context, Dallas' defense is allowing the most yards to outside carries in the league with 389 and three touchdowns.
Whether it's outside or inside, Dallas needs to find another week of success on the ground so they can slow down Houston's elite pass rushers in Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter, who we'll get to in a moment. This may be a game where Williams is able to find success on inside carries, as Houston's linebacker core is dealing with a plethora of injuries. Azeez Al-Shaair is looking doubtful with a groin injury, Jake Hansen has been limited in practice with a calf injury, and three other linebackers are on injured reserve. Houston could be leaning on rookies Aiden Fisher and Wade Woodaz to play bigger roles, which may serve as an advantage for Dallas.
Always know where 51 and 55 are on each play
A major reason for the Texans' success defensively is their pass rushers, Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter. Both can play on both sides of the line, and both have consistently given opposing offensive tackles a ton of stress. Anderson already has 20 pressures and four sacks, and Hunter has 11 pressures with 1.5 sacks.
Not that they're hard to miss, but the Cowboys' blocking plan for Anderson and Hunter needs to be almost perfect in order to keep Dak Prescott clean and give him time to get the ball out. Getting the ball will be difficult too, as the Texans defense averages 2.48 seconds to pressure with their four-man rush, the quickest in the NFL.
Anderson's primary matchup will probably be against Terence Steele on the right side of the offensive line, who has struggled at times in one-on-one pass protection scenarios. Steele has only been left in one-on-one pass blocks 68.7% of the time in 2026, the lowest rate among players with at least 25 pass-blocking snaps, and I'd expect that to continue with a difficult test all day.
Defense needs to cash in on pressure plays
A lot of talk with Dallas' defense has been their ability to create pressure, but not get home on the quarterback. Yes, the Cowboys do need to find ways to finish in the backfield and get sacks. That said, in the last three weeks, Dallas has faced three quarterbacks that can make explosive plays stepping away from pressure and scrambling downfield. Texans QB C.J. Stroud can run, but typically does not and isn't as dynamic as a Lamar Jackson or Jayden Daniels.
Stroud has played fairly well to start the year, with 794 yards passing, three touchdowns and no interceptions through three games. Where things began to unravel is when Stroud is pressured. Stroud has been sacked ten times this season, which the same number of completed passes he's had while under pressure. His 31.3% completion percentage and two yards per attempt while under pressure are the second-lowest in the NFL.
Again, there is no question Dallas' pass rush needs to be better at bringing the quarterback down, and of course you'd much rather have that than just pressure. That said, even having pressure on Stroud in this game could be enough to throw the Houston offense off schedule and get Dallas' defense off the field.
