HOUSTON, Texas – And in the end, Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer said, "Our guys fought like crazy."
You want "crazy," let me give you crazy, man, with the Dallas Cowboys departing this self-proclaimed "-Town with a crazy, nail-chomping 34-30 victory over the still winless Texans.
Why, these Cowboys fell behind by 10 points twice here Sunday afternoon before 71,227 at Reliant Stadium, with Cowboys fans in full force. Then, after taking a lead, Dallas fell behind a fourth time by three with 2:23 left to play, the ghosts of Rio seven days past looming overhead, that facsimile crazy in itself.
Then how crazy is this? CeeDee "Dy-no-mite" Lamb. And can't think of a better nickname than Schottenheimer's description of this five-time Pro Bowl receiver's performance of 17 catches for 189 yards. You would think after catching 16 passes for 177 yards, there would be no way this supposedly elite Texans defense would allow him to wander free in the back of the end zone for what turned out to be the 12-yard game-winning touchdown right here in his hometown.
Next, Dak Prescott was hounded in the first half into finishing just 12 of 20 for 87 yards, three sacks and an un-Dakly 70.2 QB rating with the Cowboys trailing 16-6, scoring nary a touchdown in the first two quarters. But Dak put on a second-half Superman cape by completing 20 of 25 passes for 248 yards and that lone touchdown, his last two-quarter QB rating of 121.3 so really crazy.
Or running back Javonte Willians with a 19 carry for 62 yards performance, a humble 3.3 average, yet three of those carries ended up in the end zone, giving him five for the season. And with already two receiving touchdowns as well, he increased his total to seven, becoming the first Cowboys player to score seven touchdowns through four games of a season since Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith's nine in 1995, when he set the single-season franchise record of 25touchdowns (all rushing), certainly crazy in itself.
Oh man, that's not all. We've got more oddities. The Cowboys' special teams were once again not so special, not only allowing a second blocked field goal in as many games – that blocked 62-yard attempt denying the Cowboys a potential three points in the second quarter –but also allowing the Texans to drive but 28 yards for a 39-yard field goal and a 13-6 lead.
With me on all this? Just crazy.
But Schottenheimer is so right. There is something about this team, especially after allowing the supposedly passing-challenged Houston quarterback C.J. Stroud to throw for 347 yards, two TD passes and finish with a 126.7 QB rating. The Cowboys let the Texans hang in there, but held their opponent to just three-of-10 third-down conversions and to two second-half scores. Dallas also forced Houston to throw that suspenseful yet unsuccessful Hail Mary from the Cowboys' 48-yard line to expire the final nine seconds of the game.
Exasperating yet an inspiring way to pull to .500 at 2-2, tied with the Eagles for second place in the NFC East, but one game behind the first-place, uh, 3-1 New York Resurgent Football Giants.
Just the way everyone figured, right?
Cray-cray, no?
"I mean, there is nothing like winning. … There is nothing like winning," Dak said after his brilliant performance (32 of 45, 335 yards, 99.8 QB rating), pointing out that his right hand was wrapped after getting stepped on, just trying to keep the swelling down. "I want to say it fixes all the problems, but it doesn't. It makes you feel good for a day or so, but at this point, you know, we've got to turn the page and get ready for Thursday. We can't sit here, have some winning hangover. It's early in the season. It's no different than last week's loss. As I told you guys, we've got to turn the page."
But the possibilities for 2026 still, somehow, are encouraging. Think about this. The Cowboys have now scored thirty-something in the last three games, and had they not kicked two field goals in Rio from inside the 10-yard line and not had that blocked field goal cost them three more points, that potentially could have been – should have been –another 11 points added to their 31 in a three-point losing cause.
And in this one against Houston, scoring 34 points is great, but the Will Anderson-blocked 62-yard Brandon Aubrey field goal attempt with 4:58 remaining in the first half not only cost the Cowboys potential points, but gave the Texans an opportunity to kick that 39-yard field goal with 2:08 left in the first half. And not only that, another special teams boo-boo, as after the Cowboys narrowed the deficit to 16-13, Houston's Jaylin Noel returned the third-quarter kickoff for 53 yards, allowing the Texans to gain only 38 yards to score a touchdown for a 23-13 lead. Dallas gave up 108 yards on their other six kickoff returns, averaging 18 yards, thanks to Aubrey's "dirty" kickoffs.
And with the defense, this has been sort of like being at the State Fair of Texas playing that Whac-A-Mole game. Pound one problem down and another pops up. So after giving up 165, 182 and 192 yards rushing in the first three games, the Cowboys held the Texans to 62 yards on the ground, including just 20 in the second half
Yet the Cowboys allowed those season-high 347 yards passing. They did have two sacks, their first sacks since two in the opener, and five QB hits total, making Stroud somewhat uncomfortable. Cowboys four-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Quinnen Williams, though, is starting to hit his stride, racking up his first sack of the season, along with four tackles, two TFLs and one QB hit.
Plus, this encouraging note: Recently acquired cornerback Joey Porter Jr., with all of two days of practice, ended up playing 25 snaps, five more than the anticipated 20 limit. And the Cowboys decided they'd rather have Caleb Downs play deep safety with the return of Malik Hooker instead of Markquese Bell or Elijah Clark. But that left Reddy Steward, elevated off the practice squad, as the slot corner the Texans took advantage of, especially with Houston star wideout Nico Collins catching seven passes for 118 yards and two touchdowns.
The Cowboys sorely need versatile corner Cobie Durant, who missed his second game, to return from his strained hamstring injury, although he is still highly questionable to make it back in time during this short week before the Cowboys play Tampa Bay (0-4) Thursday night at AT&T Stadium. Then we'll see for left guard Tyler Smith, eligible to resume practicing this week once he comes off his mandatory four-game stay on IR-Return for his surgically repaired fractured left thumb.
While the Cowboys somewhat neutralized Danielle Hunter (2 tackles, ½ sack and 1 QB hit), Anderson destroyed many a play (5 tackles, ½ sack, five QB hits and 1 TFL), along with the blocked field goal when unblocked inside after Broderick Jones whiffed on him.
But despite all this, the Cowboys managed to win on somewhat of a short week afterreturning from Rio late morning on Monday from the 10-hour overnight flight and then having to travel to Houston for this noon start against a desperate 0-3 team. And they did so this time with that 1 minute, 43 second drive late in the fourth quarter, trailing once again by three with 2:15 to play, yet this time scoring the winning touchdown on Dak's second-and-10, 12-yard TD pass to Dynamite instead of having to kick a tying field goal as they did against the Ravens. That one left just 0:07 on the clock, while this time they left 40 seconds for the Texans to send up their unanswered prayer, looking to overtake the Cowboys' four-point lead.
Progress.
"I can't say enough about our guys and the grit, the competitive spirit. We talk about that, too," Schottenheimer said. "What motivates this team is our competitive spirit and our love for one another, and I think that was on display all day today."
No matter how "crazy" things might have seemed.
