Tag: Dallas Cowboys

Top photos from the Texans surefire win over Cowboys on Monday Night Football

Joe Mixon rushed for over 100 yards and scored three touchdowns on Monday night, but what else is new?

Joe Mixon was on point in Arlington.

Behind a three-touchdown night, Mixon led the Houston Texans to a 34-10 victory over the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium on ‘Monday Night Football.’

Here are some of the best photos from the night as the Texans improve to 7-4 on the regular season entering Week 12’s divisional matchup against the Tennessee Titans.

Watch: Texans RB Joe Mixon continues Pro Bowl season with epic TD run vs. Cowboys

Houston Texans running back Joe Mixon scored his longest touchdown of the season on the opening drive against the Dallas Cowboys.

The Houston Texans scored two touchdowns on the opening drive at AT&T Stadium, but only one counted.

Running back Joe Mixon continued his strong start to his first season with the Texans and broke free for a 45-yard touchdown run.

Houston scored on its opening play, looking to get Nico Collins involved early. Collins returned from a five-game hiatus due to a hamstring injury. He took a screen pass to the end zone, but Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil was downfield, so the play was brought back.

The 45-yard touchdown run is Mixon’s longest score of the season and the second-longest run of the year. The former Pro Bowler had a 50-plus-yard run against the New England Patriots in his first game back from an ankle injury.

After the penalty brought back the touchdown, C.J. Stroud completed passes to Dalton Schultz, Robert Woods and John Metchie III.

The Texans are losing to end a two-game losing streak on primetime.

Former Spartan gets start on Monday Night Football

The Dallas Cowboys are giving a former Spartan a start on MNF against the Texans

Michigan State football defensive back alumnus Josh Butler is making his first career start on Monday Night Football for the Dallas Cowboys. 

Butler played for Michigan State from 2015-2019, before going undrafted in the NFL Draft. While taking an unconventional route to the NFL, Butler excelled when he played for the Michigan Panthers in the USFL this past season, earning him a shot with the Dallas Cowboys.

The shot for Butler just intensified, and the Cowboys will now give the former Spartan the chance to start on Monday Night Football against the Houston Texans.

Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan State news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Cory Linsner on Twitter @Cory_Linsner

AT&T Stadium’s status provides perfect metaphor for Cowboys’ season ahead of Texans’ game

The Houston Texans were expected to play under the bright lights at AT&T Stadium against the Dallas Cowboys, but plans changed.

The sky is falling.

Wait, no, it’s not. It’s just AT&T Stadium losing parts.

Heading into Monday afternoon, the expectation was for the stadium roof to be open for the first time in nearly two full seasons in a primetime showdown against the Houston Texans.  That lasted for all of several minutes in doubt after some sort of mechanical issue sent a giant piece of metal fall to the turf below and left more torn-away scrap hanging in the rafters.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones hates the sun hitting the inside of the stadium,  so it’s usually a closed afternoon inside the walls of ‘Jerry World.’ With it being a night game, Jones chose to give the fans a lovely evening with nice weather as part of the atmosphere.

Yet shortly after the roof opened, a large piece of metal fell from the structure.  The NFL was forced to get involved and deemed the roof unsafe to be open after a second piece of sheet metal fell once again onto the turf.

The debris is seen in a video posted by NBC DFW’s Noah Bullard.

Dallas is already without a starting quarterback, a solidified starting running back, a rocky receiving room, a limited secondary and multiple questions surrounding the coaching staff and front office. Now, it doesn’t have a functioning roof.

Which is the one you think fans care about more?

ESPN’s Ryan Clark during a season on  the Monday Night Countdown desk set up on the turf at the stadium, cracked, “The bottom done already fell out in Dallas; the top might as well, too.”

Rock, meet bottom.

The Cowboys had to close the stadium roof for MNF after metal debris fell onto the field pregame

Everything is falling apart for the Cowboys.

After Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb lost a would-be touchdown in the sun last week, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was defiant when asked about using curtains for NFL games. He went as far as to joke about tearing down the stadium.

Well, Jones doesn’t have to tear down his $1.5 billion stadium, but he should at least keep up on the maintenance. It led to a scary scene on Monday.

Ahead of the Cowboys’ primetime matchup with the Texans — a game where the roof was supposed to be open at AT&T Stadium — a large piece of metal debris fell from overhead and landed near production staffers on field level. Thankfully, nobody was hurt.

Upon noticing that there was an additional metal sheet that appeared loose, the Cowboys opted to close the roof for the game.

It was unclear what caused the debris to fall or how something like that got loose to begin with. But it’s just been that kind of year for the Cowboys — everything is falling apart.

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Is Mario Edwards playing today? Injury news update for Texans defensive lineman

Mario Edwards Jr. is officially reinstated from his suspension entering Monday Night Football against the Cowboys.

The Houston Texans are nearing full strength with the return of linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair and wide receiver Nico Collins entering Week 11’s matchup against the Dallas Cowboys on ‘Monday Night Football.’

Even without Will Anderson, Houston should be content with its pass rush at AT&T Stadium on primetime. That could be because of the return of defensive lineman Mario Edwards Jr.

Will the veteran defensive tackle be cleared to play on Monday night? Here’s the final update entering AT&T Stadium

Mario Edwards Jr. update

Edwards, who was suspended for four games without pay for violating the NFL’s substances of abuse policy, was activated to the final 53-man roster on Monday prior to kickoff. He’s not only expected to play but also start.

The Texans haven’t had an entire starting defensive line on the field at the same time through 10 games. Fellow free-agent signee Denico Autry was suspended for the first six games without pay for violating the NFL’s substances of abuse policy. Defensive tackle Foley Fatukasi was ruled out with a foot injury earlier this week.

Anderson, a favorite to win Defensive Player of the Year, is also out this week after suffering an ankle injury in Week 9’s loss against the New York Jets.

He’s expected to be back at some point this season.

Mario Edwards Jr.’s stats

A former second-round pick out of Florida State, Edwards has started six games at defensive tackle. Before the suspension, he ranked third on the team in sacks (two), plus five quarterback hits and two tackles for loss.
Texans DL depth chart
With Edwards back but Fatukasi out, here’s a look at the Texans defensive line depth chart heading into Monday’s game:  
  • Mario Edwards Jr. 
  • Tim Settle
  • Denico Autry (will shift inside on third down)
  • Kurt Hinish
  • Tommy Togiai

Settle is expected to start, while Autry should see a majority of reps on the outside in place of Anderson.

Kickoff is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. on ABC and ESPN.

Monday Night Football schedule: Is there a ‘ManningCast’ tonight?

Peyton and Eli are back with another ‘ManningCast’ for the Texans-Cowboys showdown on ‘Monday Night Football’ in Week 11.

Peyton and Eli Manning have returned for a fourth season of the ManningCast with the two former quarterbacks set to provide commentary for 11 weeks of Monday Night Football games this fall.

The brothers released a funny 10-minute musical to promote the upcoming ManningCast season in September. The 2024 slate continues tonight with the Texans-Cowboys game on ESPN2, which is available to stream on fuboTV (try it free).

Peyton and Eli will welcome new guests on the program each week there is a ManningCast, and Bill Belichick will be featured on every episode this fall.

In addition to 10 weeks of regular-season action, Peyton and Eli will also provide commentary for a Wild Card game in January.

Check out the full schedule below.

ManningCast 2024 Schedule

NFL Week Date Game TV
1 Sept. 9 Jets @ 49ers ESPN2, ESPN+
2 Sept. 16 Falcons @ Eagles ESPN2
5 Oct. 7 Saints @ Chiefs ESPN2
6 Oct. 14 Bills @ Jets ESPN2
7 Oct. 21 Ravens @ Bucs ESPN2, ESPN+
8 Oct. 28 Giants @ Steelers ESPN2, ESPN+
9 Nov. 4 Bucs @ Chiefs ESPN2
11 Nov. 18 Texans @ Cowboys ESPN2
12 Nov. 25 Ravens @ Chargers ESPN2
14 Dec. 9 Bengals @ Cowboys ESPN2, ESPN+
Wild Card Jan. 13 TBD ESPN2, ESPN+

The ManningCast is televised on ESPN2. The primary MNF broadcast will continue to feature Joe Buck, Troy Aikman and Lisa Salters on ESPN.

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The Deion Sanders to the Cowboys rumors: Here’s the latest

Could Deion really leave Colorado to coach the Cowboys?

The Mike McCarthy hot seat rumors aren’t going anywhere anytime soon with the Dallas Cowboys floundering and Dak Prescott out for the year.

And while Bill Belichick will be a popular name as a possible replacement, none other than former Cowboys star Deion Sanders has been thrown around as a candidate, despite the fact that he’s continuing to coach Colorado.

If you’re watching the Cowboys play, you might be wondering: what’s the latest with those rumors?

The answer is that Sanders shut that down with former Cowboys wideout Michael Irvin while on FS1’s Speak On: “I love it where I am!”

Make of that what you will.

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Has Cooper Rush ever beaten a team with a winning record? Here’s the answer.

Rush, as it turns out, has beaten *multiple* playoff teams as a starter.

Since 2023, Cooper Rush ranks 60th out of 64 quarterbacks who’ve played at least 90 snaps when it comes to expected points added (EPA) per dropback. That should make him an easy out when the Houston Texans make the 240-mile drive north to play the Dallas Cowboys on Monday night, right?

It turns out the Cowboys have rallied around their longtime backup before. Rush is 0-4 in the games in which he’s thrown a pass in 2024. However, he was called into action thanks to Dak Prescott injuries in 2021 and 2022 and stood tall. The former undrafted free agent went 5-1 in six starts those two years.

This wasn’t the result of a cupcake schedule, either. In 2022 Rush beat:

  • the Cincinnati Bengals, who went 12-4 and made it to the AFC Championship
  • the New York Giants, who went 9-7-1 and beat the Minnesota Vikings in the Wild Card round
  • the 8-8-1 Washington Commanders, who fielded a top three defense (in terms of yards allowed that fall).

He also got stomped by the Philadelphia Eagles, who went on to Super Bowl 57 that winter, so it wasn’t all great. Even so, across five games and four opponents with .500 records or better, Rush’s Cowboys went 4-1. His stats in that span:

191 passing yards per game, a 58 percent completion rate, five touchdowns, three interceptions and an 81.2 passer rating. His 0.47 EPA/play ranked him 18th among 36 qualified quarterbacks in that stretch — not great, but not abhorrent, either.

via rbsdm.com and the author

Does that mean anything? Well, considering Bailey Zappe was one of the league’s hottest quarterbacks in that small sample size, probably not. Rush can do enough to keep his team rolling, avoiding turnovers and negative plays long enough to sustain drives. But he had a top five defense and a run game whose top two backs combined for nearly 2,000 rushing yards that season.

Rush won’t have anything like that on Monday night. But if he finds a way to trip up a good team with playoff hopes, it won’t be anything new.

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Texans ready for return of WR Nico Collins for season’s second half

Nico Collins is back for the first time in five games for the Houston Texans.

The Houston Texans are eight quarters and counting without a touchdown in the second half.

That should change with the return or Nico Collins.

The Texans will have their leading man back on the sidelines for the first time since Week 5 in Monday’s matchup against the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium. Collins isn’t looking to ease his way back in, either.
There’s reasons to believe that No. 12 will be the No. 1 talking point of the Tuesday morning talk show circuits.

“In order to pick back up, I got to ball out when the ball touches my hands,” Collins said earlier this week. “When the ball is in the air, I have to do something with it.”

It’s a tale of two halves for Houston this season. With Collins in the lineup, the Texans sit at 4-1. With him out, they’re 2-3. They’ve also been outscored 74-39 in the second half since Week 6.

It’s also affected C.J. Stroud’s stat line. Before Collins’ injury, the Texans were sixth in total offense (376.6 yards per game) and fourth in passing. Stroud ranked third in passing yards (1,385), tied for 10th in touchdowns (seven) and 10th in QBR (66.2).

Over the past five games, the Texans rank 24th in total offense (299 yards per game) and 16th in scoring (20 points per contest). Stroud currently ranks 13th in passing (2,371) and 22nd in QBR (54.7).

“I am very excited to have my guy back,” Stroud said. “I am just happy for him to be back with the team, be a part of the locker room again. They are in solitude, when players are injured, they are on their own. So I am glad he is just able to be around the guys again and be able to do the sport that he loves to play.”

Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said earlier this week that Stroud needs to “cut it loose” on Monday night. That should be easier with the return of his No. 1 receiver.

Prior to the injury, Collins led the NFL with 567 receiving yards and ranked third in receptions with 32. By missing five games, his 113.4 yards per contest remains among the league’s best.

“Getting Nico back is always very great for all of us,” Ryans said. “Nico’s been one of our best players when he was healthy, so it’s great to have him back, great to have his presence and the energy that he brings and also the playmaking ability that he brings.”

Collins and Stroud’s connection could be the x-factor down the stretch for Houston before the bye week. After traveling to Arlington, the Texans return home for an AFC South showdown against the Tennessee Titans. After that, they hit the road to take on the struggling Jacksonville Jaguars.

With three wins, the Texans would be back at 9-3 in the hunt for a top-three seed in the AFC, but everything starts with a win on Monday.

Everything ends with Collins crossing the goal line for the first time in a month.

“I feel like myself,” Collins said. “I’m feeling good.”