The Houston Texans thoroughly outperformed expectations against the Dallas Cowboys, and Dallas badly underperformed. A game that had more than a two-touchdown spread in favor of the Cowboys needed a goal-line stand and a 98-yard drive to pull out the victory.
An opening touchdown drive from Dallas, followed by a three and out for the Texans had this game looking like the blowout it was supposed to be early. Then KaVontae Turpin muffed a punt and the momentum turned with a recovery by the Texans.
From there the game became a back-and-forth, poorly-played battle that saw the Cowboys revert to many issues they have had during the Kellen Moore era. The team had a lack of pre-snap motion, Tony Pollard only had ten carries in the run game, and Dalton Schultz and Noah Brown had one less target in the pass game than CeeDee Lamb, Michael Gallup, and Tony Pollard combined.
Dallas didn’t play a very good game, but at the final whistle they escaped with a victory. Here are the three stars that helped the Cowboys win back the Governor’s Cup from their in-state rivals.