Brett's Cowboys Corner

The battle for the Governor’s Cup will be on Monday Night Football. The Dallas Cowboys lead the series 9-5, if you combine the Houston Texans and Houston Oilers.

It may be the Cowboys just playing for pride at this point, but the Texans are becoming a win-needy team, after dropping 2 one score games back to back. Which has been the story of this Texans team. They seem to play every game close. In 3 of their 4 loses they held a 4th quarter lead.

It will be tough for Dallas to look into the eyes of the Texans, as they are a team that is everything the Cowboys aren’t. They are aggressive in the off season, they signed a big name running back and it has elevated their offense. They make multiple trades to get into the top end of the 2023 draft and walk away with a playmaker on both sides of the ball. They spend money and make trades, and now they lead the AFC South, 6-4.

OFFENSE

Joe Mixon: A sign and trade to the Texans, now Joe Mixon holds a 3 year, 27 million dollar extension. He has immediately elevated the offense of the Texans. Bringing them a run game that they lacked last season. Despite only playing in 7 games so far this season, Joe Mixon has already recorded more 10+ yard rushes (19) than all Texans RBs combined through the first 10 weeks of last season (17). This ultimately takes some weight off the young QB’s shoulders. Allowing Stroud to play more naturally and not have to be superman all the time.

CJ Stroud Roller Coaster

Stroud is a promising young QB who has a lot of NFL ahead of him. 12 touchdowns and 6 interceptions on the year. Stroud has a big arm that can keep his team in games, but it can be reckless at times and take his team out of any game.

C.J. Stroud has a 72.8 passer rating over the Texans’ last 4 games. That is the worst passer rating of any NFL QB with 100+ pass attempts in that span.

What is interesting is the fact that these ups and downs come usually from half to half. Meaning, Stroud plays at a high level in the 1st and 2nd quarter of the game. But coming out of the tunnel after halftime, something starts falling apart late in the 3rd quarter and the 4th.

CJ Stroud has generated the 7th-highest completion percentage over expected (+5.4%) in the 1st half of games this season, but he has generated the 3rd-lowest 2nd half CPOE (-6.1%) among qualified quarterbacks.

Receiver Injuries and Such…

The Texans have dealt with their fair share of injuries already this season, and it primarily comes at the expense of their receivers.

They lost Stefon Diggs to an ACL tear, an All-Pro receiver they traded for on draft day. Which is disappointing for a lot of reasons, but we also miss out on the anticipated Trevon and Stefon matchup, Diggs vs Diggs. Last year it was Trevon with the ACL tear that delayed the matchup when it was Cowboys vs. Bills.

Nico Collins was on track for a breakout season, as he led the NFL in receiving yards for many weeks. But a week 5 hamstring injury halted that impact. He is now expected to make his return against the Cowboys.

The offense has not moved as well without Collins. Stroud has had a lower completion percentage without Collins on the field. Before Nico Collins injured his hamstring in Week 5, only 2 Texans receivers averaged at least 10 air yards per target (Collins, 12.8; Dell, 10.3). Since the injury, no Texans receiver has averaged more than 7 air yards.

Dalton Schultz has dealt with a sprained ankle for a majority of the season, but overall just hasn’t had much production in the Texans offense. Primarily acting as a dump off piece. No touchdowns on the season for him.

No Blocking

It is tough to criticize offensive line play in the NFL especially when the level of play is just down league wide. With edge rushers becoming more athletic and powerful, it is difficult to find 160 guys who can play oline at the NFL level. It seems the Texans don’t even have one.

Which is strange since left tackle Laremy Tunsil is generally a good tackle and Shaq Mason has played good NFL guard at points. As a unit, no one has played good enough.

The Houston offensive line has allowed 95 pressures to players aligned on the offense’s left and 74 pressures to players aligned on the offense’s right. The Houston Texans have allowed 47 pressures to players aligned as an interior defensive lineman this season, the 3rd-most by any team through 10 weeks in the past 7 seasons (2023 WAS, 58; 2020 NYG, 56).

Hopefully we can have fun watching Micah Parsons wreak havoc.

This is a lot of pressure from all over! No wonder Stroud is making risky decisions, he is running for his life. Right behind Caleb Williams, Stroud is one of the most sacked QB’s in the NFL, at 34 times. This is the reality you live with when you ignore oline in the draft or draft the wrong guys.

DEFENSE

DeMeco Ryans: A former NFL linebacker, who played for the Texans. Ryans began his coaching career focusing on, naturally, the defense. As a DC in San Francisco, he was named the head coach of the Texans in 2023. Ryans is the third head coach in the past 4 years for the Texans. He brings a defensive minded team, meaning toughness and grit. Looking to bring the Texans to their first AFC Championship game in franchise history. The Texans are the only AFC team that has not reached it to a championship game.

Loaded with Dogs

The Texans defense is stacked with talent, with a defensive head coach, Houston has made that their focal point when drafting and adding free agents. Man…has it paid off.

Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans currently has his defense ranked #2 in the league in yards allowed per game at 280.3. They’re third in total sacks with 27.0, seventh against the pass, eighth in turnovers, and 15th against the run.

They do a little bit of everything good. Let’s be real here. This week the Texans are playing a Cowboys offense who has no quarterback. They are not sure who the starting left tackle will be…but on the bright side after 10 weeks they finally figured out the Rico Dowdle is the lead back.

Defensive Line

The Texans pass defense has generated a higher pressure rate (46.7% to 40.2%) and sack rate (11.7% to 3.3%) with Will Anderson Jr. on the field than without him, despite blitzing at a lower rate.

A Cowboys offense that has dealt poorly with pressure, Will Anderson will line up against a returning from injury Chuma Edoga or a young Asim Richards as starter Tyler Guyton has a neck injury.

In his return last Sunday from a Week 6 knee injury, Texans LB Azeez Al-Shaair led all Texans defenders in run stops (7) and run stuffs (3). Al-Shaair ranks 4th in run stop rate (17.9%) and 7th in run stuff rate (5.3%) among all off-ball linebackers with at least 100 run defense snaps this season, both career-highs.

Also something the Cowboys avoid, adding players in free agency when you need them. Danielle Hunter has been a great addition for Houston. He has generated a league-high 62 pressures this season on 285 pass rushes (21.8%), 10 more than the next closest pass rusher this season (Trey Hendrickson, 52). His matchup will be Terrence Steele.

The Secondary is Good Too?

Unlike the Cowboys, the Texans are really benefiting from good safety play. Which helps the fact they are starting a rookie at corner. Jalen Pitre is more of the deep middle safety and Eric Murray plays closer to the line of scrimmage.

Though as long as the Cowboys are averaging 2 yards per attempt and totaling under 50 passing yards in a game. It may not matter how good the secondary is.

Playing the Texans defense, they give you about 2.5 seconds to throw. As well as pressuring you anywhere from 30 to 50% of the game.

The odds of winning for Dallas look more bleak as games go by. It is disappointing that we see a good return of the Cowboy defense last week, but unfortunately a bad offense just got worse.