DALLAS — A comeback against a 1-win team wasn’t exactly how they drew it up, but the Dallas Cowboys got what they needed, a 27-23 win over the Houston Texans.
This was supposed to be a mismatch, and on paper the Cowboys were the much better team in every area. However, as we’re reminded quite often, games aren’t played on paper, they’re played on the field. The Texans played one of their best games of the year and fought hard but came up just short as the Cowboys made the plays in the biggest moments to walk away victorious.
It’s a 60-minute game and the Cowboys needed all 60 of them to avoid the upset. The game started out how most thought it would go, with little resistance from the Texans. Dallas’ offense marched down the field on a nine-play, 76-yard touchdown drive, capped by running back Tony Pollard’s 11-yard scoring run.
After the first drive, though, the Texans dug in and didn’t cave. Aided by too many mistakes from the Cowboys, the Texans stayed in the game. The first mistake came from rookie kick returner KaVontae Turpin, who fumbled a punt after the defense forced a three-and-out on the Texans’ first offensive series. Houston cashed that giveaway in with a touchdown to tie the score before taking a 10-7 lead just before the end of the first quarter.
The Cowboys wrested back the lead early in the second quarter, but their next mistake gave the Texans life. Leading by four points, the Cowboys were looking to extend the lead before halftime.
A recent trend continued as, late second quarter, quarterback Dak Prescott was intercepted to put the defense in a bind. Two plays later, the Texans turned that turnover into another touchdown, this one a 28-yard pass from quarterback Jeff Driskel to wide receiver Amari Rodgers, who outjumped safety Donovan Wilson.
A mistake-filled half of football from the Cowboys saw them down 20-17. The Texans, who haven’t averaged 20 points per game this season, and hadn’t scored 20 points in seven weeks, had 20 points at the break thanks to the Cowboys shooting themselves in the foot.
The upset bid continued when the Cowboys forced an early second half turnover but failed to capitalize. Getting the ball deep in Texans territory, the offense eventually got the ball to the one-yard line but found themselves in a 4th-and-goal. The decision was made to go for it, but the play call for a jumbo package run was snuffed out easily and doomed to fail with running back Ezekiel Elliott stuffed at the goal line.
There were zero throws on the nine-play drive. Every play was a run against a defense that had a banged up secondary.
If you were counting at home, the Texans had produced two takeaways and converted them into 14 points, while the Cowboys forced one turnover and didn’t have a point to show for it. That’s how upsets materialize.
Dallas didn’t score, but at least they had a bad offense pinned down and could be expected to get the ball back with good field position. Much like everything else that was expected in this game, it didn’t happen. The Texans put together a drive that led to three points and the Cowboys were trailing by six heading into the fourth quarter.
Staring down a potentially embarrassing defeat, Dallas started to wake up and managed a field goal to go down just three points, yet more disaster awaited. With just under six minutes to play, and deep in their own territory, Prescott’s arm was hit while throwing and Houston cornerback Tremon Smith collected an interception that set the Texans up at the four-yard line.
However, with Houston knocking on the door and about to seal the game, the Dallas defense rose to the occasion with defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence making the play of the game.
On 3rd-and-goal from the one-yard line, Lawrence split a double-team block and tackled running back Rex Burkhead for a two-yard loss. The play from Lawrence saved the game for Dallas, as it made the Texans ponder an unenviable fourth down decision.
The Texans decided to go for the kill, but after Lawrence’s previous stop gave the defense more wiggle room, the Cowboys held Houston out of the end zone and gave the ball back to Prescott and the offense. The Cowboys were 98-yards away from winning the game but had all the momentum.
After the goal line stand, Prescott engineered the Cowboys down the field on an 11-play, 98-yard touchdown drive. Prescott was 5 of 6 for 79 yards on the drive and ran for 15 more leading the way to the end zone. Elliott took it in for the final two yards and the game-winning score.
The Cowboys played bad football and let a bad team hang around for 56 minutes. But when the game was on the line, the defense made their stand and the offense was near perfect on the final drive to get the Cowboys their 10th win of the season.
You don’t have to be good all game, you just have to be great when the moment arises, and the Cowboys certainly did that in Week 14. It wasn’t pretty, and it was one of their worst efforts on the year, but Dallas walked away victorious.
That’s a sign of a good team, when they can play poorly, yet still come away with a win. Just how good remains to be seen – and the Cowboys won’t win a big game playing like they did against the Texans – but it was good enough on Sunday.
Are you satisfied with the Week 14 win for the Cowboys? Share your thoughts with Ben on Twitter @BenGrimaldi.
