Cowboys @ Texans

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The battle of Texas between the Houston Texans and Dallas Cowboys on Sunday in Houston focuses on two key offensive players: Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott and Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson.

Elliott, who led the NFL in rushing yards as a rookie in 2016, is at the top again this season with 426 yards.

He had 152 yards on 25 carries in last week's 26-24 victory over the Detroit Lions.

"I think we got back to our old self, you know what I mean, and it showed," Elliott said. "We wore that defense down and we hit some big runs in the second half. And then we went out there and did what we had to do to win the game."

Running against Houston will be a challenge, however, because the Texans allow just 3.5 yards per rushing attempt, which ranks fourth in the NFL.

Meanwhile, the Texans (1-3) need to keep their quarterback upright. Watson ranks ninth in the league in passing yardage but just 24th in passer rating.

The chief problem is that he has not had time to throw.

Watson has been sacked 17 times through four games. Only the Buffalo Bills with 21 sacks given up overall, have allowed more total sacks than the Texans.

The Texans have allowed a sack 11.49 percent per pass attempts and are on pace to surrender 68 sacks for the season. They allowed 54 sacks last year.

This is not the recipe for success, especially for a quarterback who suffered a torn ACL last season and particularly against Dallas.

The Cowboys rank third in the league in sacks with 14, and Cowboys defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence leads the league individually with 5.5 sacks.

Watson has been hit 43 times and is on pace to be hit 172 times this season.

"He's a very tough guy," Texans head coach Bill O'Brien said. "You know, some of it can be concerning, but it's some of the design of the plays. That's what we do. He's got good physical strength. There's certain things that we do not want him to take a hit on. There's other things that we do that he loves to do, and we like to call them and that's part of the way he plays.

"I think he's really smart about it for the most part when you look at how he deals with those plays. He gets his pads down or he ducks out of bounds. He's a very, very smart runner."

One thing Watson can do is run when the situation calls for it. He has rushed for 161 yards this season, and that includes 41 in last week's 37-34 overtime victory over the Indianapolis Colts.

Dual-threat quarterbacks have given Dallas trouble this season.

Dallas has been beaten by Carolina's Cam Newton and Seattle's Russell Wilson in its 2-2 start.

Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett knows Watson can be as dangerous as the Panthers' and Seahawks' quarterbacks.

"What challenges you most about him is he can play well within the scheme and then when things break down," Garrett said. "He extends plays and makes these game-changing plays. We've got to do a great job of containing him throughout this ball game."

Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott also can run, although he had just two rushing yards in last week's victory over Detroit.

He had his best game of the season passing, though, completing 17 of 27 passes for 255 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. He was sacked three times in the game and 14 times this season.

That is a concern with defensive end J.J. Watt on the opposing team. Watt has five sacks this season and was named the NFL Defensive Player of the Month.

The home field has not been a huge advantage for the Texans. They were just 3-5 at home last season and lost their only home game this year.

The Cowboys were one of the best road teams in the league last year, when they went 6-2 away from home, but they have lost their two road games this season.

 

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Jerry Jones criticized Jason Garrett's OT punt, saying, "We were being outplayed. It's time for risks at that particular time."

OK guys, Garrett is toast at season's end, right?

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Well he's overstayed his welcome by quite a few years. The only longer tenured Cowboys coach at this point is Tom Landry himself.

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The problem is Dallas isn't likely to lure a bright young offensive mind so they can be a puppet to the Jurrahmeister. That's part of the reason Garrett has stuck around for so long (and why Jimmy Johnson and his 2 championships didn't).

Dallas has issues in management as well. Having talents like Dak and Zeke at QB and RB on rookie contracts should be a dream scenario. They should be loading up and going all-in for a Super Bowl like the Rams (and, to a lesser extent, the Eagles) are doing. But they can't because of all the dead cap they have from poor decision-making of the past.

The more in control the Jones' are of the Dallas Cowboys, the more they are destined to fail.

[BigBen07 285]

1 hour ago, SteVo said:

The problem is Dallas isn't likely to lure a bright young offensive mind so they can be a puppet to the Jurrahmeister. That's part of the reason Garrett has stuck around for so long (and why Jimmy Johnson and his 2 championships didn't).

Dallas has issues in management as well. Having talents like Dak and Zeke at QB and RB on rookie contracts should be a dream scenario. They should be loading up and going all-in for a Super Bowl like the Rams (and, to a lesser extent, the Eagles) are doing. But they can't because of all the dead cap they have from poor decision-making of the past.

The more in control the Jones' are of the Dallas Cowboys, the more they are destined to fail.

Exactly all this. Jones has completely fucked up everything, but he doesn't care as long as he gets his money. Dallas is fortunate that they aren't having constant losing seasons. It's pathetic.