The 2-2 Dallas Cowboys will travel to Houston to take on the 1-3 Texans in this week’s Sunday night game. Both teams are coming off thrilling victories in which they won by a combined 5 points. The Texans earned their first win of the year despite blowing a big second half lead. They led 28-10 midway through the third quarter only to hang on in overtime with a 37-34 victory on the road versus the Indianapolis Colts. Brett Maher kicked the game winning field goal as time expired for Dallas in their 26-24 home victory over the Detroit Lions. It was a nice bounce back game for the Cowboys after they lost to Seattle in Week 3 and only scored 13 points.
Ezekiel Elliott had a monster game against the Lions leading his team in both rushing and receiving yards as he accounted for 232 in total. He carried the ball 25 times and gained 152 yards. He also caught 4 passes for 88 yards and a touchdown. Quarterback Dak Prescott also had a nice game finishing with a passer rating of 116.8. He completed 17 of 27 passes for 255 yards 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. Defensively, they did not force a turnover but did sack Matthew Stafford 3 times and had 7 tackles for losses. They did a decent job against the rush as the Lions gained 96 yards on 20 carries which is an average of 4.8 yards per run. So far this season the Cowboys defense has allowed their opponents to gain an average of 332 yards and score 16.8 points per game.
Houston’s offense really stepped up in their first win last week gaining 494 yards. Deshaun Watson had a big game as he completed 29 of 42 passes for 375 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. His favorite target was Keke Coutee who had 11 catches for 109 yards. De Andre Hopkins also had a nice game with 10 catches for 169 yards and a touchdown. They gained 119 rushing yards on 25 carries which is an average of 3.4 yards per run. The 37 points they put up was 15 more than their previous high of 22 this season. Defensively, they just couldn’t stop Andrew Luck who threw for 464 yards and 4 touchdowns. They did recover 2 lost fumbles and sacked Luck 4 times. They did a great job against the run however as the Colts gained just 41 yards on 17 carries.
Houston will have home field advantage and are favored by 3.5 points for this game. They have gone 1-3 so far against the spread this season including 0-1 at home. Their offense played its best game of the season last week and the fans at NRG stadium will be ready. Dallas has also gone 1-3 against the spread this season including 0-2 on the road. Prescott and Elliott both played well last week a as they got back to a .500 winning percentage and sit tied for second in the NFC East.
