2024 Season | Week 11 | Gameday Chatter Thread | Texans @ Cowboys | 11/17/2024
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dpf1123
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Cowboys Pregame Three Thoughts: Week 11
The Houston Texans come to town needing to get right against the reeling Cowboys.
Bob Sturm
Nov 18, 2024
The long-awaited visit from the best team in Texas has arrived!
This, despite the fact that the Houston Texans are also a team that has done very little winning in the last month. The Texans have lost three of four and the Cowboys have lost four straight. Something has to give.
“Tonight, on Monday Night Football, the battle for Texas features a clash of rivals who are 1-7 in their last eight! Next!!!” (cue the Hank Williams, Jr)
If the Cowboys were having a different kind of season this year—let’s call it a 6-3 season as they approach their 10th game this evening—I imagine we’d be stressing a lot more about the NFL deciding the Cowboys should play three games in eleven days.
Today, Sunday, and Thanksgiving is an even tighter schedule than the usual gauntlet of three games in twelve days. If I had to guess, this will be the quickest turnaround time this season (although the teams playing the four slots on Christmas are probably also dealing with three games in eleven days and won’t want to hear any complaints). Proper rest no longer seems to be a priority in the NFL, and since the Cowboys seem like they’re already “playing out the string,” nobody has said a thing so far.
So, on with the show.
In the new ESPN contract, the NFL agreed to two key scheduling changes.
First, certain teams (Kansas City, Dallas, San Francisco) can now appear twice—something that disappeared from the Monday Night Football calendar when its primary slate moved to Sundays decades ago. If you’re asking for billions, you want teams that draw massive tune-ins. That makes sense.
Second, the NFL now has the ability to flex games out at this point in the season if they become duds. While this game wasn’t considered for flexing, keep an eye on Cowboys-Bengals on December 9th—though the Simpsons production tie-in likely has that one locked in.
Meanwhile, Houston needs to prove they can win on the road. They’ve dropped three of their last four away games, with losses at Minnesota, Green Bay, and the New York Jets, and a win in New England mixed in. They remain the clear class of their division, with only the Indianapolis Colts chasing them—and Houston has already swept that season series.
From the Cowboys’ standpoint, the goal here is to run a competent offense and give their defense some support, something they failed to do last week against the Eagles. However, skepticism remains given the quality of Houston’s defense and Dallas’s poor options at QB.
That said, these are my Cowboys PreGame Three Thoughts:
When Dallas has the ball:
– When you are coming off a game where you gained just 146 yards of total offense and an absurdly low 2.61 yards per play, our bar is pretty low. Just run a decent offense and attempt to move the chains a few times. I would suggest a RPO-based offense built on the legs of Trey Lance by halftime.
Here is the search I did on last week’s game, looking for 2024 NFL games where the offenses could not get any yards at all (2.61 per play or worse):
One Daniel Jones game vs the Eagles. One Caleb Williams game against the Patriots (that got Shane Waldron fired). And in this case, at least, one game with a back-up QB Cooper Rush stepping in for the injured Dak Prescott.
So, three in the entire league. And to nobody’s surprise, the three games combined for zero offensive touchdowns.
Not coincidentally, we have had a quiet week from the “Cooper Rush Lobby” as the accounts that tell us they think he can play QB at Dak Prescott’s level have gone underground. That Eagles game was plenty to shake the confidence of all involved in propping up a career backup. As I wrote last week:
The goals for this offense have definitely adjusted from a Cowboys team that was used to being in the top tiers of NFL attacks. Even when we were complaining about certain elements that were falling short, this group always were scoring points and rolling up yardage at a “Top-5” level. Well, those days are at least temporarily gone.
The red—indicating stats near the bottom of the NFL—is all over the Cowboys' offense, and the only thing keeping it afloat for the first two months was Dak Prescott connecting with CeeDee Lamb. If the current Cowboys quarterbacks can’t hit receivers downfield, even that bright spot will soon vanish.
There needs to be a consistent reliance on Rico Dowdle and the running game, with some play-action built around it. In other words, I’d give Cooper Rush about three series (if they insist on starting him) before trying to salvage the offense with a quarterback who can win with his feet. Trey Lance, paired with Dowdle in a zone-read-based game plan, might be the best bet.
The Texans will be ready, of course, because they’re no strangers to football. But this approach could play the odds slightly in the Cowboys’ favor and give their offense a fighting chance.
Sitting back and hoping to get Rush going in even a modestly vertical passing game will likely expose the Cowboys to the Texans’ ability to bring pressure on the quarterback.
Fortunately, word came over the weekend that Will Anderson won’t be available for the Texans. He was injured against the Jets a few Thursdays ago and didn’t practice this week. That means the reel Josh put together is just for our enjoyment of a player the Texans won’t have in their lineup.
We assume that pushes Denico Autry into the lineup and he will still be a decent challenge, but he is no Anderson.
Much of what I wrote last week about the Cowboys offensive line will be relevant here. I think the remainder of this season is a great chance to continue to see about the future of this offensive line. Tyler Guyton, Cooper Beebe, and the interesting Asim Richards are all hopefully going to continue to prove they need to be part of the 2025 mix around Tyler Smith. But, for that to happen, we need to run the ball and run the offense.
I don’t expect the Cowboys to sit veterans, but if I had to weigh in on who is getting the opportunities on this offense, it would be almost nobody who is uncertain for 2025. That said, I also recognize there is a ton of this season left so if the team is insisting on waiting until December to fully turn this into a 2025 preseason, I get it.
Meanwhile, the other side is where things get more competitive.
When The Texans have the ball:
– The Texans run the ball impressively enough with Joe Mixon and you would expect that they will make Dallas start there to demonstrate they have an answer with CJ Stroud doing work behind it. For Dallas, the keys of this game will remain up front on that heavily criticized defensive line.
The Cowboys are experts on this year’s best runners. Think about it. They have had to deal with Derrick Henry, Saquon Barkley, Bijan Robinson, Jahmyr Gibbs, Alvin Kamara, and now Mixon.
Mixon isn’t going to win the rushing title, mainly because he missed time with an ankle injury. But, since returning, he has consistently been at 25 carries for over 100 yards. So prepare for a diet of dealing with this big and impressive runner who left Cincinnati with a little bit left in his tank. He signed a three-year $25.5 million deal last spring and looks like a fantastic signing.
But, the reason Houston has hope for their future is simple. They have their QB. I think we still have much to learn about CJ Stroud, but in terms of pure passing ability and the “big time throw” resume, Stroud has it.
Take a look at some of these beauties from 2024:
He seems to have composure, ability, accuracy, and loads of confidence. He also excels at the second part of every play where QBs have to play a bit more instinctively and he can move around, buy a moment, and then deliver a ball on target. He has been down a lot of his weapons, but I enjoy watching him play as he looks like a really good one.
So, again, if Dallas is to survive, that defensive front will need to show out.
Mike Zimmer has been taking more chances since the bye-week with blitzing increases, but this will be a game determined on how well you can slow down Mixon – and for how long.
– Finally, I look forward to watching Houston as they continue to grow as a great NFL story of franchise building. And, if you wish to build from the ground up, I recommend fleecing someone with a franchise altering trade like they did with Cleveland a few years back.
March 18, 2022 is a day Texans fans will never forget. For on that day, they took a diminishing asset and flipped it into a bright future.
I was amused to find this trade had its own Wikipedia page created, but of course, if I was a Texans fan, that would be the least I could do, too. What a great day for the franchise when Cleveland was willing to do this.
Yes, desperate teams make desperate moves for QBs.
This may not quite be the Herschel Walker trade, but do you believe this haul?
Nick Caserio and DeMeco Ryans really have a chance to build something special here over the next little while. It looks difference with Stefon Diggs and Nico Collins hurt, but overall, I am very impressed.
The Houston Texans come to town needing to get right against the reeling Cowboys.
Bob Sturm
Nov 18, 2024
The long-awaited visit from the best team in Texas has arrived!
This, despite the fact that the Houston Texans are also a team that has done very little winning in the last month. The Texans have lost three of four and the Cowboys have lost four straight. Something has to give.
“Tonight, on Monday Night Football, the battle for Texas features a clash of rivals who are 1-7 in their last eight! Next!!!” (cue the Hank Williams, Jr)
If the Cowboys were having a different kind of season this year—let’s call it a 6-3 season as they approach their 10th game this evening—I imagine we’d be stressing a lot more about the NFL deciding the Cowboys should play three games in eleven days.
Today, Sunday, and Thanksgiving is an even tighter schedule than the usual gauntlet of three games in twelve days. If I had to guess, this will be the quickest turnaround time this season (although the teams playing the four slots on Christmas are probably also dealing with three games in eleven days and won’t want to hear any complaints). Proper rest no longer seems to be a priority in the NFL, and since the Cowboys seem like they’re already “playing out the string,” nobody has said a thing so far.
So, on with the show.
In the new ESPN contract, the NFL agreed to two key scheduling changes.
First, certain teams (Kansas City, Dallas, San Francisco) can now appear twice—something that disappeared from the Monday Night Football calendar when its primary slate moved to Sundays decades ago. If you’re asking for billions, you want teams that draw massive tune-ins. That makes sense.
Second, the NFL now has the ability to flex games out at this point in the season if they become duds. While this game wasn’t considered for flexing, keep an eye on Cowboys-Bengals on December 9th—though the Simpsons production tie-in likely has that one locked in.
Meanwhile, Houston needs to prove they can win on the road. They’ve dropped three of their last four away games, with losses at Minnesota, Green Bay, and the New York Jets, and a win in New England mixed in. They remain the clear class of their division, with only the Indianapolis Colts chasing them—and Houston has already swept that season series.
From the Cowboys’ standpoint, the goal here is to run a competent offense and give their defense some support, something they failed to do last week against the Eagles. However, skepticism remains given the quality of Houston’s defense and Dallas’s poor options at QB.
That said, these are my Cowboys PreGame Three Thoughts:
When Dallas has the ball:
– When you are coming off a game where you gained just 146 yards of total offense and an absurdly low 2.61 yards per play, our bar is pretty low. Just run a decent offense and attempt to move the chains a few times. I would suggest a RPO-based offense built on the legs of Trey Lance by halftime.
Here is the search I did on last week’s game, looking for 2024 NFL games where the offenses could not get any yards at all (2.61 per play or worse):
One Daniel Jones game vs the Eagles. One Caleb Williams game against the Patriots (that got Shane Waldron fired). And in this case, at least, one game with a back-up QB Cooper Rush stepping in for the injured Dak Prescott.
So, three in the entire league. And to nobody’s surprise, the three games combined for zero offensive touchdowns.
Not coincidentally, we have had a quiet week from the “Cooper Rush Lobby” as the accounts that tell us they think he can play QB at Dak Prescott’s level have gone underground. That Eagles game was plenty to shake the confidence of all involved in propping up a career backup. As I wrote last week:
Trey Lance at least introduces a slight unknown. I would like to think with an eight-day work week, that has been explored and in the event he needs to play tonight, I would like to think they have a better plan in place.
The goals for this offense have definitely adjusted from a Cowboys team that was used to being in the top tiers of NFL attacks. Even when we were complaining about certain elements that were falling short, this group always were scoring points and rolling up yardage at a “Top-5” level. Well, those days are at least temporarily gone.
The red—indicating stats near the bottom of the NFL—is all over the Cowboys' offense, and the only thing keeping it afloat for the first two months was Dak Prescott connecting with CeeDee Lamb. If the current Cowboys quarterbacks can’t hit receivers downfield, even that bright spot will soon vanish.
There needs to be a consistent reliance on Rico Dowdle and the running game, with some play-action built around it. In other words, I’d give Cooper Rush about three series (if they insist on starting him) before trying to salvage the offense with a quarterback who can win with his feet. Trey Lance, paired with Dowdle in a zone-read-based game plan, might be the best bet.
The Texans will be ready, of course, because they’re no strangers to football. But this approach could play the odds slightly in the Cowboys’ favor and give their offense a fighting chance.
Sitting back and hoping to get Rush going in even a modestly vertical passing game will likely expose the Cowboys to the Texans’ ability to bring pressure on the quarterback.
Fortunately, word came over the weekend that Will Anderson won’t be available for the Texans. He was injured against the Jets a few Thursdays ago and didn’t practice this week. That means the reel Josh put together is just for our enjoyment of a player the Texans won’t have in their lineup.
We assume that pushes Denico Autry into the lineup and he will still be a decent challenge, but he is no Anderson.
Much of what I wrote last week about the Cowboys offensive line will be relevant here. I think the remainder of this season is a great chance to continue to see about the future of this offensive line. Tyler Guyton, Cooper Beebe, and the interesting Asim Richards are all hopefully going to continue to prove they need to be part of the 2025 mix around Tyler Smith. But, for that to happen, we need to run the ball and run the offense.
I don’t expect the Cowboys to sit veterans, but if I had to weigh in on who is getting the opportunities on this offense, it would be almost nobody who is uncertain for 2025. That said, I also recognize there is a ton of this season left so if the team is insisting on waiting until December to fully turn this into a 2025 preseason, I get it.
Meanwhile, the other side is where things get more competitive.
When The Texans have the ball:
– The Texans run the ball impressively enough with Joe Mixon and you would expect that they will make Dallas start there to demonstrate they have an answer with CJ Stroud doing work behind it. For Dallas, the keys of this game will remain up front on that heavily criticized defensive line.
The Cowboys are experts on this year’s best runners. Think about it. They have had to deal with Derrick Henry, Saquon Barkley, Bijan Robinson, Jahmyr Gibbs, Alvin Kamara, and now Mixon.
Mixon isn’t going to win the rushing title, mainly because he missed time with an ankle injury. But, since returning, he has consistently been at 25 carries for over 100 yards. So prepare for a diet of dealing with this big and impressive runner who left Cincinnati with a little bit left in his tank. He signed a three-year $25.5 million deal last spring and looks like a fantastic signing.
But, the reason Houston has hope for their future is simple. They have their QB. I think we still have much to learn about CJ Stroud, but in terms of pure passing ability and the “big time throw” resume, Stroud has it.
Take a look at some of these beauties from 2024:
He seems to have composure, ability, accuracy, and loads of confidence. He also excels at the second part of every play where QBs have to play a bit more instinctively and he can move around, buy a moment, and then deliver a ball on target. He has been down a lot of his weapons, but I enjoy watching him play as he looks like a really good one.
So, again, if Dallas is to survive, that defensive front will need to show out.
Mike Zimmer has been taking more chances since the bye-week with blitzing increases, but this will be a game determined on how well you can slow down Mixon – and for how long.
– Finally, I look forward to watching Houston as they continue to grow as a great NFL story of franchise building. And, if you wish to build from the ground up, I recommend fleecing someone with a franchise altering trade like they did with Cleveland a few years back.
March 18, 2022 is a day Texans fans will never forget. For on that day, they took a diminishing asset and flipped it into a bright future.
I was amused to find this trade had its own Wikipedia page created, but of course, if I was a Texans fan, that would be the least I could do, too. What a great day for the franchise when Cleveland was willing to do this.
So, yeah, they gave the worst contract every given to a guy his own team was never going to play again – and still gave up three first rounders and a load of other picks!
Yes, desperate teams make desperate moves for QBs.
This may not quite be the Herschel Walker trade, but do you believe this haul?
So, with that in mind, here is their roster sheet that I keep on file for my own use. It suggests that they may not be ready to fully contend for a title, but Houston went from a franchise that won 11 games in three seasons and seemed to alienate its entire fanbase to one of the more exciting and up-and-coming groups in the league:
Nick Caserio and DeMeco Ryans really have a chance to build something special here over the next little while. It looks difference with Stefon Diggs and Nico Collins hurt, but overall, I am very impressed.
Texas Ace
I'll Never Dream Again
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This is the first time in my life that no matter the outcome vs a Houston football team, I stand to benefit either way.
I hate all things Houston football, especially their stupid fans. So if by some miracle we win tonight, I'll enjoy it thoroughly. But if we lose, then we're one pick closer to the top of the draft, one step closer towards Jerry getting desperate enough to go after Master William, and one more reason to keep grilling Jerry Jones in the media for this team being so bad.
I'm going to enjoy this unique circumstance because it may not ever happen again.
I hate all things Houston football, especially their stupid fans. So if by some miracle we win tonight, I'll enjoy it thoroughly. But if we lose, then we're one pick closer to the top of the draft, one step closer towards Jerry getting desperate enough to go after Master William, and one more reason to keep grilling Jerry Jones in the media for this team being so bad.
I'm going to enjoy this unique circumstance because it may not ever happen again.
Last edited:
Chocolate Lab
Kuato Lives
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Plus hopefully they show plenty of booing and Jerry's ugly mug having to swallow it as his team gets eviscerated on national TV.This is the first you in my life that no matter the outcome vs a Houston football team, I stand to benefit either way.
I hate all things Houston football, especially their stupid fans. So if by some miracle we win tonight, I'll enjoy it thoroughly. But if we lose, then we're one pick closer to the top of the draft, one step closer towards Jerry getting desperate enough to go after Master William, and one more reason to keep grilling Jerry Jones in the media for this team being so bad.
I'm going to enjoy this unique circumstance because it may not ever happen again.
Texas Ace
I'll Never Dream Again
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Yup.... It's a win all around.
Chocolate Lab
Kuato Lives
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Jerry will do it at night so the blimp (drones?) can get a good shot... and because the sun won't cause a glare on his beloved Jerrytron.
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Sun blinded the hell out of me there for a second.
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That would be interesting. It'd be nice to get a read on his opinion of Jerry Jones. If he's honest and critical of the job Jones has done, that tells me he probably isn't interested in the position.
If he's overly complimentary of Jerry and making excuses for him, that means they're talking behind the scenes.
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Yep, that's what I was thinking, too.
Tonight's guests are Belichik, Jim Gaffigan, and J.J. Watt.
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Belichick will be on. It will likely be more intriguing than the game itself.
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I usually don't pay attention to the Manningcast, but tonight will be the exception.
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I'm actually surprised they haven't announced some sort of delay to the game in order to do a thorough safety inspection. If more debris falls tonight and actually hits fans, they will be in deep doo doo.