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Sturm: Cowboys delivered win No. 10 when things looked most bleak against a bad team
By Bob Sturm
2h ago
At 2:44 p.m. CT on Sunday, things were their most bleak.
ESPN claimed the win probabilities had swung completely to Houston. At that precise moment when Tremon Smith picked off a pass where Dak Prescott had his arm hit as he attempted to deliver a risky throw to Dalton Schultz on an out route, the Texans; chances of winning had moved to nearly 90 percent.
If a 17-point underdog has a 90 percent chance of winning a game that has about 5 minutes to go, many things have gone terribly wrong.
To be exact, 5:37 remained when Houston, already leading 23-20, would start its possession at the Cowboys’ 4-yard line. The opportunity to beat the Dallas Cowboys was sitting there on a tee. The Texans would do something they didn’t dream possible a few hours earlier — make the entire nation laugh at their in-state big brothers for losing to a one-win team.
This would be a good reason to risk allowing someone else to get a little closer to the No. 1 pick in April, but let’s be honest, Houston has been so bad this season that it is unlikely to lose that honor regardless.
So, with 5:37 to play, Houston takes the ball again. With a punch into the end zone, the Texans will go up 10 points and effectively end the football game. Make no mistake, the Cowboys are in some massive hot water.
On first-and-goal, credit Carlos Watkins for standing tall as Houston hands the ball to Rex Burkhead who followed a few pulling linemen right into the teeth of the Cowboys line. Watkins and Osa Odighizuwa held their ground which allowed Leighton Vander Esch to meet Burkhead with a sack of hammers after he took on and beat Laremy Tunsil at the point of attack. Brilliant work by Vander Esch and it cost the Texans a yard.
Second-and-goal from the 5: The Texans tried a play-action bootleg with an underneath shallow cross that allowed veteran WR Chris Moore to extend his career-high day. He crossed the face of Vander Esch and outflanked him, but with Malik Hooker coming downhill to make the stop, Dallas was in good shape. Moore caught the ball at about the 8-yard line and he is done — or so it seemed. He slammed on the brakes and Hooker flew past him. Vander Esch now is in over-pursuit and he blew by, too, and the Cowboys are in big trouble. Luckily, Watkins rallied to the ball and allegedly got Moore to the ground at the 1-yard line. I use allegedly because from every angle I see, it sure looks like Moore had the ball break the plane of the goal line. This might have been a great time to demand a review by Lovie Smith, but he no doubt felt great about punching it in on third or fourth down and maybe enjoyed the prospect of running out more clock in the process. Either way, it was as close as they would come.
Third-and-goal from the 1: This is the sequence that reminded us all so much of the Detroit game in October when Micah Parsons ran down a play short of the goal line and allowed DeMarcus Lawrence to do what he does best on the next play to stop the threat and perhaps save the game. The Texans had three additional blockers outside the right tackle on this goal-line play and Lawrence is such a quick force of nature that he shot the gap in front of offensive lineman Charlie Heck before Heck could see what happened and tripped Burkhead for a major loss. Replays showed that if Lawrence doesn’t get there when he did, the path to a touchdown is wide open. Lawrence, like the Detroit play, absolutely made a play that saved the game. Lawrence does so much more than rush the passer.
Fourth-and-goal. A field goal does nobody any good here. If you want to beat the Cowboys in Dallas, you roll the dice and go for it. The Texans kept their offense on the field and Jeff Driskel wanted to run an option with Burkhead to the sideline. Trouble is, it appeared he turned the wrong direction which is right on brand for the 2022 Houston Texans. At this point, Watkins again has burst through the line and is in Driskel’s lap. Driskel saw that Burkhead went hard right as he turned left. Also, if he had a moment, Donovan Wilson is right on the pitch, so that wasn’t going to work. Instead, Driskel turned back in the proper direction, but it was way too late. Lawrence was outside him. Anthony Barr was in full pursuit and Neville Gallimore got in on the fun and made the stop.
A true goal-line stand took the 90 percent win probability and refused to give in. Dallas trailing 30-20 means it is time to get ahead of traffic. But 23-20? Now, this offense can go for a win if it can go 98 yards without a mistake (anything but a given on this mistake-filled afternoon).
https://theathletic.com/3992339/2022/12/11/dallas-cowboys-win-texans/
As the Cowboys offense watched all of this, it was hoping for one more opportunity to make things right. This is the very essence of football where there are weeks when you win a laugher, but sometimes the most satisfying victories are the ones that come after a stubborn day finally yields the “one more play” that allows you to get an ugly, hard-fought victory. That is where you can learn something about yourself. The Cowboys played with a sloppy disposition and perhaps were not as fired up as they should have been to play a one-win team at noon with a crowd expecting another 50-point effort. Why is this weakling not giving in? Why are they fighting back after we saw them look miserable all week on film as America told us we would destroy them?
Did the Cowboys eat the cheese? There is no doubt about it.
Did they still have time to rescue a win from the jaws of defeat? Absolutely.
These are the practice-field challenges that coaches offer in training camp. Coach puts the ball down at the 2-yard line and says, you are down with 3:20 to play. You must go 98 yards for a victory. Go get it done. How you got to this point in the game matters, but right now it does not. You either convert this drive or you wear a loss for all the football world to mock.
Let’s find out. This is also the precise moment that people in this self-loathing fan base won’t discuss. They will tell you that their QB is not good enough and that he doesn’t make plays when it matters. They will also say this one doesn’t count because the opponent or the point spread or whatever contortion they need to confirm their priors.
But, let’s call this what it is — a time for Prescott to show you why he is who he is.
First, he feathered a ball to Schultz running down the seam for 21 yards from his own end zone. This jump-started the drive and the stadium. Then, inside 3 minutes, he scrambled for 9 and stopped the clock. A quick hook to Schultz turned into 13 more and the Cowboys were in business. Right before the two-minute warning, Ezekiel Elliott pushed the ball into Houston territory with a 6-yard run.
Not there yet, but half the job was done. At the same time, there had been too many mistakes in this game to relax until the lead is taken and the clock has expired. Plenty of work to be done.
Second-and-4: CeeDee Lamb caught a short pass and was the recipient of yet another big Houston collision. They were determined to let Dallas know they were there all day long and it had quite an effect.
On third-and-1, Fox showed us what was coming up in the next game, and Prescott kept it for a quick six yards and new set of downs.
With 1:21 to go, Prescott needed a big chunk and put one of his best throws of the day out for Noah Brown to go get it on a deep corner route. It was an 18-yard pass right on the money, but Brown had to secure a tough catch as he was being hit hard. He does so easily and now the Cowboys are on the edge of the red zone. Full credit for Brown making a play that he isn’t always asked to make. But, again, desperate times.
Prescott was feeling it. He made two fantastic throws on this drive alone and was ready to make a third. Earlier in first half, he hit Schultz in the hands in the end zone but the ball was dropped on contact. The route was there and the throw was there, so the Cowboys decided to run it back with the game on the line. And this time, it worked very well. Prescott repeated the throw and this time Schultz secured the catch while taking another hit. This job isn’t easy, but this time the franchise tag recipient added 18 yards to the ledger and now the drive that started at the Dallas 2 is to the Houston 4. The Cowboys had 55 seconds left, so they wanted to make sure they left Houston very little response time, if possible.
Dak Prescott (Kevin Jairaj / USA Today)
Elliott for two yards on first-and-goal. On second-and-goal, Prescott had time to wait for something to flash open and he put a pass on Michael Gallup that looked like the game-winning touchdown. But, the collision jarred the ball loose and the call seemed just.
But, on third down with 44 seconds to play, the 98-yard march to victory is completed. Elliott followed the offensive line into the end zone and at this point, those boys were not going to be blocked. Touchdown.
As you know by now, there was a lot about this game that was not great. A lot of reasons to complain and be concerned.
From my standpoint, I have a long-honored tradition of pointing out that there are 365 days in a year and a successful NFL season is usually something that gets double-digit wins. It is a coincidence that Sunday, the Cowboys moved to their 10th win (10-3), but stay with me.
If you have 10 wins in a successful season and there are 365 days in a year, there is an extremely rare victory to be had. Now, if we allow ourselves to be angry because half of them were closer than we expected (Detroit, Houston, etc.), then we are only truly pleased about five times a year. The unqualified joy of a win without reservation.
Sorry, it doesn’t work that way. The opponent pays its players, too, and Houston was fired up to play the Cowboys and wanted a win.
This Cowboys team is very good. That doesn’t mean it was very good Sunday. It means the Cowboys were in a deep hole at 2:44 p.m. and figured it out. Many men made plays after 2:44 and came together to get a win. As I have said a million times, you don’t apologize for wins in the NFL. They are too rare, too difficult and require too many bruises to not enjoy.
At the end of the season they don’t ask “How?”, they ask “How many?” As in, how many wins do you have? Dallas still has a chance at 14 and if it even gets close to that number, it is a legitimate threat to win the Super Bowl.
So yes, I agree. Lots to clean up and many injuries. But, I hope you agree that the clutch play of the defense on that goal-line stand and then the clutch play of that offense to drive 98 yards is what football is all about.
That, my friends, is a good win. Because any win in this league is a good win.
Smile. The Cowboys are 10-3.
By Bob Sturm
2h ago
At 2:44 p.m. CT on Sunday, things were their most bleak.
ESPN claimed the win probabilities had swung completely to Houston. At that precise moment when Tremon Smith picked off a pass where Dak Prescott had his arm hit as he attempted to deliver a risky throw to Dalton Schultz on an out route, the Texans; chances of winning had moved to nearly 90 percent.
If a 17-point underdog has a 90 percent chance of winning a game that has about 5 minutes to go, many things have gone terribly wrong.
To be exact, 5:37 remained when Houston, already leading 23-20, would start its possession at the Cowboys’ 4-yard line. The opportunity to beat the Dallas Cowboys was sitting there on a tee. The Texans would do something they didn’t dream possible a few hours earlier — make the entire nation laugh at their in-state big brothers for losing to a one-win team.
This would be a good reason to risk allowing someone else to get a little closer to the No. 1 pick in April, but let’s be honest, Houston has been so bad this season that it is unlikely to lose that honor regardless.
So, with 5:37 to play, Houston takes the ball again. With a punch into the end zone, the Texans will go up 10 points and effectively end the football game. Make no mistake, the Cowboys are in some massive hot water.
On first-and-goal, credit Carlos Watkins for standing tall as Houston hands the ball to Rex Burkhead who followed a few pulling linemen right into the teeth of the Cowboys line. Watkins and Osa Odighizuwa held their ground which allowed Leighton Vander Esch to meet Burkhead with a sack of hammers after he took on and beat Laremy Tunsil at the point of attack. Brilliant work by Vander Esch and it cost the Texans a yard.
Second-and-goal from the 5: The Texans tried a play-action bootleg with an underneath shallow cross that allowed veteran WR Chris Moore to extend his career-high day. He crossed the face of Vander Esch and outflanked him, but with Malik Hooker coming downhill to make the stop, Dallas was in good shape. Moore caught the ball at about the 8-yard line and he is done — or so it seemed. He slammed on the brakes and Hooker flew past him. Vander Esch now is in over-pursuit and he blew by, too, and the Cowboys are in big trouble. Luckily, Watkins rallied to the ball and allegedly got Moore to the ground at the 1-yard line. I use allegedly because from every angle I see, it sure looks like Moore had the ball break the plane of the goal line. This might have been a great time to demand a review by Lovie Smith, but he no doubt felt great about punching it in on third or fourth down and maybe enjoyed the prospect of running out more clock in the process. Either way, it was as close as they would come.
Third-and-goal from the 1: This is the sequence that reminded us all so much of the Detroit game in October when Micah Parsons ran down a play short of the goal line and allowed DeMarcus Lawrence to do what he does best on the next play to stop the threat and perhaps save the game. The Texans had three additional blockers outside the right tackle on this goal-line play and Lawrence is such a quick force of nature that he shot the gap in front of offensive lineman Charlie Heck before Heck could see what happened and tripped Burkhead for a major loss. Replays showed that if Lawrence doesn’t get there when he did, the path to a touchdown is wide open. Lawrence, like the Detroit play, absolutely made a play that saved the game. Lawrence does so much more than rush the passer.
Fourth-and-goal. A field goal does nobody any good here. If you want to beat the Cowboys in Dallas, you roll the dice and go for it. The Texans kept their offense on the field and Jeff Driskel wanted to run an option with Burkhead to the sideline. Trouble is, it appeared he turned the wrong direction which is right on brand for the 2022 Houston Texans. At this point, Watkins again has burst through the line and is in Driskel’s lap. Driskel saw that Burkhead went hard right as he turned left. Also, if he had a moment, Donovan Wilson is right on the pitch, so that wasn’t going to work. Instead, Driskel turned back in the proper direction, but it was way too late. Lawrence was outside him. Anthony Barr was in full pursuit and Neville Gallimore got in on the fun and made the stop.
A true goal-line stand took the 90 percent win probability and refused to give in. Dallas trailing 30-20 means it is time to get ahead of traffic. But 23-20? Now, this offense can go for a win if it can go 98 yards without a mistake (anything but a given on this mistake-filled afternoon).
https://theathletic.com/3992339/2022/12/11/dallas-cowboys-win-texans/
As the Cowboys offense watched all of this, it was hoping for one more opportunity to make things right. This is the very essence of football where there are weeks when you win a laugher, but sometimes the most satisfying victories are the ones that come after a stubborn day finally yields the “one more play” that allows you to get an ugly, hard-fought victory. That is where you can learn something about yourself. The Cowboys played with a sloppy disposition and perhaps were not as fired up as they should have been to play a one-win team at noon with a crowd expecting another 50-point effort. Why is this weakling not giving in? Why are they fighting back after we saw them look miserable all week on film as America told us we would destroy them?
Did the Cowboys eat the cheese? There is no doubt about it.
Did they still have time to rescue a win from the jaws of defeat? Absolutely.
These are the practice-field challenges that coaches offer in training camp. Coach puts the ball down at the 2-yard line and says, you are down with 3:20 to play. You must go 98 yards for a victory. Go get it done. How you got to this point in the game matters, but right now it does not. You either convert this drive or you wear a loss for all the football world to mock.
Let’s find out. This is also the precise moment that people in this self-loathing fan base won’t discuss. They will tell you that their QB is not good enough and that he doesn’t make plays when it matters. They will also say this one doesn’t count because the opponent or the point spread or whatever contortion they need to confirm their priors.
But, let’s call this what it is — a time for Prescott to show you why he is who he is.
First, he feathered a ball to Schultz running down the seam for 21 yards from his own end zone. This jump-started the drive and the stadium. Then, inside 3 minutes, he scrambled for 9 and stopped the clock. A quick hook to Schultz turned into 13 more and the Cowboys were in business. Right before the two-minute warning, Ezekiel Elliott pushed the ball into Houston territory with a 6-yard run.
Not there yet, but half the job was done. At the same time, there had been too many mistakes in this game to relax until the lead is taken and the clock has expired. Plenty of work to be done.
Second-and-4: CeeDee Lamb caught a short pass and was the recipient of yet another big Houston collision. They were determined to let Dallas know they were there all day long and it had quite an effect.
On third-and-1, Fox showed us what was coming up in the next game, and Prescott kept it for a quick six yards and new set of downs.
With 1:21 to go, Prescott needed a big chunk and put one of his best throws of the day out for Noah Brown to go get it on a deep corner route. It was an 18-yard pass right on the money, but Brown had to secure a tough catch as he was being hit hard. He does so easily and now the Cowboys are on the edge of the red zone. Full credit for Brown making a play that he isn’t always asked to make. But, again, desperate times.
Prescott was feeling it. He made two fantastic throws on this drive alone and was ready to make a third. Earlier in first half, he hit Schultz in the hands in the end zone but the ball was dropped on contact. The route was there and the throw was there, so the Cowboys decided to run it back with the game on the line. And this time, it worked very well. Prescott repeated the throw and this time Schultz secured the catch while taking another hit. This job isn’t easy, but this time the franchise tag recipient added 18 yards to the ledger and now the drive that started at the Dallas 2 is to the Houston 4. The Cowboys had 55 seconds left, so they wanted to make sure they left Houston very little response time, if possible.
Dak Prescott (Kevin Jairaj / USA Today)
Elliott for two yards on first-and-goal. On second-and-goal, Prescott had time to wait for something to flash open and he put a pass on Michael Gallup that looked like the game-winning touchdown. But, the collision jarred the ball loose and the call seemed just.
But, on third down with 44 seconds to play, the 98-yard march to victory is completed. Elliott followed the offensive line into the end zone and at this point, those boys were not going to be blocked. Touchdown.
As you know by now, there was a lot about this game that was not great. A lot of reasons to complain and be concerned.
From my standpoint, I have a long-honored tradition of pointing out that there are 365 days in a year and a successful NFL season is usually something that gets double-digit wins. It is a coincidence that Sunday, the Cowboys moved to their 10th win (10-3), but stay with me.
If you have 10 wins in a successful season and there are 365 days in a year, there is an extremely rare victory to be had. Now, if we allow ourselves to be angry because half of them were closer than we expected (Detroit, Houston, etc.), then we are only truly pleased about five times a year. The unqualified joy of a win without reservation.
Sorry, it doesn’t work that way. The opponent pays its players, too, and Houston was fired up to play the Cowboys and wanted a win.
This Cowboys team is very good. That doesn’t mean it was very good Sunday. It means the Cowboys were in a deep hole at 2:44 p.m. and figured it out. Many men made plays after 2:44 and came together to get a win. As I have said a million times, you don’t apologize for wins in the NFL. They are too rare, too difficult and require too many bruises to not enjoy.
At the end of the season they don’t ask “How?”, they ask “How many?” As in, how many wins do you have? Dallas still has a chance at 14 and if it even gets close to that number, it is a legitimate threat to win the Super Bowl.
So yes, I agree. Lots to clean up and many injuries. But, I hope you agree that the clutch play of the defense on that goal-line stand and then the clutch play of that offense to drive 98 yards is what football is all about.
That, my friends, is a good win. Because any win in this league is a good win.
Smile. The Cowboys are 10-3.
