Dallas Cowboys vs Houston Texans: Know Thy Enemy

The Dallas Cowboys, fresh off their Sunday night win against the Indianapolis Colts, will look to continue their winning ways against another AFC South opponent, the Houston Texans.

Last week the Cowboys opened as 11-point favorites against the Colts, and this week they are opening as 16.5-point favorites against the Texans in the battle for bragging rights in the Lone Star State. After the way the Cowboys played against the Colts and how they’ve looked the last few weeks, it’s easy to see why they’ve opened as such a significant favorite.

This is football, and I’ll say it again: On any given Sunday in the NFL, anything is possible, and the Texans aren’t going to just roll over for the Cowboys in their matchup. The Cowboys need to continue to treat every game as if it’s a playoff game if they want to be in a position to catch the Philadelphia Eagles (if Philly were to drop a game).

So let’s get into this week’s game against the Texans and see what they will want to do against the Cowboys, as well as examine how Dallas can beat the Texans in this week’s “Know Thy Enemy”.

Cowboys vs. Texans: Week 14 Know Thy Enemy

Houston Texans at a Glance

Overall record vs Cowboys: 2-3

2022 Record: 1-10-1

2022 Offensive Ranking: 31st out of 32 teams

2022 Defensive Ranking: 23rd out of 32 teams

Current Injury List: RB Rex Burkhead (concussion), WR Brandin Cooks (calf), CB Derek Stingley Jr. (hamstring), C Justin Britt (NFI), LB Kevin Pierre-Louis (groin), S Grayland Arnold (quad), S Kolby Harvell-Peel (hamstring), LB Jonathan Greenard (calf), FB Troy Hairston (ribs)

Most Notable Offensive Players: RB Dameon Pierce, WR Brandin Cooks, RB Rex Burkhead, WR Nico Collins, TE Jordan Akins

Most Notable Defensive Players: CB Derek Stingley Jr., DE Jerry Hughes, S Desmond King, LB Christian Kirksey

What We’ve Seen from Texans and Possible Offensive Gameplan Against Cowboys

Points Per Game: 15.7

Passing Yards Per Game: 191.4

Rushing Yards Per Game: 87.9

Total Yards Per Game: 279.3

Third Down Conversion Percentage: 26.5%

Red Zone Conversion Percentage: 42.4%

Texans Offensive Strategy vs Cowboys

The unfortunate fact for this Houston Texans offense is that they are going up against arguably one of the best defensive fronts in the NFL, and their offensive line has had issues protecting the quarterback, giving up 33 sacks on the season.

That calculates out to the opposing team generating pressure on 20.45% of their quarterback dropbacks. To counter this, the Texans try to deploy a run-first offense, with Dameon Pierce and Rex Burkhead ready to help take pressure off their offensive line and quarterbacks.

Look for the Texans to try and do this again against Dallas in order to try and keep the Cowboys’ pass rush at bay.

It will be tough depending on the personnel they will have available in this game, with Brandin Cooks and Burkhead both dealing with injuries and starting center Justin Britt’s status up in the air right now. The Cowboys do still have issues stopping the run at times, so we shall see.

Cowboys Defensive Strategy vs Texans

For the Cowboys on defense, they are going to need to make sure that they are able to stop the run. More importantly, though, they must make sure they are doing a better job of defending the middle of the football field against the Texans.

Neither quarterback for the Texans really scares you with their arm strength, so instead they typically target the middle of the football field, going off the play-action set up by their running game. Wide receivers Brandin Cooks and Nico Collins, along with tight end Jordan Akins, are good at finding soft spots in zone coverage, allowing them to dink and dunk down the field.

If the Cowboys really want to shut down this Texans offense, they are going to need to take away those easy throws for these quarterbacks. Do that, and the Dallas pass rush with Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence will dominate this game from start to finish.

What We’ve Seen from Texans and Possible Defensive Gameplan Against Cowboys

Opponents’ Points Per Game: 23.9

Opponents’ Passing Yards Per Game: 209.2

Opponents’ Rushing Yards Per Game: 169.1

Opponents’ Total Yards Per Game: 378.3

Opponents’ Third Down Conversion Percentage: 32.8%

Opponents’ Red Zone Conversion Percentage: 51.3%

Texans Defensive Strategy vs Cowboys

The Texans’ defense has been beaten and battered throughout the season thanks to their offense’s inability to put points on the scoreboard. They have a young secondary and a veteran pass rusher in Jerry Hughes, who continues to get pressure off the edge, but … that’s pretty much it. Teams have been able to run all over this defense, which is currently giving up 4.9 yards per carry and 169 yards per game. When they aren’t able to stop the run, quarterbacks are hitting them for big plays in the passing game completing 61% of their passes thus far.

If the Texans want to have any chance of stopping or even slowing down this explosive Cowboys offense, then they are going to need to stop Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard, which is going to be tough to do. They’ve also had problems with mobile quarterbacks, and Dak Prescott could use that to his advantage and buy time for his receivers to get open for deep shots downfield. The Houston defense is caught between a rock and a hard place this week, and I don’t really see how they will be able to slow down Dallas.

Cowboys Offensive Strategy vs Texans

It’s simple. Run the football against a Texans team giving up a league-worst 169 yards on the ground per game on average. I was amazed that the Cleveland Browns decided they wanted to throw the football early in the game against the Texans last Sunday. They eventually came to their senses and ran the football, ending the day with 174 yards on 38 carries. Dallas shouldn’t need to figure that out this week, and instead must focus their initial game plan around feeding Elliott and Pollard the football as much as possible in this game.

The Texans have proven that they aren’t able to stop the run, so why break from what has worked for every other team they’ve faced this season? The running game will open up the passing game, and CeeDee Lamb and company will have opportunities to make plays, but the Cowboys aren’t going to need to force the issue and have Prescott throw the football all game.

At most, Prescott should only need to throw the football on 25 plays on Sunday. Run the football and win the game, Kellen Moore.

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