The Day After the Day After: The Houston Texans claim state superiority over Dallas on Monday Night

Houston Texans v Dallas Cowboys — Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images

That’s much better. Let’s review.

The Day After the Day After…when the raw, immediate emotions from the aftermath of a game diminish into the realm of clarity and the proverbial (or literal) hangover no longer haunts the mind. With that, a review of Week 11:

This was the year to get an experienced top-tier running back. Arguably, the best free agent running back signing rests between Saquon Barkley or Derrick Henry. Right behind them, you must put Houston’s acquisition of Joe Mixon. Where would this offense be without him? 20 carries/109 yards/three TDs, to go along with two receptions for 44 yards. Mixon is the focal point of this offense. As he goes, so goes Houston. Plus, he’s brought a bit of arrogance that isn’t always great, but for a team like Houston, is not a bad thing. This season, the NFL is all about the running game, and a top-tier back is as valuable an asset as a team can possess.

Stroud in this game…was. Perhaps our views of 2023 Stroud cloud his 2024 perceptions. His Monday Night debut wasn’t horrible (23 of 34 for 257 yards, 1 INT), but it could have been so much better. In particular, he missed several easy, high-payoff throws. His first quarter interception never should have happened. He throws that even close to Collins, Houston not only converts on fourth down, but it is likely a Collins TD. He missed another open throw to Dell that would have extended a drive in the fourth quarter, when he faced little pressure. The Cowboys only sacked him once, and Stroud had more time to set and throw than he has in weeks. If the line can offer a bit more stability, it is possible that Stroud could regain his top form. If that can happen in time for the playoffs, look out.

The 2024 Cowboys, the slow-moving trainwreck you can’t look away from (and the national sports media won’t let you). Not trying to get into the whole media conspiracy about the Cowboys, but it was telling that most of the initial headlines about the game focused on the Disaster in Dallas, the FG taken off the board, the roof tile collapsing as metaphor, Jerry Jones commenting on anything, Dallas, Dallas, Dallas Only after reading the 1st paragraph or two do you get to the whole “Houston Texans, led by Joe Mixon…” Oddly enough, the main non-Houston based media source that focused more on the victor came from the BBC. Granted, there is little better sporty-ball schadenfreude out there than watching the Cowboys derp bigly yuuuggggeeee. Sure, Houston hasn’t done much to move the national discussion, but the imbalance of the Cowboys’ coverage is a bit…much.

Ref-ball…back with a vengeance. Houston opened the season with 40 penalties in their 1st four games. The six games since saw only 34 flags, which nearly halved the penalties/game rate (10.0/game to 5.6/game) Then we had Monday Night. The 1st offensive snap…an illegal receiver downfield penalty on Tunsil, negated a sweet Stroud-to-Collins WR screen TD. That set the tone for the night. Both teams logged nine accepted penalties, many of the stupid variety. No wonder by the end of the game, Aikman tried to emulate Dandy Don Meredith, singing “Turn out the lights…” and saying he wanted a drink.

Houston’s Pass Defense…solid night. Houston entered the game without Will Anderson Jr and Kamari Lassiter. With CeeDee Lamb and a desperate Cowboys team, that figured to put a lot of pressure on the rest of Houston’s players. Jeff Okudah got Texas-State-Fair fried by KaVontae Turpin on a 64-yard TD. However, the night generally went Houston’s way. Sure, they gave up 354 passing yards and allowed a QB to complete more than 50% of their passes, but that came with Cooper Rush throwing it 55 times. Throw in the five sacks, one interception (but probably could have been about four more) and the sheer [KITTEN] that Houston’s defensive front put Dallas through, and Houston got what they wanted from the defense.

FUN WITH NUMBERS:

6 – Cowboys home-losing streak AND consecutive games they’ve trailed by 20+ in their home games. If you thought the non-winning streak Houston suffered from 2021-2023 was ugly, this one is even worse. That it involves the Cowboys, who, before the Wild Card game against Green Bay, had won 16 straight at Jerry World. The losing streak is bad, but that they are getting so battered at home is unbelievable. Likely one or both of those streaks ends when Dallas hosts the New Jersey Giants on Thanksgiving.

2-3 – Houston’s final record against the NFC. By winning their first game at Jerry World, Houston snapped a three-game losing streak to the NFC. Granted, Houston lost at Minnesota, at Green Bay and Detroit, who sit at a collective 24-6 at the time of this writing. They won’t get a chance to move that to .500, unless they somehow make it to New Orleans. On a side note, the one Texans’ player who might be sad to see the NFC off the schedule is DL Tim Settle Jr. 11 of his 20 total tackles (nine of his 18 solo tackles) and four of his five total sacks came against NFC foes.

GAME BALLS

RB Joe Mixon: Enough said.

DE Danielle Hunter: You figured that the Dallas offensive line would make him the focal point of pass protection. If that was the case, Dallas did themselves no favors. Hunter logged three tackles, two sacks, two TFLs, three quarterback hits. On a lot of those plays, Dallas left the tackle one-on-one with Hunter. It went as well as you would expect.

DL Derek Barnett: In the fourth quarter, Dallas, facing 2nd-and-6 from their 40, saw Rush drop back to pass, only for Barnett to penetrate the line, getting a strip sack. The ball then bounced to a Dallas offensive lineman, who tried to run with the ball, only for Jalen Pitre to force another fumble, with Barnett scooping up the ball for the 28 yard TD return. Game effectively over.

WR Jon Metchie III: This is more for a solid overall game. He caught three passes for 33 yards, with two of those receptions moving the ball on scoring drives. He also delivered a solid, no-doubt special teams tackle on Juanyeh Thomas on a fake punt pass in the first quarter.

SHOULD BE FORCED TO WATCH ESPN FIRST TAKE ON REPEAT AS THEY TALK ABOUT THE COWBOYS AND ONLY THE COWBOYS, WHICH WILL LIKELY INVOLVE MORE STEPHEN A. SMITH THAN ANY SANE HUMAN SHOULD TOLERATE:

P Tommy Townsend: This is not for his punting (4 punts, 52.5 average, 3 inside the 20). This is for his holding. Townsend got two delay of game calls on him. One on the first PAT and one on Fairbairn’s first FG attempt. Fortunately for Houston, they converted both kicks. However, those stupid penalties cost games come January.

DL Derek Barnett: Not since J.J. Watt in 2014 can a player be a defensive stud and a special teams [KITTEN] in the same game. In the third quarter, Dallas K Brandon Aubrey hit a 64-yard FG that cut the lead to 20-13. However, on the play, Barnett got flagged for a head slap on a Dallas lineman. Post-game, people criticized Dallas for taking the FG off the board (especially since Dallas failed on a 4th-and-2 inside the Houston 8-yard line). Yet, most coaches take the possession in that situation. Like Townsend, Barnett’s blunder didn’t end up costing the team this time.

OT Tyler Guyton: Hard not to call a player out when he gives up a sack, recovers a fumble, tries to run with it, only to have it stripped from him, and the guy who beat you for the initial sack rumbles in for the game-sealing TD.

With the three straight primetime games out of the way, Houston returns to the traditional early Sunday afternoon slot when they host the Tennessee Titans. See you then.