The Cowboys head into Week 4 with a simple task and a complicated backdrop: get back to .500. After Sunday’s missed opportunity to move to 2-1 and make a statement around the league, Dallas is no longer being treated like a serious contender, at least not for the moment. Now the focus shifts to Houston, where a Texans team still chasing its first win will bring urgency of its own.
That urgency is part of what makes this matchup tricky. Houston is already one of the most physical teams in football, and now it gets the added edge of desperation.
Dallas needs to meet that force head-on. A loss would not end the season, but dropping to 1-3 would put the Cowboys in a precarious spot for the rest of the year.
This has the feel of another tight one.
The injury situation on both sides only adds to the uncertainty. For Dallas, the secondary is in rough shape.
Jalen Thompson, Malik Hooker, Cobie Durant, P.J. Locke, and Shavon Revel are all either out or unavailable in some form, leaving the Cowboys scrambling for answers behind a depleted front.
If Hooker and Revel can’t play, Caelen Carson or Ameer Speed would be in line to start opposite DaRon Bland. Reddy Steward could handle the nickel if Dallas decides to move Caleb Downs to safety, while Alijah Clark offers more range than Markquese Bell.
That would leave the Cowboys with a defensive backfield that looks like this:
CB: DaRon Bland
NCB: Reddy Steward
CB: Caelen Carson
S: Caleb Downs
S: Alijah Clark
Woof.
The Texans have their own injury issues to monitor. Azeez Al-Shaair, British Brooks, and Trent Brown were among the players who did not practice Wednesday, while Will Anderson, Calen Bullock, Jadeveon Clowey, Nico Collins, Logan Hall, Jake Hansen, Ed Ingram, Dalton Schultz, and M.J.
Stewart were limited. Wade Woodaz was a full participant.
One of the biggest questions for Dallas is how Brian Schottenheimer responds after a rough Week 3. The Cowboys were undone by mistakes across all three phases against the Ravens, but Schottenheimer’s situational calls and late-game management drew the heaviest scrutiny. The list of complaints is long: abandoning Javonte Williams at the goal line after he had rushed for 36 yards on the drive, calling a shuffle pass to Jake Ferguson with CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens rolling, overcoaching Dak Prescott on the biggest play of the game with the 3rd-and-goal throwaway, playing for overtime with a depleted defense, and failing to call a squib kick with seven seconds left in regulation.
Schottenheimer called his own play-calling an "F" grade and said he deserves the criticism that followed. That kind of accountability is one thing.
Making a habit of these moments is another. Against the Texans, one more misstep in a high-leverage situation would only make the noise louder.
Then there’s the pass rush, which has yet to show up in a meaningful way. Caleb Downs owns the team’s only sack so far, and no Cowboy has reached double-digit pressures.
Quinnen Williams leads the club with eight pressures, while Donovan Ezeiruaku and Rashan Gary each have six. Ezeiruaku has been the more steady source of disruption, but finishing the play has been an issue.
Malachi Lawrence, meanwhile, has been underused; the first-round pick has only 31 pass-rush snaps, even though his 24.1 percent pass-rush win rate leads the team, according to Pro Football Focus.
This week presents a real opening. C.J.
Stroud is the least mobile quarterback Dallas has seen so far, and Houston’s offensive line is not exactly a strength. If the Cowboys can’t get home here, it raises a fair question about when they will.
And as much as this matchup is being framed through defense and coaching, that’s the larger point right now: the Cowboys’ biggest problems are not on the offensive side of the ball. That’s been the story, and it remains the story.
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