The Cowboys got past the Texans on Sunday, but the way they did it left Dallas with a few real questions still hanging in the air. A 16-6 halftime hole had plenty of people uneasy before the comeback finally took shape, and even with the win in hand, the conversation now shifts to what comes next.
The first issue sits on the coaching side, and it keeps circling back to Nick Sorensen. Brian Schottenheimer’s special teams unit has now been burned again, this time by another blocked field goal and a big return allowed after a kickoff. That kind of breakdown is becoming hard to ignore, especially because it looked familiar last season too, when Dallas saw a clear drop in returns and return coverage after moving from John Fassel to Sorensen.
Sorensen is also the one clear “Schottenheimer guy” on the staff. The two worked together in Seattle from 2018-2020 and then again in Jacksonville in 2021. The Cowboys already made one coaching change when the Jones family acknowledged the mistake with Matt Eberflus and moved on after one bad season, but Sorensen was kept on for 2026.
There are still pieces of special teams that look stable no matter what Sorensen is doing. Brandon Aubrey, Bryan Anger, and Trent Sieg continue to operate like a clean, dependable trio.
Even so, Aubrey has been a little shakier since Sorensen arrived than he was in his early seasons. A midseason change would never be easy, so Sorensen could easily survive to the end of the year even if the results stay rough.
But if this keeps going and he remains in place, it would start to chip away at Schottenheimer’s credibility with both players and coaches.
The defensive line also gave Dallas something to think about in Houston, but for a much better reason. Quinnen Williams finally looked like the player the Cowboys traded for, and then some.
He was credited with four tackles, a sack, and two tackles for loss, and he was a force when the game tightened up. After Otito Ogbonnia was singled out last week as the team’s best defensive tackle so far in 2026, Williams answered with a much louder performance.
The bigger question is whether that was a one-game spike or the start of something more consistent. For a player with a Pro Bowl résumé, that sounds odd, but Williams has opened this season slowly after a flat finish in 2025. His Cowboys debut after the trade, a sensational Week 11 showing, was followed by a year in which he never picked up another sack and rarely changed games.
Last season’s struggles were easy to blame on the Matt Eberflus effect. That excuse no longer carries the same weight, though, because there’s a new coordinator and a new scheme in place now. It’s also a setup that has helped Jalen Carter become a household name at defensive tackle, the same kind of spotlight Williams had with the Jets.
If Dallas is going to feel good about the trade package and the extension it handed him, Williams has to keep showing up as the best defender on the field every week.
On offense, the next swing factor may be Tyler Smith’s return. He’s due back soon and could even be available Thursday night against the Buccaneers, which makes the conversation pretty simple: how much better does the whole operation look when Smith replaces T.J. Bass?
Bass has at least held up without becoming a major problem, but the run game has not looked nearly as steady. Dallas averaged 4.6 yards per carry in 2025. This season, that number has fallen to 3.8, and opposing defenses have had too easy a time slowing the backs down despite all the passing-game talent around them.
If Smith brings the line back to full strength, the ripple effects could be significant. A stronger run game would help the play-action package, which worked so well for Dallas last year.
It would also help the Cowboys control the game more methodically, shorten drives, and give the defense more breathing room. And if the ground attack improves, red zone production should follow, which is badly needed.
So the Cowboys leave Sunday with a win, but not without a fresh set of questions. Sorensen, Williams, and Smith all sit at the center of what happens next.
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