Texans look to hand Cowboys a home loss.
Aug 29, 2013; Arlington, TX, USA; Dallas Cowboys receiver Cole Beasley (11) during the second half against the Houston Texans at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
It certainly has been a busy week for your Texans as they shower accolades on their hundred million dollar under paid defensive lineman J.J. Watt. AFC Defensive Player of the Week? Check. AFC Defensive Player of the Month? Check. Yet for all the good accolades there was some bad news. Watt has missed Wednesday and Thursday with an undisclosed thigh injury. No official word on Watt’s injury or if he’ll miss Sunday but signs point to him playing right now. It’s a big game as the Texans look to hand Cowboys a home loss before racing home to prepare for the Luck lead Colts.
The Texans have a very physical next seven days. A puddle jumper up to Dallas and then home again to get ready for the Thursday night match up. It’s entirely possible the Texans are being very cautious and letting any player with more then bumps and bruises take some time down. Unfortunately Jadeveon Clowney will not be making the trip to Indy but the Pittsburgh game is 11 days later, he might just make it back by then.
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Looking ahead to the Dallas game, the Texans have been focusing like a laser on the Dallas stud running back DeMarco Murray. Much like the Texans the first key to victory is to shut down the run game, if you can do that you force the quarterback to win it for you. While Tony Romo is a better quarterback then Ryan Fitzpatrick the Texans like their odds forcing Romo to throw over letting Murray eat them up on the ground.
To that end, 14 year veteran Ryan Pickett will be anchor the nose tackle slot and trying his best moving mass impression while the rest of the defensive front seven will look for openings created when the Cowboys focus on J.J. Watt. The last thing Jerry Jones wants to see is Tony Romo flattened by J.J. Watt all afternoon.
Unlike most interstate rivalries around the league, Houston and Dallas have a serious fan base rivalry. This will be the fourth meeting of the two teams. Houston was the first expansion team in 41 years to win it’s debut game, and yes the NFL made sure that game was against the Cowboys. Dallas has the lead right now with 2 wins and 1 loss. Expect the stadium to be rocking especially if the game is close and goes down to the wild. The Texans and Cowboys go into this meeting both at 3-1 and for both teams this is a very important game. For the Texans they need to keep their one game AFC South lead over the Colts. Dallas well, Jerry Jones doesn’t approve of losing to the Texans. In his view the Lone Star State is his, here’s hoping the Texans remind him there is a better team round these parts.