Houston Texans Daily Roundup: A 2nd straight win; defeat Dallas Cowboys

The Houston Texans defeated the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football, putting them just one game out of the top spot of the AFC South standings.

The Houston Texans defense kept holding the offense of the Dallas Cowboys to field goals for the most part on Sunday Night Football. Though Deshaun Watson and DeAndre Hopkins battled strong for the offense, it still wasn’t the most finely played game the Texans were good enough to win their second straight game and not only that gaining their second straight win in overtime.

In the 19-16 overtime win over the Cowboys the Texans not only moved to 2-3 overall. They are now just one game back in the AFC South standings as the other three teams in the division all lost in Week 5, with the Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars each having a record of 3-2 and the Indianapolis Colts at 1-4.

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J.J. Watt also had a good game for the Texans having a timely sack that brought the momentum to the Texans. Kareem Jackson and Justin Reid each had an interception for Houston as well, stopping potential scoring drives by the Cowboys.

The top player of the game was Hopkins as he finished with nine receptions for 151 yards, averaging 16.8 yards per reception. He also had the play of the game with a 49-yard reception in overtime that set up the game-winning field goal by Ka’imi Fairbairn.

It was a winning night for the Texans and here are headlines from that victory.

• Jon Machota of The Dallas Morning News gave five thoughts on the Week 5 Cowboys at Texans game, including giving praise to Hopkins.

"“Hopkins made the big plays when Houston needed them most. That was the difference in the game.”"

Hopkins stole the show and played a great game on Sunday night. He made an even bigger name for himself by playing at the high level he did in front of a national audience. If Hopkins can keep having games close to what he did against the Cowboys (excluding the one fumble) the Texans will continue to gain wins because the defense is playing much better as well.

• Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle wrote about how the Texans defense “bottled up” Cowboys running back, writing the following following the Texans’ win.

"“Elliott was stonewalled effectively by a resurgent defense.”"

With the Texans keeping Elliott to a total of 54 yards rushing on 20 carries, a 2.7 yards per carry average is a huge feat for the Texans’ defense. If they can do that against a player with the big-play abilities of Elliott, they should be able to keep the opposing running back in check for most game from here on out, at least that should be the expectation from here on out.

This was possibly the best defensive effort by the Texans up to this point of the season, as they were all over the field, brought pressure on the quarterback and kept Elliott to under 60 yards rushing. What a game for the defense of the Texans in Week 5.

• Sarah Barshop of ESPN.com brought up a good point following the victory and that was the Texans’ struggles in the red zone as Barshop wrote:

"“They were 1-of-6 in the red zone, including a failed fourth-down conversion at the end of the second quarter.”"

That last drive right before the half was a strange play call indeed. Instead of taking the “mostly guaranteed” points with a short field goal attempt, the Texans were aggressive and went for all the points on fourth down. The play was blown up and no points were scored. The play call wasn’t the best call either and it looked like a mess from the start.

Houston is terrible in the red zone this season and that part of the offense might needs the most improvement with the play in the red zone and the play calling as well.

• Tweet of the Day

The Texans should be very thankful they have Hopkins on the roster because he’s a game changer and one of the top players in the league and not just at wide receiver.

This was a huge win for Houston and the 0-3 start to the season seems to be getting a little further in the rear view mirror.