After the Houston Texans officially fell to 0-4 at the hands of a historic receiving day from wide receiver CeeDee Lamb and the Dallas Cowboys, fans and local media are now searching for any positives that they can in an otherwise bleak season.
Even though there's much blame to go around for another failure, Sunday's contest also featued glimpses of playmaking potential that hadn't been seen at all from some up until this point.
With that said, here are the six Risers and five Sliders from Sunday's Texas showdown against the Cowboys.
Six Risers and Five Sliders for the Houston Texans against the Dallas Cowboys
Risers
C.J. Stroud, quarterback
Through four weeks of NFL play, quarterback C.J. Stroud has played like one of the 10-best at his position in the entire league. For the third time in four weeks, Stroud has eclipsed over 270 passing yards, and it's now the second time this season with him having multiple touchdown passes with zero interceptions to go along with it. Unfortunately, none of those outings have resulted in a win for his team.
Even still, he torched the Cowboys' secondary for 347 passing yards, two touchdowns, zero interceptions and a 126.7 passer rating. His stock is only rising by the week.
Will Anderson Jr., defensive end
Defensive end Will Anderson Jr. continued his rampage on opposing offenses against the Cowboys this week. He had his fourth straight game of registering at least 0.5 sacks, more quarterback pressures and eve a blocked field goal attempt. There's virtually nothing he hasn't done yet for his team except for play offense, and yet his team is currently 0-4.
Like Stroud, there's only so much Anderson can do when the rest of his team infrastructure seemingly collapses around him on a weekly basis in 2026.
Nico Collins, wide receiver
In his first time back from a two-game absence (hamstring), Collins reminded the NFL world of how valuable he truly is to the Texans' offense. He exploded for 118 yards and two touchdowns on seven receptions in week four's Texas showdown. Unfortunately, it didn't amount to that highly elusive first-win that Houston has been hunting for.
Jaylin Noel, wide receiver
Second-year wide receiver Jaylin Noel played the best game of his career against the Dallas Cowboys, logging a career-high 85 receiving yards on three receptions. Even though he didn't have any touchdown receptions, Noel still established himself as a bonafide playmaker for an offense that's been desperate for anyone not named Nico Collins to step up and make a difference.
Nick Caley, offensive coordinator
In one of the best called games of his two-season career, Nick Caley managed his way through another 30-plus point shootout that ended in a close loss at the buzzer (again). To his credit, Caley didn't overcoach this time, allowing Stroud the empowerment to lead his offense up and down the field against a leaky Cowboys secondary, which resulted in another 340-plus-yard performance for Stroud, and over 390 yards of total offense (mostly passing).
Then play of the game was his gutsy decision to execute a "Hook and Ladder" lateral from tight end Dalton Schultz to running back David Montgomery in a "gotta have-it" 3rd & 14 situation with about 2:30 left in the fourth quarter to eventually take the lead back from Dallas 30-27. The audacity to make that play call, as well as his willingness to mainly stick to the passing game throughout the contest, showed that adaptability that he's been said to possess as a decision-maker.
Demeco Ryans, head coach (timeout usage in the first half)
After getting an earful about his clock management issues throughout the entire week of preparation for Dallas, Ryans responded with a savvy use of timeout allocations to close out the first half of Sunday's contest. As Dallas was marching their way down the field with under 2:00 left in the second quarter, Ryans spent all three of his timeouts in hopes of allowing his offense an opportunity to snatch an extra three points before half time.
The plan worked, as a missed field goal by Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey gave Houston premium field position, and eventually ended up with a Ka'imi Fairbairn field goal to give the Texans a 16-6 lead at the break.
Sliders
Kamari Lassiter, cornerback
The early-season struggles continue for third-year cornerback Kamari Lassiter, who was yet again targeted as one of the weaker links in Houston's secondary for a game. The best example of his disastrous coverage day could be seen on Dallas' second offensive possession to open the third quarter, where Lassiter allowed a 53-yard downfield bomb to Cowboys wide receiver George Pickens and two crushing defensive holding penalties that gifted Dallas their second touchdown in as many drives in that frame.
For a secondary defender who's been previously regarded as "the best CB2 in the NFL" in the offseason, Lassiter has played his way into the doghouse of many fans. Even worse, Lassiter is potentially playing his way out of a potentially massive payday in Houston once his contract comes due at the end of the 2027 season.
The Texans' secondary as a whole (Matt Burke, defensive coordinator)
To be completely fair to Lassiter though, it's not like the secondary as whole did any good against Dallas. No greater example exists than Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb's historic day, as the All-Pro pass catcher lit up Houston's secondary for 189 receiving yards and one touchdown on 17 receptions throughout the contest.
It didn't matter where he lined up, no Texans defensive back could contain Lamb. This then directly brings defensive coordinator Matt Burke into focus, as he is the de facto defensive coordinator of the unit since Ryans gave up play calling duties last season. Before the match up, Houston ran zone coverage at the fourth-highest rate in the NFL at 85.7%, which has been instrumental in multiple blown coverages throughout their winless opening month.
Sunday was no different, as multiple blown assignments happened in the secondary as a result of either misplayed defensive possessions, or perceived miscommunication issues that left vast areas of the field wide open for attack. Giving up the ball game because your secondary allowed an 11-play, 74-yard touchdown drive with less than 2:00 left against the Cowboys was just a repeat performance of what's been plaguing this once-vaunted secondary in 2026.
Frank Ross, special teams coordinator
It was another tough day at the office for special teams coordinator Frank Ross on Sunday afternoon, as his unit once again hemorrhaged copious amounts of return yards to an opposing kick returner. This time, Cowboys dynamo KaVontae Turpin had his way with Ross' unit, blasting his way to 147 return yards (29.4 average), with a long of 48 yards in just the kick return department. Even though he didn't breakthrough for a touchdown scamper, Turpin's field-flipping ability was vital for Dallas' successful comeback bid in the second half.
No one has any earthly idea why Ross' unit has become one of the worst groups in the NFL all of a sudden after being one of the stalwarts of the team for several years. However, with that now being the reality, there's a decent chance that the countless blunders by his group could end up costing him his job before the bye week if things don't improve.
David Montgomery, running back
Throughout the week leading up to the match up with Dallas, David Montgomery saw his name end up in reports about Houston potentially looking to hand Woody Marks more run at the position in response to what's been an abysmal output from the ground game over the last couple of weeks. Today didn't help Montgomery, as his 2.4 yards per carry mark (compared to Marks' 3.7) had a hand in bogging down Houston's offensive possessions at different points in the game.
While he was on the receiving end of the aforementioned "Hook and Ladder" call late in the fourth quarter, it was still a gadgeted way of featuring Montgomery in an otherwise ineffective fourth appearance. With former starting back Joe Mixon also making a sudden comeback to the NFL this past week, things aren't looking good for the player that was acquired to help replace him.
DeMeco Ryans, head coach (timeout usage in the second half)
After such savvy use of his timeouts in the first half, it's a shame that Ryans' use of his timeouts at the end of the game have become a talking point after the loss. Even though his defense collapsing is the main reason why the Texans are now sitting at a catastrophic 0-4, him using all of his timeouts on Dallas' final drive—which both saved the Cowboys both their timeouts and comfortable planning opportunities as they marched down the field—ended up biting him (and the team) in the butt at the end.
Had he not called the timeouts, there's a chance that Dallas would've not only used all of theirs to stop the clock, but also would've had the pressure of having to play both Houston's defense and the the running time in the final seconds. Alas, Houston's secondary made sure that Ryans would be criticized as the head man, in one way or another.
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