The availability picture mostly went the way the week suggested. Collins played and scored. Jadeveon Clowney, questionable for most of the week, was active. Will Anderson Jr. went too. Dallas was missing the bodies the preview listed: Cobie Durant, DeMarvion Overshown and Ajani Cornelius were inactive, and P.J. Locke and Jalen Thompson are on IR. Joey Porter Jr. was active for his 2026 debut. Houston closed as a short home favorite, a little shorter than where it opened the week.
Then came the second half, and it was a different game. Dallas scored 14 in the third quarter and 14 more in the fourth. Houston answered with a touchdown in each, so the Texans led 23-20 going into the fourth, but they couldn't stop the Cowboys late. Over the final 2 quarters it was 28-14 Dallas, the kind of split the preview had in mind when it said the Cowboys had the better offense right now.
The Houston offense the preview worried about was not the problem. Thirty points is the Texans' best output since they scored 31 on Buffalo in the opener, and Stroud got the deep target the Colts loss was missing. The problem was the defense, which started Wade Woodaz in Azeez Al-Shaair's spot at linebacker and gave up 4 second-half touchdowns. Individual lines for Lamb, Pickens, Javonte Williams and the Woodaz-led front weren't broken out in time for this recap. The scoring says enough: a defense that held Cincinnati to 20 and Indianapolis to 19 had nothing for Dallas once the Cowboys got going.
Dallas gets to 2-2, and its last 3 games have now finished 37-20, 31-34 and 34-30. The offense is real. The secondary is still a problem. Missing Durant, Locke and Thompson, Dallas gave up 30 to a team that had scored 23 total in its previous 2 games. Tyler Smith could come back from IR for the Tampa Bay game, which helps the line, but the back end will decide how far this team goes.
Houston is 0-4. Its last 3 losses came by 14, 2 and 4 points, and this one is the worst of the bunch: at home, ahead by 10 at the half, with its best receiver back. The offense finally showed up and the defense collapsed. Every week it's a different unit failing, and that's how a team ends up 0-4.