Week 6 Game Recap: Houston Texans 6, Dallas Cowboys 34

What you need to know

Houston Texans

The game was a defensive struggle for the first half, with the Texans ahead at halftime by a score of 6-3. The Cowboys scored 31 unanswered second half points, primarily on the strength of 3 touchdowns scored by Terrell Owens.

After leading this game at halftime, the Texans basically fell apart in the second half. QB David Carr threw two interceptions in the second half, could not generate any consistent offense, and ended up throwing for 128 yards total. Backup Sage Rosenfels replaced him in fourth quarter and went eight for 11 for 70 yards.

The Texans could only muster 34 yards total on 17 carries, with QB D Carr the leading rusher with 15 yards. The Texans’ offensive line is simply unable to generate enough of a running game to take the pressure off its QB.

NT Seth Payne tore an ACL and is likely out for the remainder of the season.

Dallas Cowboys

The Cowboys struggled through the first half, sputtering along with the constant rain that fell during the game. Suddenly in the second half they came out, got a couple of turnovers and scored 31 unanswered points to win the game.

QB Drew Bledsoe only threw for 168 yards but he also threw two touchdowns to WR Terrell Owens. Owens never got open deep, but always seemed open on crossing patterns. Owens added a third TD catch from backup QB Tony Romo at the end of the fourth quarter. The running game was very efficient, gaining 170 yards on 37 carries. RB Julius Jones ran 22 times for 106 yards and Marian Barber carried the ball ten times for 57 yards and a short TD.

The defense harassed David Carr all day long, although they never sacked him, they did pressure him constantly. And they intercepted him twice. The defensive line and LB’s both smothered the Texans RB’s, holding them to 34 total yards rushing. The score reflected the defensive dominance of the Cowboys.

What you ought to know

QB David Carr, Pass: 15 - 27 - 128 - 0 TD / 2 INT, Rush: 3 - 15 - 0

Carr was constantly under pressure the entire game, but never sacked. The Texans did not seem to run any deep routes at all in the first quarter. The lack of any running game at all put all the pressure on Carr to carry this team and he could not do it. The run game was so bad that Carr was the leading rusher in this game with 15 total yards.

RB Ron Dayne, Rush: 10 - 14 - 0, Rec: 1 - 4 - 0 (2 targets)

Dayne started the game and just could not get anything going at all; he was stopped cold all day long.

RB Samkon Gado, Rush: 4 - 5 - 0, Rec: 4 - 26 - 0 (5 targets)

Gado came on after Ron Dayne and he couldn't find any room to run. He was an efficient outlet receiver for Carr, several times catching short passes to keep a drive alive.

RB Jameel Cook

Cook is the blocking back in this offense whose primary purpose is to open holes for the RB's, pass protect and serve as a safety valve for Carr. Cook excelled at all those, but was not used as often due to Texans being behind.

WR Andre Johnson, Rec: 9 - 75 - 0 (15 targets)

Johnson is Carr's favorite target, especially on third downs. He could not get open deep all day long, in fact the Texans did not try to send him deep. They ran short crossing patterns, which Johnson caught most of, but he didn't have a chance to make any big plays.

WR Eric Moulds, Rec: 4 - 44 - 0 (4 targets)

Moulds was the guy who ran the down field patterns in this game, for the most part. He caught all passes thrown his way. He is a great compliment to Andre Johnson, he does not get targeted as often as he should be, given how others teams focus on Johnson.

WR Kevin Walter, Rec: 1 - 15 - 0 (2 targets)

Walter played quite a bit, and caught one pass on third down to keep a drive alive. He is not an integral part of this offense

TE Owen Daniels, Rec: 2 - 17 - 0 (4 targets)

Daniels showed very good speed for a man his size, scoring on a 33 yard TD strike in early fourth quarter. He has very good hands, but needs work on his blocking. Daniels is obviously ahead of Putzier on the depth chart for now.

TE Mark Bruener, Rec: 1 - 5 - 0 (1 targets)

Bruener is the starting TE, largely because he is an excellent blocker. He is an after thought in this offense, only rarely has a ball thrown his way.

TE Jeb Putzier, Rec: 1 - 12 - 0 (1 targets)

Putzier was expected to be a prime target in this offense since he came from Denver in off-season, but that has not materialized yet this season.

PK Kris Brown 2 - 2 FG, 0 - 0 XP, 6 points

Brown scored the only Texans' points with two field goals of 19 and 48 yards.

HOU Rush Defense

The Cowboys consistently found gaping holes in the Texans’ run defense, they 170 yards on 37 carries. That translated into a 35 to 25 minute differential during the game. Julius Jones ran for 106 yards, while Marian Barber ran ten times with 5.7 yards per carry average and scored a TD.

HOU Pass Defense

The Texans sacked Bledsoe early in the first quarter and bottled the Cowboys passing game up in the first half, leaving Dallas with a 6-3 halftime lead. The Cowboys scored 14 points in the third quarter and 17 more in the fourth, largely on the strength of three touchdowns by WR Terrell Owens. In the second half the Texans could not contain Owens or any other WR, effectively losing the game in short order.

QB Drew Bledsoe, Pass: 17 - 28 - 168 - 2 TD / 0 INT

Bledsoe had some pedestrian statistics, other than the one that really counts, throwing touchdowns, which he did twice to WR Terrell Owens. Bledsoe threw passes to all levels of the field, which kept the Texans guessing. He was given ample time to pick up his receivers, although he was sacked twice. For most of the game he could work through his progressions and find secondary receivers.

QB Tony Romo, Pass: 2 - 2 - 35 - 1 TD / 0 INT

Romo came on at end of fourth quarter and threw the third TD pass that Terrell Owens caught.

RB Julius Jones, Rush: 22 - 106 - 0

Jones was awesome, he ran hard inside, and he showed speed and quickness outside. He is not a big guy, he can hide behind the massive offensive line the Cowboys have and then he runs with power when he has to.

RB Marion Barber III, Rush: 10 - 57 - 1

Barber is the antithesis to Jones; Barber is the short yardage guy, the power runner. Once the Texans’ defense was softened up by Julius Jones, when Barber came in he just ran over and by the Texans defenders. He scored a TD in the third quarter on a short run.

RB Tyson Thompson, Rush: 5 - 7 - 0

He is the primary kickoff returner, but entered the game in the fourth quarter for mop up duty.

WR Patrick Crayton, Rec: 5 - 61 - 0 (6 targets)

Crayton is not a starter, but he managed to catch a lot of passes out of the slot, especially on third downs. He has good size and is a good option since most defenses will focus on Terry Glenn and Terrell Owens.

WR Terry Glenn, Rec: 5 - 47 - 0 (10 targets)

In this game Terry Glenn did not catch any deep balls, although one just was off his fingertips. Bledsoe obviously looks for him quite often, since double coverage more often than not goes to the other WR, Terrell Owens. Glenn is quick, has very good hands and has a rapport with Bledsoe, dating from their New England days.

WR Terrell Owens, Rec: 5 - 45 - 3 (6 targets)

Owens caught five of the six balls thrown to him and scored three touchdowns in this game, which will just confirm to him that he is a vital part of the Dallas’ offense.

WR Sam Hurd, Rec: 1 - 33 - 0 (1 targets)

Hurd caught his pass from QB Tony Romo at end of game, when Cowboys went down and scored their last TD. Hurd has good size and speed to go with it.

TE Jason Witten, Rec: 3 - 17 - 0 (5 targets)

Witten is mostly running short routes, not running down the seams on deep routes. One TD to him was called back via penalty.

TE Anthony Fasano (2 targets)

The Cowboys started two tight ends this game, to emphasize the running game at the beginning of the game. He committed a couple penalties early, and did not actually catch a pass during the game.

PK Mike Vanderjagt 2 - 2 FG, 4 - 4 XP, 10 points

He made a FG from 22 yards.

DAL Rush Defense

This game lived up to the Cowboys' reputation as a defense that is difficult to run against, they gave up 34 yards on 17 carries. The defense effectively took the Texans’ run game out of the equation and made them one dimensional. Once that happened they knew they could pressure David Carr, and never were close to giving up a long gainer.

DAL Pass Defense

Due to the effectiveness of the run defense, the Cowboys made the Texans offense one-dimensional, causing them to pass most of the second half. As a result, the Cowboys made two INT's- by LB Greg Ellis and DB Anthony Henry. Effectively the Cowboys’ defensive backs sat on the short routes, knowing that the Texans did not have time to attempt any long passes.