- 21 hours ago
Zach & Bryan react to the Cowboys thrilling 34-30 win over the Texans.
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00:00A historic performance from C.D. Lamb as he goes for 17, including the game winner as the Cowboys rally
00:10to beat the Houston Texans 34-30 in what was an unbelievable second half.
00:1628 offensive touchdowns. Cowboys 4-4 in the red zone as they improved at 2-2 and they certainly have
00:25made last week and put that behind them.
00:27A big victory putting the Houston Texans now to 0-4, 0-3 at home as well for Houston.
00:33Zach Wolchuk alongside the Super Bowl winning scout Brian Broaddus in the Pepsi postgame show brought to you by Pepsi.
00:38Football's back. Tailgating deserves Pepsi and AT&T. Connecting changes everything.
00:44877-881-1053, the number to call, the number to text as always, 877-881-1053.
00:51Wow, the Cowboys came out. Score immediately. Four plays, 49 yards, 205. They hit the big play to George Pickens.
00:59Javante Williams has a hat trick with three touchdowns today. Houston would respond with a touchdown of their own.
01:05The Cowboys then get another touchdown. This was a one-yard rushing touchdown from Javante Williams.
01:11And the defense then getting some big stops. They forced a three and out.
01:15Cowboys were able to score to go up 27-23 on a 14-play drive that ended in, yep, you
01:21guessed it, another Javante Williams touchdown.
01:24Defense forces again a three and out. And Brian, you and I were looking at each other.
01:28Okay, it's 27-23. There's 840 left. Now's your chance. Just go ahead, bleed clock, go down the field.
01:35You've got a chance to just win this thing. They're not able to do so.
01:38They go three and out. Houston gets the ball. They go nine plays, 87 yards with four and a half.
01:45And they go on top with a Woody Marks six-yard touchdown run and make it Houston with the lead
01:52there.
01:5334-30, or excuse me, 30-27. Dallas then 11 plays. 74 yards in a minute 43.
02:00Converting on a fourth and four. A seven-yard strike to Jake Ferguson.
02:04C.D. Lamb continued to be the hero on that drive and eventually rewarded with the 12-yard touchdown.
02:11And then on the Hail Mary at the end. Goodness gracious.
02:14So many back-and-forth moments. So many key plays.
02:18Brian, your takeaways from this one.
02:21Yeah, it was. We even talked about it in the lead-up to this game and into the pregame show
02:28was that all these games are going to kind of be this way until they figure out things defensively.
02:32And there's still things that they absolutely need to work on.
02:35But there's some tip-of-the-hat moments, too, defensively as well.
02:39But, yeah, you just felt like, though, when they got the ball, it was – and I tweeted about this.
02:43I said, man, I just hope we don't have a playback of what happened last week.
02:49You know, it was just a terrible three and out.
02:51You kind of felt like that Dallas was moving the ball in the second half well
02:55and that they were going to be able to take that ball, at least take some time off the clock,
03:00get into field goal range, you know, get some points out of it.
03:03But they go three and out, and they put the defense back out there.
03:05And, you know, luckily this time around, Dak Prescott and them, you know,
03:10instead of thinking about tying the game, I think that pass along the sidelines,
03:15the pickings, you know, on the slug-o, the slant-go.
03:18I think that right there, when they got that – when they hit that play,
03:23then it turned into let's go win this game.
03:26You know, and I'm very happy the way that it ended up with Brian Schottenheimer.
03:31I was a little skeptical about what would happen in that previous drive.
03:35But the last drive, I think him, Dak, CD, the offensive line, you know,
03:40great job all around, you know, giving Dak enough time to make some of those throws.
03:45Unbelievable.
03:45And CD, 17 on 21 targets today, 17 catches.
03:50Of course, that's a new career high for him.
03:52That's the second most in a single game since 2016.
03:55Per Ben Solak of ESPN, that's the most by any player in a game since Keenan Allen in 2023.
04:02Amazing.
04:02He has the go-ahead touchdown with 40 seconds left.
04:05I mean, CD was unguardable.
04:06But George Pickens, when you needed it, I mean, on that first drive out of half,
04:10that big play, and then you mentioned the slug-o,
04:12he certainly had his fingerprints on this.
04:14And how about Javante Williams?
04:1619 touchdowns now in 20 games with the Cowboys.
04:20And three today.
04:21And the beauty of it, four for four in the red zone.
04:24I mean, there were certainly some moments where we're watching it,
04:27and we're thinking to ourselves and questioning, like, ooh, what are they doing here?
04:30What was that?
04:31But they found a way to execute a lot of situational football.
04:35And I thought, I didn't love the way that they kicked the 65-yarder going into the half.
04:41That was one that I thought, ooh, you might want that back.
04:43But they found a way to get it done.
04:45Javante Williams now.
04:47Five rushing touchdowns.
04:48Two receiving touchdowns in 2026.
04:51He's the first Cowboy to have seven total touchdowns in the first four games of a season,
04:56since Emmitt did it, with nine in 1995.
05:01So, tremendous effort.
05:02And the Joey Porter Jr. impact, I think, immediately felt.
05:06Yeah.
05:07As he's not targeted, gave up no catches in this game.
05:11The problem is now, teams are going to be going up against Deron Bland,
05:14and Deron Bland certainly did give up some big plays today.
05:17Yeah, and if you go back and look, the way the metrics say that Collins played five snaps against Porter,
05:24no targets at all, as you mentioned there.
05:28But, you know, is how he played Porter, just his presence on the field,
05:33allowed Dallas with some more blitzing stuff.
05:35I'll tell you what, tip of the cap, about Reedy Stewart and the way that he played today,
05:40and playing in the nickel, you know,
05:42and I know there was probably a couple of plays along the way that you absolutely like to have back.
05:47But overall, though, with just this unit having so many problems, you know,
05:52with injuries and all, and guys stepping up,
05:54but Porter out there making plays, Reedy Stewart, Hooker,
05:58I know I've been very critical of Hooker, you know, the plays that he was able to make.
06:02You know, they really were able to piece some things together,
06:05and really good job of guys, you know, like with guys like Williams.
06:10We talked about with Quinn and Williams what he was going to have to do in this game.
06:13A couple different times there, 18 snaps against Rutledge, the rookie guard.
06:19You know, beat him up pretty good in those 18 snaps, got a couple pressures,
06:23got a sack out of that, and Gary as well.
06:27So, yeah, you know, overall, though, defensively, yeah,
06:31it wasn't pretty there at the very end to give up the touchdown the way it is.
06:34But overall, though, they did enough to keep them in the game,
06:40which allowed the offense, and you and I talked about it, second-half adjustments,
06:44you know, max this thing up, throw the ball down the field, you know,
06:47move Seedy around a little bit, try and get some things open up there,
06:51and lo and behold, it got it done.
06:53Well, and credit to Dak, because certainly, you know, the offensive line,
06:57and you knew that, when you're going up against Houston,
06:59that's arguably the best pass-rushing duo in football.
07:02But Dak, 20 for 25 for 248 yards in the second half.
07:07That's after 12 of 20 for 76 in the first half.
07:10Yeah, it really, you would think that, and Dallas ran the ball well enough today.
07:15They did.
07:15I mean, it was encouraging.
07:16I mean, you kind of thought with that, with the drive that they, you know,
07:20the second-to-last drive again, that maybe they would get the running game going,
07:23and stuff, and be able to kill some clock.
07:25But, you know, I go back and look at it again.
07:29Steele, 21 snaps against Anderson, only three pressures there, you know.
07:33So that's encouraging.
07:35Guyton, 29 snaps, zero pressures, you know, against Hunter.
07:40So, you know, that's what you needed to have right there.
07:43You needed, when those guys were moving around, you know,
07:46we were really concerned about those two edges, and they're outstanding.
07:49I mean, they are as good as they are in the league.
07:53But they did a good enough job in the second half with the protection.
07:57Dak got hit a couple different times, but he's able to get rid of the ball.
08:01Caught a couple breaks, too.
08:02You know, throwing the ball over the top, you know, some throwaways, things like that.
08:06Oh, that one, and Petrie almost intercepts on the final drive.
08:09Well, how about the final drive when then Petrie cuts in front, you know, of last,
08:15and then that, you know, if that ball gets through, that's probably going to be picked.
08:18But it's not.
08:19It's not picked, and, you know, Dallas was able to continue the drive there.
08:23But really nice job by the line on that final drive, and, you know,
08:27great job at Dak and C.D. Pickens, everybody doing what they needed to do to get that win.
08:33And certainly, hey, it's not, and I'm sure we'll get calls and texts about it,
08:37you know, there was some bad with the defense,
08:40but they also did come up with some key three and outs,
08:42and they finally got some pressure, and blitzes from Christian Parker.
08:46I mean, a couple of massive blitzes with Barham,
08:48Rashawn Gary, I thought, played his best game as a Cowboy today.
08:51He got a sack.
08:52You mentioned the Quinton Williams sack.
08:54Some big pressures, Von Miller with the knockdown as well in the last play of the game.
08:57They really did start to put some pressure on C.J. Stroud in that second half,
09:02but you can see now with the addition of one Joey Porter Jr.,
09:06that's, and I referenced this at halftime,
09:08you know, when you have a player like that that can cover,
09:11and clearly today he proved it.
09:13He was the one guy that could keep Nico Collins off the stat sheet.
09:16You know, Houston, if they got him on a matchup with somebody else,
09:19Reddy Stewart, certainly that was difficult for him.
09:21Deron Bland, it was difficult for him.
09:22You know, as he starts to get more and more implemented into this defense,
09:26and they've got more of a plan of the communication,
09:29like the first touchdown allowed, that was one where, and we don't know.
09:33Like, we don't know what the coverage is.
09:34That is always a very, very tough thing for us when we're just watching on TV,
09:37so it could be very wrong, but, you know, I think Caleb Downs probably should have,
09:42you always need to give the help to Nico Collins' side.
09:44Right.
09:44Don't necessarily come up.
09:45Every time, yeah.
09:46Just go ahead and say, hey, Nico Collins is the guy I need to be worried about there.
09:50But all in all, I think, again, positive strides defensively,
09:55certainly not a finished product, need better in certain moments,
09:59but the way that City Lane was just not going to be denied today.
10:02An absolute, I mean, this is, we look back at, like, the Miles Austin game in Kansas City.
10:07You know, there's certainly some of those where, I mean,
10:10Dez had that big three-touchdown game, I think it was Sunday Night Football,
10:13against the Eagles.
10:14This is one we're going to look back on, the CeeDee Lamb game in Houston,
10:18where with 40 seconds left, his 17th catch of the game for the go-ahead score,
10:22this was the CeeDee Lamb game.
10:24And Dak Prescott, after getting bruised and battered in the first half,
10:28and there was a moment, you and I mentioned it, like, ooh, the rush is getting to Dak a little
10:32bit.
10:32Yeah, it is, yeah.
10:33And his eyes are starting to drop from downfield, but he...
10:37At halftime, I felt like that he was a little bit,
10:40the first half I thought he was a little bit off, you know,
10:44and I'm not going to say jittery, but it was just,
10:48it didn't seem like that he was handling it very well.
10:51And in the second half, he completely flipped the switch,
10:54they started making some plays.
10:55The way that the Texans played their guys off, too, they gave them some throws.
11:00And then the downfield throws, the big plays that they were able to make down the field,
11:04those throws, the pickings, you know, all of a sudden,
11:07all it did was have to do that to kind of get Dak going again.
11:10But that first half, I felt like that the Texans had his number pretty good
11:15when it came to, you know, kind of throwing him off his game from what we normally see.
11:20How about the run defense again?
11:22I mean...
11:23Well, yeah, and you have to be happy about that,
11:25but you're also talking about a Texans team that just...
11:28They can't, yeah, they can't, they can't have their strength.
11:30They cannot run the ball.
11:31But you didn't let them.
11:32Like, we've seen this defense.
11:34No, that's the thing that you have to feel good about is that
11:37it could have been a situation that they could have said,
11:39okay, we're going to load up and just run the ball.
11:42Because, you know, we haven't done it against anybody.
11:44But, yeah, I thought they did a really, really nice job
11:47with the way that they were able to play the front
11:49with Barham and actually Winters.
11:52I'm sure we go back and watch that those, the linebackers played pretty well.
11:56And you mentioned linebackers, like we say, Gary and those guys.
11:59Tino Bonio, Overton.
12:01Yeah, Overton and those guys as well.
12:03Yeah, they held them to 62 yards on just 19 carries.
12:06And certainly the secondary is one where we'll go back and watch.
12:09But, man, a lot of emotions back and forth.
12:14The offense, they had to do it in the second half, and they did.
12:17They came up big, that final drive with the game-winning touchdown
12:21to CeeDee Lamb, 34-30.
12:24Cowboys improving to 2-2.
12:26They get the win over Houston.
12:27They've got the short week.
12:29They'll take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
12:31Who lost to Green Bay today.
12:33They did 17-14, and they've got Jalen Daniels, a quarterback.
12:36Yeah, they do.
12:36And we're watching him a little bit.
12:38You know, he had the game up, and he's going to be running around
12:40much more than what CJ Stroud did today.
12:42Yeah, absolutely.
12:43So that'll be one we'll have a short week and look ahead to that.
12:45But one that you had to have.
12:47I mean, this is what I think preseason, when you're going through
12:50and doing your win-loss.
12:51I don't think we really thought Houston, that this would be a win.
12:54No, no.
12:54It basically was Giants, Commanders, wins, and then Ravens and Houston
12:59were probably the two losses.
13:01Going into Tampa, you needed to find a way to be 2-2.
13:05It is, you are who you are right now.
13:07Unfortunately, you didn't get the job done last week.
13:11You got the job done this week, though.
13:13That's just the margins of the NFL.
13:158-1-7.
13:16They came out in the second half and ran the damn ball.
13:18Really impressed with the way the run.
13:19Even the Cowboys, statistically, I don't think it shows just how good
13:23their running game looked.
13:24I mean, when they wanted to, because they ended up having to throw the ball
13:28there late.
13:28But 19 for 62, I mean, on the stat sheet, when you look at just yards per carry,
13:33but Javante Williams and Tyler Goodson, that's a guy that probably we should see
13:38a little bit more of.
13:39I thought Tyler Goodson, you give him just a little bit of a sliver.
13:42That guy's going to hit it, and he's going to find a way to make a nice little
13:45chunk run.
13:46Certainly did with that 10-yarder today for a first round.
13:49For a first down.
13:508-1-7, a road win against an uncommon opponent is great.
13:54Second half was awesome.
13:55But man, that first half was hot garbage.
13:57You've got to start better.
13:58That's from Mike in Galveston.
13:59Yeah, they were.
14:01The metrics will tell you that it was really pretty pass-heavy today,
14:05but you were in a situation where you probably had to do that.
14:08It was about 65.8% pass, 34.2% run, which is below what the NFL averages
14:15on the run.
14:16But when they were able to run, you did get some stuff.
14:19A little bit more big-time inside zone stuff today was something.
14:24A lot more man-blocking.
14:25We saw some pullers and things like that.
14:28Booker.
14:29Hey, the one screen was really good.
14:32Exactly.
14:32I mean, we hated the screen at the end.
14:34No, that was.
14:35We hated it.
14:36But yeah, you saw today, you saw a draw, you saw a trap.
14:40There was various ways that they ran the football today.
14:43And I bet there's some elements that Clayton Adams hasn't been able to get to
14:46with Tyler Smith being out.
14:48And the hope is Tyler Smith eligible to return.
14:50Hopefully he's back in the lineup.
14:52You saw him with the team on the sideline walking around.
14:54There was a couple of shots on the broadcast that went to him.
14:57But hopefully he's back in the lineup.
14:59That'll be a big boost on Thursday night against Tampa Bay.
15:01Yeah, and if you want to look at just a little bit further,
15:04be a little bit more nerdy on the defensive side of it.
15:06Let's get nerdy.
15:07Get a little bit nerdy.
15:07I love these nerdy stats at the end of the day.
15:10Christian Parker played 30% man coverage today.
15:14I think with JPJ.
15:15Yeah, that's a little bit.
15:17That's about a 7% uptick over what you normally have, the average of the NFL.
15:23So yeah, 30.3% man, 66.7% zone.
15:30So maybe he got out of some things.
15:32Maybe once he felt comfortable with what's going on,
15:35he had his combinations of guys.
15:37He knew what he could get out of the nickel with 3D Stewart.
15:40He knew what he could get out of Porter.
15:42You know, Bland had a really rough go at it very early in the game.
15:46But things kind of stabilized for those guys.
15:48And, you know, like I say, it's unfortunate they gave up the last touchdown.
15:52But tip of the cap the way those guys played.
15:54What a game.