The battle for the Lone Star State up at AT&T Stadium, the palace that Jerry built, ended with a thrilling overtime game that saw the Texans fall to the Cowboys 20-17 on a 47 yard FG from Cowboys kicker Dan Bailey. Bailey had missed a 53 yard kick at the end of regulation, so he redeemed himself with the winning FG after the Cowboys set him up following an unbelievable Dez Bryant catch.
The Texans hung in most of the game by playing strong defense against Tony Romo & company. The Texans offense sputtered for a good portion of the game, but putting 10 points on the board late in regulation gave them an opportunity to win. The Cowboys heroics in OT dropped the Texans to 3-2, setting up a winner take all game for 1st place in the AFC vs. the Indianapolis Colts this Thursday.
Now to the weekly assessment of six notable topics from the Texans game dubbed the “Pick Six” …
The defense is making the “bend don’t break” mantra fashionable again
The Texans’ defense allowed some yardage to pile up against them today, but Romeo Crennel’s unit got some key stops on 3rd down & created turnovers to hold a high-octane Cowboys team that scored 38 points against the Saints to just 
17 points in regulation. Yet again, the Texans found a way to take the ball away when an opposing team was driving to the end zone. Kendrick Lewis caused a fumble on DeMarco Murray that Justin Tuggle recovered in the red zone in the 1st quarter, and then Lewis also picked off a pass at the beginning of the 4th quarter when the Cowboys were deep in Texans’ territory. Unfortunately, the Texans weren’t able to get any points off the turnovers on offense, which ultimately cost them with the close loss. Still, it is a marked improvement to see a defense that was plagued last year by an inability to cause turnovers flip it around in 2014.
Arian Foster rebounds by lifting up the running game
A week after picking up only 6 yards on 8 carries in arguably the worst game of his career, there were doubts about Arian Foster’s health & productivity after the hamstring 
injury. He erased those doubts vs. the Cowboys, scoring 2 TDs & rushing for 157 yards on 23 carries. For a team that is struggling to get going on offense, seeing a confident Arian Foster running well & breaking through holes created by the offensive line was a good sign. He is an important part of the offense, & keeping him healthy as the season goes on is tantamount.
The offense is creaking along & needs to rev it up
The Texans’ offense was pretty much non-existent in the 1st half putting a goose egg up on the scoreboard. The Texans had 4 possessions that ended in punts & another in an interception by the Cowboys’ Orlando Scandrick. Ryan Fitzpatrick had a string 
of completions in the second half & some gritty scoring drives in the 4th quarter to finish the game 16 of 25 with 154 yards, and the OL played better, keeping Fitzpatrick from being sacked & opening up some holes for the running game.
However, the offense has a way to go. The Texans do not want to put Ryan Fitzpatrick in situations where he has to carry the team, but they were in 3rd & long way too often, only converting four times in 13 3rd down attempts, enabling Cowboys defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli to have too much leeway in his schemes.
Running the ball with Arian Foster against the Cowboys defense was a good strategy & accounted for almost half of the total 330 yard output, but the Texans still needed to mix it up more & throw the ball deep to keep defenses honest. Bill O’Brien said after the game to the media, “We’ve got to call better plays.” That was the understatement of the day.
Clock management is very Kubiak-esque
Former coach Gary Kubiak was much maligned for the way he managed the clock at the end of halves. The Texans almost had a similar situation under head coach Bill O’Brien down 10 late in the fourth, huddling up & taking their time 
in a critical drive that ended up in a Randy Bullock field goal at 2:27 in the 4th quarter.
The Texans still had all 3 of their timeouts & managed to get a defensive stop, aided by a Cowboys delay of game after a timeout, to get the ball back with 1:59 left in the game. The Texans drove down & scored, but if the Cowboys hadn’t been put in 2nd & long after the penalty, then it could have been much easier for them to convert the 1st down & ice the game. It managed to work out for Bill O’Brien this time, but clock management & when he utilizes the hurry up offense will be worth monitoring in the future.
The secondary stepped it up in teammates’ absence
The day started out with the news that cornerbacks AJ Bouye & Darryl Morris would be inactive, limiting the depth in the secondary. Safety Kendrick Lewis had a couple of really big turnovers that stopped Cowboys drives & kept the Texans in the game. Rookie cornerback Andre Hal got some valuable experience & showed flashes of his talent 
with the breakup of a Tony Romo throw to Terrence Williams at the end of the 1st half, even if he was later burned by Dez Bryant for a TD with what he thought was offensive interference.
Kareem Jackson & Johnathan Joseph combined for a team high 18 tackles, despite both getting roughed up with injuries in the game. Joseph even had Dez Bryant covered about as well as possible on the throw from Tony Romo in OT, but fell victim to Bryant’s acrobatic 37 yard catch. The Texans’ secondary might not be perfect, but they showed a lot of fortitude to play well on a day when there was not much of a pass rush aiding them.
Time to see if a very physical overtime game will have an effect in a short week
The Texans do not have much time to dwell on the loss to the Cowboys, & must heal up quickly for the big AFC South matchup with the Indianapolis Colts on Thursday. Arian Foster & Andre Johnson were both gametime decisions due to 
lingering injuries, and now they have to turn around & get ready for a huge divisional matchup on short rest.
J.J. Watt was also battling a thigh injury, but still was his hard-working self through the double teams & will be expected to suit up against the Colts.
Kareem Jackson, Johnathan Joseph & others will be watched closely, as the Texans do not have much time before the Thursday game. The saving grace is the game is at home, as home teams generally have the advantage with the short week. The Texans can rest up after the game, when they get 11 days before a Monday Night Football matchup with the Steelers.
-R.G. Seal
