Cowboys-Texans: 10 Things We Learned About Both Teams in Week 3

Yesterday, the Cowboys got their first victory of the season against their Texas stepchild, the Houston Texans.

The Cowboys were close to drowning in a sea of expectations that were so out of control, Jerry Jones had trouble dealing.

The Super Bowl is being played in Jerry World (Cowboys Stadium) this season, and Dallas has enough talent for more than a few teams in the NFL, so they were the “logical” choice to make the Super Bowl.

Well, as my pencil-pushing ESPN friend Lee Corso would say, "not so fast, my friend."

Dallas entered yesterday’s match-up with a record of 0-2. The Texans were riding high at 2-0, coming off of huge victories against a division foe in the Indianapolis Colts and a comeback victory against the Washington Redskins, so their confidence level was Texas-sized.

But Dallas was in need of a victory, and if they were to walk out of Reliant Stadium losers and down 0-3, Wade Phillips may as well pack his things and get ready for his walking papers at the end of the year.

With all of what happened to both teams yesterday, have our opinions changed about either squad?

Here are 10 things we learned about the Houston Texans and the Dallas Cowboys.

1. The Cowboys need balance

If we take a look at yesterday’s rushing stat line, the Cowboys didn’t run the ball that well.

Marion Barber touched the ball 17 times for 55 yards, and Felix Jones ran the rock seven times for 43 yards. That’s 3.2 yards per carry for Barber, and 6.1 for Jones. But—it worked for them.

In total, the ‘Boys ran the ball 27 times and passed it 30. That’s what we call balance in the National Football League. When Dallas offensive coordinator Jason Garrett uses all of his weapons, the Cowboys can be scary.

2. Roy Williams can still play

Roy E. Williams, former Texas Longhorn standout, caught five passes for 117 yards, and two touchdowns yesterday. Read that stat line again because we may not see it for a while.

My man balled out yesterday, and both of Tony Romo’s touchdowns went to the 6’3” receiver.

When Roy is motivated (and has a match-up advantage) he can dominate. Let’s just hope this type of play from him continues.

3. DeMarcus Ware is still one of the most feared pass rushers in the NFL

The Texans were down a man on the offensive line in Duane Brown, so they had to supplement with Rashad Butler.

But still, Ware rattled off three quarterback sacks yesterday and six tackles. Ware has been a little nicked up early in the season, but you best believe that Matt Schaub had a few nightmares of Ware coming around that corner last night.

Clay Matthews' NFL leading six sacks may be the talk of the town right now, but Ware is still the one that keeps offensive coordinators up at night.

4. Tony Romo is the best quarterback in the NFC East

That’s right I said it, Tony Romo is the cream of the crop in that division.

With Eli Manning and the Giants looking lost, Donovan McNabb still trying to learn a new offense in D.C., and teams gathering tape on newly-anointed Philly quarterback Michael Vick; Romo is the man right now.

Yesterday, homey completed almost 80 percent of his passes and spread the ball around to seven different receivers. What more can I say?

5. Dallas is still as undisciplined as ever:

If we can say one negative thing about the Wade Phillips era in big D it’s this: The Cowboys are an undisciplined ball club under Wade.

Yesterday, the Cowboys had eight penalties for 49 yards.

We can say that it’s because the offensive line is just starting to gel and they need some extra time together, but penalties and mental mistakes has been a plague on this team since Bum’s son took over.

If the Cowboys can ever get rid of the mistakes, the rest of the NFL is in trouble.

6. The Texans offense can be scary

The Cowboys offense did a nice job of stopping the Texans' potent passing attack, but they were terrible against the run.

Though the Cowboys won the battle for the Governor’s Cup, the Texans proved their offense is one of the best in the league.

Arian Foster had 17 carries for 106 yards, but failed to reach the end zone. Still—nice ground game for the former Tennessee back.

7. Can the Texans passing game survive without Andre Johnson?

Johnson went down, again, yesterday with an ankle injury. His stat line was plausible, he caught four balls for 64 yards, but did you notice him?

I’m sure that ankle is going to bother him for the next few weeks if he doesn’t rest it, and if it does, will the Texans feed Foster 25-30 times a game?

8. Houston’s defense may be a problem

I don’t mean good problem, like the Steelers defense was for Josh Freeman and the Bucs yesterday. I mean bad problem, like the Texans only winning eight or nine games because of their defense type of problem.

The Texans' best defense right now is Arian Foster, and for the second week in a row he wasn’t able to chew the clock like he did in Week 1 vs. the Colts.

Houston gave up 385 total yards, and 21 first downs yesterday. Cliché, but Houston, you have a problem.

9. Speaking of defense, the Texans miss Brian Cushing

Cushing was suspended by the NFL for testing positive for steroids. They obviously miss his presence on defense as the Texans are giving up points and yards by the boatload.

I just have to wonder, will Cushing fall off of a cliff when he comes back like Shawne Merriman did when he returned from his steroid suspension? Hmmmm, makes you wonder.

10. The Texans are still the second best team in Texas

Houston removed the Colts monkey from their backs in Week 1, but yesterday proved that the Cowboys are still top dog in Texas.

Houston has a long way to go, I mean a really long way to go, to perch themselves atop the football pedestal in Texas. To their credit, they are doing a great job of making progress.

Catch Jason's radio show, Monday Night Quarterback, every Monday at 8pm ET/7pm CT on www.blogtalkradio.com/cowboyjay

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