Arlington – It seemed like a story stored for the uncovering. The Cowboys defense played a step ahead of nearly every play the Texans presented.
With it being preseason, the Dallas Cowboys defense took the form of a regular-season game by blanking the Texans, 34-0 on Saturday evening at AT&T Stadium.
A defense led by Taco Charlton and defensive tackle Maliek Collins recorded eight sacks and stuffed the Texans offense throughout the contest while building a 27-0 lead.
“We are working to be a defense that creates habit upfront,” Charlton explained.
Charlton and the Cowboys thought it had a sack on the first play of the Texans offensive series, but instead, Dallas suffered a holding penalty. A few plays later, Charlton sacked DeShaun Watson, forcing a fumble to give the Cowboys possession at Houston’s 24-yard line. Watson never returned after the first series.
“I’m nowhere near where I want to be,” says Charlton. It’s preseason still. This is just the beginning. I’m looking to improve day by day. Constant improvement is the biggest thing.”
In the same series of downs, Lamar Miller suffered a game-ending injury when Collins knifed through the left side, nailing Miller on the outside of his left leg with 13:36 left in the first quarter. Miller was carted off the field and never returned.
However, business continued for the Cowboys as Dak Prescott, who finished 2-of-5 and one touchdown, turned the short drive into points, capping a 7-play, 12-yard touchdown pass to Michael Gallup with 10:53 to go in the first quarter. Following the extra point kick from Brett Maher, the Cowboys led, 7-0.
The Cowboys continued its defensive assault, forcing another turnover as it faced Texans backup quarterback Joe Web III. Houston’s offensive line had no answer for the Cowboys front ferocious seven.
Web, who entered the game after Watson left, had little to no pass protection, scrambled for few yards, but found minimum success through the air. During the drive, two offensive holding penalties backed up the Texans and forced a punting situation.
Before the Texans could take a deep breath, Cowboys’ linebacker Joe Thomas fought through would-be blockers, blocking the punt as he kicked the ball while trying to grab possession of it and gained control of the ball in the end zone, helping Dallas build a 14-0 lead after Maher’s extra point kick.
Cowboys backup quarterback Cooper Rush played well, entering the contest on the third series of the game and played until halftime. Rush finished the evening,15-of-25 with 173 yards and led the Cowboys on two drives resulting in field goals, one led to a 27-0 lead.
“The goals are to get out there and move the ball, move the chains, and score some points,” Cowboys backup quarterback Rush mentioned. I got off to a good start, and we moved to the ball early.”
Without the absence of guard Connor Williams holding call, Rush’s 21-yard scoring pass to Gallup would have stood with 4:07 left in the first quarter.
Besides getting in the preseason reps, the Cowboys defense set the tone from the outset, with three turnovers in the first half.
Houston’s offense struggled, and its defense failed to come up with stops to keep Dallas off the board.
But for a brief period, J.J. Watt played well.
“It felt good to get out there and get some plays under your belt,” Watt said.
Next week both teams will see its preseason end when the Cowboys host Tampa Bay and Rams will travel to Houston.
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