The Cowboys travel to NRG Stadium looking to put the events of last week behind them.
The Dallas Cowboys travel to NRG Stadium on Sunday to take on the winless Houston Texans, with Brian Schottenheimer's team trying to put the events of last week in the rearview mirror.
Facing a Texans team on life support at 0-3, the Cowboys know DeMeco Ryans' team will be all gas, no brakes as they try to save their season.
For Dallas, we might see the debut of corner Joey Porter Jr., as Christian Parker's decimated defense looks to take another positive stride and come up against a Texans offense that has struggled under C.J. Stroud.
With the Cowboys at 1-2 and facing two winless teams in back-to-back outings (the Bucs come to DFW on Thursday), a chance has presented itself, if the Cowboys are good enough, to get above .500, and most fans would take that.
Joey Porter Jr. is available to make his Cowboys debut after this week's trade.
Meanwhile, on Saturday, the Cowboys elevated corner Reddy Steward and safety Juanyeh Thomas from the practice squad ... so maybe those two roster moves can help.
But bigger?
Pittsburgh assigned Porter to follow Nico Collins for most of its playoff meeting with Houston in January. Collins was targeted seven times and finished with three catches for 21 yards before sustaining an injury late in the third quarter.
And Nico is returning to the field on Sunday ... while Houston star defender Azeez Al-Shaair has been ruled out.
Granted, this Texans defense is still one of the best in football despite their indifferent start to the season, so the Cowboys' offense is going to have to play near-perfect again because Houston hasn't allowed more than 20 points in each of their last two games.
Dallas, on the road, against a stout Texans team, has a chance to make a statement here and, in the process, drop Houston to 0-4 and effectively end their playoff hopes.
Can the Cowboys, who themselves need some feel-good vibes, put a four-quarter performance together on both sides of the ball? Because for them to win, that's what it will take.
- DATE: Sunday, Oct. 4, 2026
- TIME: Noon CT
- LOCATION: Reliant Stadium (Houston, Texas)
- TV: FOX SPORTS/FOX 4 DFW
- RADIO: Brad Sham (play-by-play), Babe Laufenberg (play-by-play), Kristi Scales (analyst)
ODDS VIA DRAFTKINGS
- SPREAD: Texans -2.5, Cowboys +2.5
- MONEYLINE: Texans -162, Cowboys +136
- OVER/UNDER (Points total): 48.5
