3 Key Factors That Cost the Houston Texans A Win Against the Dallas Cowboys

The Battle of Texas delivered the drama everyone expected. Unfortunately for Houston Texans fans, it also delivered another painful ending.

The Texans watched a 10-point halftime advantage disappear Sunday at Reliant Stadium, falling 34-30 to the Dallas Cowboys and dropping to 0-4 on the season. Houston led 16-6 at halftime and later regained the lead at 30-27 with just over two minutes remaining, but Dak Prescott and the Cowboys answered with an 11-play, 74-yard touchdown drive capped by CeeDee Lamb's game-winning score with 40 seconds remaining.

What makes this loss frustrating is that Houston's offense finally showed some of the explosiveness fans have been waiting to see. C.J. Stroud threw for 347 yards and two touchdowns without an interception, while Nico Collins returned with seven catches for 118 yards and two scores. Houston finished with 399 total yards, converted all four of its red-zone opportunities and didn't turn the football over.

Yet somehow, it still wasn't enough.

Here are my three biggest factors that contributed to Houston losing the Battle of Texas.

You can start the conversation right here. Everybody in Reliant Stadium knew where Dak Prescott wanted to go with the football, and the Texans still couldn't stop it.

Lamb finished with a career-high 17 receptions for 189 yards and a touchdown, turning 21 targets into one of the biggest performances of his career. And when Dallas absolutely needed a play, No. 88 was usually involved and that was the frustrating part.

Houston has invested heavily in its secondary. Derek Stingley Jr., Kamari Lassiter, Jalen Pitre and Calen Bullock give DeMeco Ryans plenty of talent to work with. But against Dallas, communication and execution weren't consistently good enough.

At some point, you have to decide that the opponent's best player simply isn't going to beat you. Make George Pickens do it. Make a tight end do it. Make somebody else become the hero. Instead, Lamb kept finding openings.

Then, with the game hanging in the balance, Prescott went right back to him on Dallas' final possession. Houston couldn't get off the field, and Lamb eventually delivered the touchdown that turned a 30-27 Texans lead into a 34-30 Cowboys victory.

When one receiver catches 17 passes for nearly 200 yards, there really isn't much mystery about what went wrong defensively.

This might be the most concerning issue of all. Houston had the lead. The offense had done its job, but it still wasn't enough. 

Woody Marks' 6-yard touchdown run gave the Texans a 30-27 advantage with roughly 2½ minutes remaining. At home, against your in-state rival, that should have been the moment when the defense closed the door.

Instead, Dallas marched 74 yards in 11 plays. The biggest moment came with the Cowboys facing fourth-and-4 from their own 32-yard line with roughly 1:34 remaining. One stop and Houston would have been in position to essentially finish the game.

Prescott instead found Jake Ferguson for seven yards and a first down. From there, the Cowboys kept moving. Prescott connected with Lamb for 15 yards and George Pickens for 22 before eventually finding Lamb for the winning touchdown.

That's not just one bad defensive series anymore.

Houston has now repeatedly struggled to protect late leads early in the season. The Texans' own postgame coverage noted that they've failed to protect leads inside the two-minute warning in three games already.

I have to be honest, for a team built around defense, that's alarming.

Great defenses aren't defined only by sacks, pressures and highlight-reel hits. Sometimes greatness is simply getting one stop when everybody in the stadium knows you need one.

Houston hasn't consistently done that.

The Texans didn't lose because Stroud turned the ball over. He didn't. They didn't lose because the offense couldn't move the football. Houston gained 399 yards and produced 30 points.

They didn't lose because Dallas completely dominated possession, either. Houston actually held the ball for more than 33 minutes and generated 28 first downs compared with Dallas' 16.

Instead, too many self-inflicted mistakes kept showing up.

Houston was flagged repeatedly throughout the afternoon, with penalties contributing to a lack of consistency despite the Texans statistically doing enough in several areas to win the game.

That's where coaching and discipline come into the conversation.

An 0-4 team can't afford unnecessary penalties. It can't afford busted assignments. It can't afford communication breakdowns in the secondary. And it definitely can't afford them against a quarterback like Prescott with weapons like Lamb.

The margin between winning and losing in the NFL is already small and Houston keeps making that margin even smaller for itself.

Here's what makes this game different from some of Houston's other losses: the offense gave fans something to build on.

Stroud looked like Stroud again.

His 21-of-31 performance for 347 yards, two touchdowns, zero interceptions was easily something Houston can build around. Collins reminded everyone why he's the Texans' No. 1 receiver, and there were additional flashes from young players like Jaylin Noel.

But eventually, encouraging performances have to become victories. The Texans are now 0-4. Nobody expected that, but now we need to be concerned. 

This one hurts more because Houston had Dallas exactly where they wanted them.

The Texans were at home. They had the crowd. They led by 10 at halftime. Stroud threw for nearly 350 yards. Collins went over 100 yards. The offense scored 30 points without committing a turnover.

And with a little more than two minutes remaining, Houston had the lead. That's a game you're supposed to win.

My biggest concern isn't the 0-4 record by itself. It's how the Texans are losing. We're seeing the same problems show up when games reach their biggest moments with defensive communication issues, penalties and an inability to close.

The talent is there. The question now is whether DeMeco Ryans and this coaching staff can get that talent to play disciplined football for four quarters.

Because after losing the Battle of Texas and falling to 0-4, the Texans aren't just searching for their first win anymore. They're truly searching for an identity.