The battle of the Lone Star State performs out in primetime Monday evening when the Texans go to the Cowboys, who’re winless at house and trotting out backup Cooper Rush at quarterback with Dak Prescott accomplished for the season.
Dropping streaks usher every crew into “Monday Night time Soccer.” Houston coughed up a 23-7 lead towards the Lions to endure a second straight loss, whereas Dallas is winless in 4 consecutive video games and beginning a window of three video games in 10 days.
The harm report is especially vital. The Texans’ line of defense will not have starters Will Anderson Jr. (ankle) and Folorunso Fatukasi (foot) obtainable.
However Houston does welcome again extensive receiver Nico Collins from an injured reserve stint as a consequence of a hamstring downside.
Dallas should navigate the remainder of the season with out Prescott, who required season-ending surgical procedure for his hamstring difficulty. Vast receiver CeeDee Lamb was a late addition to the harm report, although the crew does anticipate him to play Monday.
Cowboys cornerbacks DaRon Bland (foot) and Jordan Lewis (neck) will not see any motion after being dominated out.
Whereas the harm report is a giant cause the Texans moved two factors — from laying 5 factors to -7 — this matchup may not be the slam dunk that some view it as on paper.
–Issues in Huge D
Dallas was already in hassle even earlier than the Prescott harm. Cowboys proprietor and normal supervisor Jerry Jones has drawn loads of criticism for a way he put the roster collectively.
Jones cited wage cap constraints as the rationale for passing on signing working Derrick Henry at a reduce fee throughout the offseason when he was obtainable as a free agent, and did not even contemplate top-dollar signings comparable to Saquon Barkley.
The choice seems worse every week. Henry leads the league in yardage, yards per carry and touchdowns and Barkley is placing collectively an MVP spotlight reel for the Eagles.
Jones even doubled down on his feedback by saying that whereas Henry is having an incredible yr with Baltimore, it is unlikely that the nine-year veteran would’ve had related success with the Cowboys as a result of they run a special kind of offense.
The issue with this assertion is that Henry was profitable as a straight-ahead runner for the Titans, and one has to anticipate {that a} Corridor of Fame-level working again in peak situation can nonetheless get the job accomplished in varied schemes.
Dallas clearly had a void at working again after opting to not resign Tony Pollard. Henry might need been capable of masks among the deficiencies throughout the Cowboys’ offensive line, which has taken a step again relative to current dominant entrance 5 teams.
Defensively, the Cowboys have been all the time extra of an opportunistic crew that benefited from turnovers, which is not all the time a sustainable metric.
Nonetheless, even with their issues, I am unsure they warrant the Cowboys catching seven factors as house underdogs.
–Prop Cease
Joe Mixon has turn into the bread-and-butter possibility within the Houston offense.
With Collins again on the sector and Dallas’ well being considerations within the secondary, the Cowboys are sure to be on their heels anticipating C.J. Stroud will push the ball to Collins and Tank Dell.
It is Mixon who could possibly be in for a lunchpail shift Monday. That is as a result of Dallas has been steamrolled within the working sport the previous 4 video games, permitting 173.5 yards per sport.
Mixon has 24 carries or extra in 4 consecutive video games and 5 100-yard speeding video games regardless of lacking three as a consequence of harm.
Prop decide: Joe Mixon 100+ speeding yards, +152 (FanDuel)
–A primary-half wager price contemplating
We’ll study lots in regards to the Cowboys’ resolve Monday and over the subsequent 10 days.
Whether or not they can put forth a greater effort after final week’s 34-6 loss to the Eagles just isn’t clear. Between Rush and Trey Lance, the Cowboys longest go play went all of 10 yards. The Cowboys had 49 yards passing whereas averaging 2.6 yards per play.
It is troublesome to assume that they’ll play a lot worse, and I do know the general public is lining as much as fade them towards the Texans.
We should notice that groups have struggled to get again up to the mark of their following sport after dealing with the Lions. Detroit is thought to be a really bodily crew, and its opponents are simply 2-6 straight up and 0-8 towards the unfold of their subsequent sport.
These numbers are definitely sufficient cause for me to pause on backing Houston.
Nevertheless, Collins’ return ought to deliver Houston juice.
With Collins on the sector, Houston went 4-1. Whereas dropping Stefon Diggs to an ACL harm stays a colossal blow to the Texans, Collins is greater than able to occupying that No. 1 extensive receiver place.
The Texans went scoreless for the ultimate two quarters towards the Lions, and I believe there shall be a concerted effort to get the offense up and working once more with a quick begin.
Houston ranks seventh in first-half scoring with 14.2 factors per sport, whereas the Dallas protection permits a league-worst 24.3 at house on this spot. They’ve given up factors in 18 consecutive quarters, an indication of weary legs and lagging effort.
Consequently, I desire to go on the factors unfold altogether and again the Texans to go over their first-half crew whole of 11.5 factors.
Finest guess: Texans 1H crew whole over 11.5 factors (-112 at DraftKings)
–Michael Nwaneri, Discipline Degree Media
