Texans’ Defense Dominates Cowboys in 34-10 Victory
The Houston Texans showcased a dominant defensive performance on Monday night, defeating the Dallas Cowboys 34-10 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. With the win, Houston improved to 7-4, solidifying their lead in the AFC South.
The Texans’ defense was relentless, recording five sacks, one interception, two forced fumbles, and six tackles for loss while allowing only 10 points. The game’s pivotal moment came in the fourth quarter when defensive end Derek Barnett strip-sacked Cowboys quarterback Cooper Rush. The ensuing chaos saw safety Jalen Pitre deliver a crushing hit on Tyler Guyton, forcing a second fumble. Barnett capitalized, recovering the ball and sprinting 28 yards for a touchdown, extending Houston’s lead to 27-10.
“Derrick Barnett, the play he made really changed the game for us,” Texans Head Coach DeMeco Ryans said. “It flipped the momentum. It got everybody juiced up on the sideline. It was just a huge play. Something we talk about and harp on is attacking the football. We talked about it this week: not just attacking it, but going to score. So that was a huge play for us defensively.”
With the defense setting the tone, the Texans cruised to a decisive road victory, strengthening their playoff push.
In the second quarter, the Cowboys kicked a field goal with 5:55 remaining to cut the Houston lead to 17-10. They wouldn’t score again, as their next eight possessions resulted in a missed field goal, three turnovers on downs, two punts, a fumble and the end of the game.
While the offense scored it’s first second-half touchdown since October, Ryans was more focused on the defense doing what it did after the intermission.
“To shut them out in the second half, that was more of a bigger deal to me than us scoring the touchdown,” Ryans said. “It’s just about us coming out, playing with the right energy, executing and finishing the proper way. That’s what finish looked like. If we want to continue to progress and move forward and play good football, we have to finish second halves.”