NO EQUAL FOOTING
Defense still ahead of offense in 20-14 preseason win over Cowboys.
ARLINGTON – Everyone watching the Texans in training camp has seen the defense dominate the offense on a regular basis. And the defense continued that trend against the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday night at AT&T Stadium.
In the Texans’ second preseason game, the defense outplayed the offense in a 20-14 victory. The defense forced four turnovers, recorded five sacks and scored a touchdown on safety Lonnie Johnson Jr.’s 53-yard interception return.
In preseason victories over the Packers and Cowboys, Lovie Smith’s defense has nine sacks and seven takeaways.
“When you get four turnovers, and you don’t turn it over, you’ve got a chance to win the game,” coach David Culley said. “We’ve been preaching that all through camp.”
The Texans’ got a terrific push from their deep four-man front that got after three Dallas quarterbacks.
“A lot of what happened had to do with what happened up front,” Culley said. “They all worked well together.”
Johnson, Shyheim Carter and Terrence Brooks were safeties making the interceptions.
“That’s a deep group,” Culley said. “They’re very competitive.”
The defense ignited the only touchdown drive in the first half with the Texans’ first takeaway before Johnson’s terrific touchdown in the third quarter.
In preparing for the Dallas game, Johnson had an outstanding week of practice at Houston Methodist Training Center. He combined for three interceptions in two practices, and he did it again against the Cowboys.
Johnson intercepted quarterback Ben DiNucci on a deep pass down the left side, and he returned it 53 yards for a touchdown to tie the game 14-14.
If not for excellent defensive performance, the Texans might have been shut out.
Unlike the 26-7 victory at Green Bay, the passing game struggled with Tyrod Taylor at quarterback. He was 2 of 5 for 10 yards and posted a 47.9 rating before turning it over to Davis Mills. A week ago, Taylor was 4 of 4 for 40 yards and a 3-0 lead before leaving the Packers’ game after one possession.
With some starters on both teams kept off the field again, the Texans needed the defense to set up their first touchdown.
On the Cowboys’ first series, defensive end Jacob Martin got a strip sack against backup quarterback Garrett Gilbert, who started because Dak Prescott continues to
sit out to prepare for regular season.
Martin reached out and stripped the ball from Gilbert, and defensive end Charles Omenihu recovered at the Dallas 23.
Smith is all about getting takeaways – and he prefers to call them takeaways rather than turnovers. The Texans jumped on the Cowboys early when Martin and Omenihu collaborated on the takeaway.
Culley made no secret about what his intentions were on offense to start the game. He wanted to emphasize the run over the pass. After rushing 37 times for 170 yards at Green Bay, offensive coordinator Tim Kelly called five runs and two passes on the 7-play, 23-yard touchdown drive.
Mark Ingram II, who didn’t play against the Packers, scored on a 2-yard run to give the Texans a 7-0 lead.
“When the defense forces a turnover like that early in the game, it can have such a big psychological advantage for the offense,” Culley said. “In that situation, you’ve got to score a touchdown, and we did.”
Two possessions later, the defense didn’t look so good on a drive led by quarterback Cooper Rush, who replaced Gilbert. The Cowboys went 75 yards on five plays. The scoring drive benefited
from a 26-yard pass interference penalty on cornerback Tremon Smith.
The defense was victimized by a scoring play that plagued them in 2020 when they finished 4-12 – the screen pass. They just can’t stop them on defense.
With the Cowboys perched on the Texans’ 8, Rush threw a screen pass to his right to running back Tony Pollard, starting in place of Zeke Elliott who, like Prescott, was kept out of the game.
Pollard and his blockers made the Texans look foolish on the easy score that tied the game.
Whether it was Taylor, Davis Mills or Jeff Driskel, the offense looked discombobulated. The Cowboys’ defense dominated like the Texans’ defense has done in practice.
The Texans had 77 yards in the first half and finished with 220. They failed to convert a thirddown situation.
Before they retired for the evening, the Texans had several defensive players who made big plays. At the top of that list was Omenihu, who sat out the Green Bay game and responded with two sacks and a fumble recovery in the first half against the Cowboys.
Defensive tackle Maliek Collins, defensive tackle Ross Blacklock
and safety Justin Reid made outstanding plays against the run. Cornerback Bradley Roby made a super play when he broke up a pass intended for receiver CeeDee Lamb.
The Cowboys took advantage of the reserves who played in the second quarter. Rush engineered a second scoring drive, this one 85 yards on 13 plays that ended with his exceptional touch pass to receiver Cedric Wilson in the back corner of the end zone.
It was a splendid pass and catch, and cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III was unable to break up the 9-yard touchdown pass that gave the Cowboys a 14-7 halftime lead.
Overall, the offense has been behind the defense since training camp began. Camp ends Thursday, two days before the Texans close their preseason schedule.
In their last game, the Texans have a difficult opponent to try to overcome their offensive issues. Tampa Bay is the defending Super Bowl champion, and the Bucs are supposed to play Tom Brady and their other starters.
Unless the offense makes dramatic improvement, the last preseason game could get ugly early at NRG Stadium.