ARLINGTON, Texas -- The Week 11 edition of "Monday Night Football" appeared to be another week of the Dallas Cowboys (3-6) getting steamrolled at home, as they fell behind, 14-0, early to the AFC South-leading Houston Texans (6-4).
However, Dallas hung around, and trail by just seven points at the half, 17-10. It scored its first touchdown at home since Week 3 against the Baltimore Ravens when return man and wide receiver KaVontae Turpin took a third down slant from fill-in quarterback Cooper Rush 64 yards for the score at the start of the second quarter. That score marked the longest receiving touchdown of Turpin's career and Dallas' first touchdown at home since a 16-yard receiving touchdown by Turpin against the Ravens. The scoring strike was also Rush's first touchdown at AT&T Stadium since he threw two passing touchdowns in Week 4 of the 2022 season against Washington. He finished the half with 172 passing yards, one touchdown and an interception thrown to Texans cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. on 15 of 27 passing.
All-Pro kicker Brandon Aubrey made NFL history in the first half as the only player to make at least 10 field goals of 50-plus yards in consecutive seasons after a 53-yard make. However, he also surprisingly missed a 40-yard field goal off the right upright just 59 seconds before halftime.
Houston started off the action with a bang: a C.J. Stroud 77-yard touchdown to No. 1 wide receiver Nico Collins on a play-action checkdown on the opening play. However, an ineligible man downfield penalty erased the scoring strike. Stroud struggled, finishing the half with 159 passing yards and an interception thrown to Cowboys safety Malik Hooker on 13 of 20 passing.
The Texans clearly took note of the Cowboys entering Monday allowing the second-most rushing yards per game (152.1) in the entire NFL this season: running back Joe Mixon erupted for a 45-yard rushing touchdown untouched to cap the opening drive. He found the end zone once more from one yard out and finished the half with 71 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns on 11 carries for 6.5 yards per rush. Mixon's nine rushing touchdowns in his first eight games as a Texan are tied for the third-most in a player's first eight games with a team since the 1970 AFL/NFL merger.
Will the Texans pull away for just their third win in nine tries against the Cowboys, or will Dallas come back and snap its four-game losing streak? Stay tuned to our live blog to find out!
Date: Monday, Nov. 18 | Time: 8:15 p.m. ET
Location: AT&T Stadium (Arlington, Texas)
Channel: ESPN | Stream: fubo (try for free)
Follow: CBS Sports App
Betting odds: Texans -7; O/U 41.5 (via Caesars Sportsbook)
Check out the latest Caesars promo code to get in the game.
Cowboys perennial Pro Bowler Zack Martin has also sustained an injury midway through the fourth quarter. Martin is walking to the locker room with team trainers.
Guyton, Dallas' 2024 first-round pick, suffered a shoulder injury after being stripped by Texans safety Jalen Pitre, and he is questionable to return.
Veteran DE Derek Barnett recorded a sack and fumble that was recovered by Cowboys lineman, who then fumbled himself! Barnett then scooped up that fumble and rumbled 28 yards for a score.
Crazy play that in so many ways sums up the 2024 Dallas Cowboys season.
After accepting the penalty (and wiping out Aubrey's FG), the Cowboys turn the ball over on downs in the red zone. A fumble by Cooper rush on first down short circuited the drive.
Dallas just had a 13-play drive and attempted just one running play. The Cowboys' lack of a running game has been an ongoing issue all year and it continues tonight.
Four Cowboys have carried the ball, none of them named Ezekiel Elliott. His second act in Dallas has been a disaster.
Brandon Aubrey drilled a 64-yard FG, but a penalty on the Texans during the kick gives Dallas the ball on the Texans' 32. That would have been tied for the third-longest FG in NFL history. Aubrey's 65-yarder made earlier this year is the second-longest ever.
The first big play of the second half was Stroud's 33-yard completion to Nico Collins, who had just three catches for 21 yards in the first half. Dallas holds in the red zone, though, as the Texans have to settle for three and a 20-10 lead midway through the third quarter.
A Danielle Hunter sack and poor blocking on the next play by TE Brevyn Spann-Ford forces the Cowboys into a three-and-out to begin the second half. Spann-Ford missed a block in pass protection before failing to block for CeeDee Lamb who was unable to break a tackle to get the first down after making a short reception.
Cowboys safety Markquese Bell has been ruled out with a shoulder injury
Score: Texans 17-10
First downs: Texans 13-12
Total yards: Texans 232-209
Third down: Texans 2-7, Cowboys 3-8
Fourth down: Texans 1-2, Cowboys 0-2
Red zone: Texans 1-2, Cowboys 0-0
TOP: Texans 17:32
Stroud: 13/20, 159 yards, INT, 1 sack
Mixon: 11 carries, 71 yards, 2 TD; 1 catch, 37 yards
Rush: 15/27, 172 yards, TD, INT
Dowdle: 8 carries, 18 yards
Lamb: 4 catches, 32 yards
Turpin: 1 catch, 64 yards
Dallas forced another Texans three-and-out and gets the football back with 37 seconds left down 17-10.
This is something you don't see very often: Cowboys All-Pro kicker Brandon Aubrey missed a 40-yard field goal after hitting the right upright.
Dallas forces a rare three-and-out and has a chance to tie this game at the half trailing 17-10 with 3:55 left before halftime.
Cowboys All-Pro kicker Brandon Aubrey makes history as the first player in NFL history to make at least 10 field goals from 50-plus yards in consecutive seasons following his 53-yard make. Dallas trails Houston 17-10 with 5:55 left in the half.
Cowboys safety Markquese Bell is questionable to return with a shoulder injury.
The Texans take the points this time around, and they knock through their 33-yard field goal. Houston regained a two-score lead up 10, 17-7, with 9:10 left in the first half.
The Cowboys finally catch a break and score their first touchdown at home since Week 3 against the Baltimore Ravens on wide receiver KaVonTae Turpin's 64-yard catch-and-run touchdown. Dallas trails 14-7 with 14:51 left in the second quarter.
Cowboys tight end Jake Ferguson is ruled out with a concussion.
Joe Mixon gets in the end zone for a second time tonight, this time from one yard out. It's going to be another long night for the Cowboys. Houston leads 14-0 with 49 seconds left in the first quarter.
Houston picked up that fourth-and-1 with ease as running back Joe Mixon danced to the outside and broke away toward the right pylon to give the Texans first-and-goal at the one.
Cowboys fill in quarterback Cooper Rush answered C.J. Stroud's interception with one of his own to Texans cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. on a third-and-8 on a throw to No. 1 option CeeDee Lamb. Stingley returned the pick seven yards to the Houston 37 where the Texans offense will start again up 7-0 with 5:58 left in the first quarter.
Houston went for it on fourth-and-three from the Cowboys 30, and C.J. Stroud opted to go deep to wideout Nico Collins. Stroud threw the ball behind Collins and right into the waiting arms for Cowboys safety Malik Hooker for an interception. He returned it 21 yards to the Dallas 33, where Dallas will begin their next drive down 7-0 with 8:32 left in the first quarter.
The Cowboys picked up one first down on an 11-yard catch by CeeDee Lamb, but other than that, nothing doing. They attempted a fake punt pass and completed it to defensive back Juanyeh Thomas, but it was only for a gain of four. They needed nine yards, so it's a turnover on downs. Houston starts their next drive on the Dallas 37.
Dallas entered tonight allowing the second-most rushing yards per game (152.1) in the entire NFL this season, and they looked like it on Texans running back Joe Mixon's 45-yard rushing touchdown. Houston leads 7-0 after the opening drive of the game.
Just based on the early roars from the crowd following big pass plays, it sounds like there are WAY more Texans fans than Cowboys fans at AT&T Stadium tonight.
An ineligible man downfield penalty erases a 77-yard touchdown pass from C.J. Stroud to Nico Collins on the game's opening play from scrimmage. It's clear they're looking to feature Collins early and often tonight in his first game back since Week 5.
The Texans will start with the football, so C.J. Stroud and Co. will take the field first after the opening kickoff from Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey.
Texas native and Dallas Cowboys linebacker DeMarvion Overshown feels, even in a down year, that the Cowboys are "still the big brothers" to the Houston Texans. He also spoke about his development alongside Micah Parsons and how much Parsons has helped him. Overshown leads the team with four sacks through 10 weeks.
Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy officially ditched his running back by committee approach this week and announced undrafted veteran Rico Dowdle as the team's lead back going forward. Here's why he did that plus Dowdle's mindset going forward.
The Dallas Cowboys are in the midst of a four-game losing streak, their longest since 2020 when quarterback Dak Prescott was also out with a season-ending injury. They are 76-46 with Prescott under center since drafting him in 2020, and they are 9-9 without him the last eight years.
Cowboys by Starting QB Since Drafting Dak Prescott
Dak Prescott All Others
W-L 76-46 9-9 <<
Win pct .623 .500
PPG 26.7 20.3
>> Cooper Rush (5-2), Andy Dalton (4-5), Garrett Gilbert (0-1), Ben DiNucci (0-1)
Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud hasn't played at the same 2023 level that won him NFL Offensive Rooke of the Year thus far in 2024. After talking to Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy and retired four-time Pro Bowl quarterback Matt Ryan, here's what's ailing Stroud and how it can be fixed.
