Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images Follow along with the action for Cowboys vs Texans 2nd Quarter The next quarter opened with bad news; TE Jake Ferguson was ruled out of the game with a concussion from the previous drive. But the offense found something to feel good about when Rush hit KaVontae Turpin out of the slot for a 64-yard touchdown! 64-yard house call : #HOUvsDAL on ESPN : Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/LvklCbYJ1e pic.twitter.com/86VgER4mlC — Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) November 19, 2024 After a muffed kickoff return that put them on their own 8-yard-line, the Texans went 77 yards thanks largely to a 37-yard pass to Mixon. The drive stalled out in the redzone, but Houston did come away with three points off a short field goal. Dallas got well within Brandon Aubrey’s range on their next possession, setting up the answer with his 53-yard field goal. As it turns out, it gave Aubrey another line in the history books. Brandon Aubrey made his 20th career field goal of 50-or-more yards and also became the first kicker in NFL history to make 10 field goals from 50-plus yards in consecutive seasons. — Dallas Cowboys Public Relations (@DallasCowboysPR) November 19, 2024 The Cowboys’ defense stepped up on the next drive, holding Houston to 19 yards and forcing a punt. It gave the offense time to get down into scoring position and another field goal attempt. But Aubrey’s plant foot slipped and caused a miss from 40 yards out, his first miss at home since joining Dallas. Houston went three-and-out on their next possession, punting the ball with just 37 seconds left on the clock. The Cowboys took some shots down the field but didn’t get far, and ultimately headed into the locker room with a 17-10 deficit. 1st Quarter Houston started with the ball and it felt like they’d set a dominant tone right away. The first play was a 77-yard touchdown pass to Nico Collins that got called back on a penalty. But the Texans kept rolling and eventually scored on a 45-yard run by Joe Mixon. JOE MIXON 45 YARDS TO THE HOUSE! pic.twitter.com/oCIE50hZ51 — ESPN (@espn) November 19, 2024 The Cowboys gained just 19 yards on their first possession and then attempted another poorly executed fake punt. Bryan Anger lofted the ball to Juanyeh Thomas behind the 1st-down marker and the Texans stopped him, getting the ball back in excellent field position. But a bad throw by C.J. Stroud fell in the lap of Malik Hooker, giving Dallas some life. Malik Hooker picks off Stroud on 4th down! : #HOUvsDAL on ESPN/ABC : Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/obnLz5ZDXQ — NFL (@NFL) November 19, 2024 Dallas hot-potatoed the momentum right back to Houston on the next drive. After a couple of positive plays from Jake Ferguson and CeeDee Lamb, Cooper Rush hit Texans’ CB Derek Stingley Jr. for the interception. Derek Stingley Jr. will take that! : #HOUvsDAL on ESPN/ABC : Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/DCS5SLN4vC — NFL (@NFL) November 19, 2024 The Texans marched again, including a 4th-down conversion in the redzone, before capping the drive with another Mixon touchdown. Joe Mixon scores his second TD of the first quarter! : #HOUvsDAL on ESPN/ABC : Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/VCbhNs0BOh — NFL (@NFL) November 19, 2024 Follow Blogging The Boys Everywhere Follow Blogging The Boys on X (formerly Twitter) Follow Blogging The Boys on Instagram Follow Blogging The Boys on Facebook Subscribe to the Blogging The Boys YouTube Channel Notable Recent News The Cowboys are going deep into the bench tonight with wide receiver Ryan Flournoy getting his first start. Recently traded-for Jonathan Mingo is also expected to play, indicating lesser roles potentially for Jalen Tolbert and KaVontae Turpin (with Jalen Brooks inactive) as Dallas tries to shake up its stagnant offense. Injury Updates CB DaRon Bland will not play tonight as the All-Pro continues recovering from a preseason foot injury. Dallas is likely playing it safe with Bland given the state of their season. Jourdan Lewis will also be out with a neck issue, leaving the Cowboys very thin at cornerback. FB Hunter Luepke is also inactive with a reportedly minor calf injury. NFL News Relevant To The Cowboys The Giants have benched QB Daniel Jones, looking to avoid any injury that could trigger clauses in his contract. Dallas will likely see Tommy DeVito in the Thanksgiving game. Rookie RB Jonathon Brooks, who many Cowboys fans pined for in the 2024 Draft, is expected to finally make his debut for the Panthers this Sunday. Brooks has been rehabbing from an ACL surgery last year which hurt his draft stock, but was generally considered the best prospect in the class. Up Next For The Cowboys Dallas finally has its first 2024 meeting with the Commanders. Washington isn’t riding as high after two losses and losing NFC East control to the Eagles, but they’re still in a much better place right now than the Cowboys. Hosting their struggling rivals should be good medicine for the Commanders and more misery for America’s Team.

Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images CeeDee Lamb is ACTIVE for the Cowboys The Cowboys are almost set for Monday Night Football, hoping to close out Week 11 with a win over their in-state rival (if you can call them that), the Houston Texans. Now, with the inactives list out, we know who will be playing after the Cowboys had a particularly lengthy injury report this week. #Cowboys inactives vs. Texans: Jourdan LewisHunter LuepkeDaRon Bland Damone ClarkJalen BrooksKJ HenryMatt Waletzko Other transactions ⬇️ https://t.co/Y3ce60pOZC — Patrik [No C] Walker (@VoiceOfTheStar) November 18, 2024 It’s been a tough year for injuries in Dallas, but this week saw a whopping 19 players on the injury report, including both Dak Prescott and Cooper Rush. We know Prescott is out for the rest of the year, but he wasn’t officially placed on the injured reserve until earlier today. The big news, though, is that CeeDee Lamb is active and will be suiting up for tonight’s prime time matchup. Lamb was a late addition to the report with a back injury sustained in practice this week, but the star receiver will play. While Lamb will suit up tonight, several starters who were on the injury report will not. That includes Jourdan Lewis and DaRon Bland, the latter of whom has yet to play this year. Fullback Hunter Luepke is also inactive with an injury. It’s expected that Israel Mukuamu will man the slot in Lewis’ absence while Josh Butler – who was signed to the active roster when Prescott was placed on the injured reserve – will start outside instead of rookie Caelen Carson. Interestingly, both Damone Clark and Jalen Brooks will be inactive for the first time this year, making way for both Ryan Flournoy and recently-acquired Jonathan Mingo to play. Also inactive are K.J. Henry and Matt Waletzko. Tonight’s inactives for #HOUvsDAL ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/wbCTiqFy6t — Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) November 18, 2024 As for the Texans, they’ll be without a few key defensive players, notably star edge rusher Will Anderson and rookie corner Kamari Lassiter. Anderson missed last week’s game too. Lassiter has been having a strong season on the outside of this defense, but won’t be able to go, perhaps making things a bit easier on Cooper Rush.

Photo by Matthew Pearce/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images Will the Cowboys get their first home win of the season on Monday night? The Dallas Cowboys do not have much left to play for on the 2024 season. This has been the case at really any point throughout their current four-game losing streak, starting with a 47-9 home loss to the Detroit Lions and most recently being extended with another blowout home loss, 34-6, to the Philadelphia Eagles. The loss to the Eagles was the first start for QB Cooper Rush, with Dak Prescott officially out for the season, only adding to how much this season has slipped away. Even for those that believed all along this year was about resetting the roster and the start of a rebuild, the Cowboys have found a way to be worse than even these non-contending expectations. They have not scored a touchdown in eight straight quarters playing at home to drop their AT&T Stadium record to 0-4. This record will again be on the line Monday night when the Cowboys host a Houston Texans team that’s also lost three of their last four. The Cowboys are still not favorites to get their first home win of the season in primetime, but may find themselves asking if not now, when? This Week 11 game will mark a significant date for the Cowboys as it is their second-to-last primetime game of the season. Their on-field performances this year have hardly been worthy of the national audiences this team feels they always deserve, and they’ve filled this void in a way only the Cowboys can with distracting stories about curtains on stadium windows and fake belief in a slew of coaches playing out the final year of their contract. The Cowboys home opponents following the Texans are the Giants on Thanksgiving, Bengals, Buccaneers, and Commanders. All but the Giants have a better record than the Cowboys currently. This Monday night versus the Texans needs to be a showing of Mike McCarthy’s team looking prepared and ready to take advantage of any area they can gain an advantage. Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images Pushing the ball downfield has been a struggle for the Texans offense ever since losing Stefon Diggs for the season. They are 12-32 on third down over the last two weeks, losses at the Jets and against the Lions. In that most recent loss against the Lions, the Texans generated five takeaways on defense and still blew a 23-7 first half lead by getting shutout in the second half with two turnovers of their own, four punts, and a missed field goal. The Lions won on a last second field goal 26-23, spoiling the Texans’ chance to be the only AFC South team to win in Week 10 and further their grip on the division. Going into Monday night, the Texans still hold a two-game lead in the loss column over the Colts as the only other team within striking distance of catching them. This cushion, paired with the incredibly low-hanging fruit that is the current state of disarray of the Cowboys, has the home team in this matchup catching strays on the network that will air the game. “Just keep putting Dallas in those high-profile windows. They just keep losing games. That is a train wreck…” – Kirk Herbstreit during an ESPN promo for Texans-Cowboys MNF “Other than that, what’s your opinion on the Cowboys?”- Rece Davis ️ pic.twitter.com/FXihwctZtV — Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 16, 2024 As the lens through which fans and followers of America’s Team has changed on a weekly basis though, the matchups are there for this Monday night to somehow be an even higher level of concern should the Cowboys be blown out again. With a win, Dallas still shouldn’t be taken seriously in a crowded NFC playoff race, but they can at least feel better about not risking entering the season’s final month of December without a home win. The Texans’ best win is at home against the Bills, but their other five wins aren’t much to write home about by way of beating the Colts twice already, Bears, Jaguars, and Patriots. Their 41-21 win over the Patriots in Week 6 that extended their longest win streak of the season to three games was the only time they’ve broken the 30 point mark this year. C.J. Stroud has been sacked 35 times this season, the third most in the league. In a league starved for more contending teams, the 2024 Texans are one of the easiest teams to overrate. They were anointed as being incredibly far ahead of schedule last year with rookie sensation Stroud at QB, and were aggressive enough in free agency to back this up and try to be a real threat in the conference in Stroud’s second year. With the AFC being dominated by the Chiefs, Bills, Ravens, and Steelers so far, there is room for another team to join the mix, and the Texans can hardly afford a loss to the 3-6 Cowboys if they hope to be that team. Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images In most of the areas the Texans have been inconsistent, the Cowboys have actually been consistent all year – consistently bad. They are the second-worst team in the league at giving the ball away and third-worst in differential. They go through long stretches on offense where managing a single first down feels comically hard, and the ensuing backbreaking play surrendered by a tired defense can be seen coming on a weekly basis. A head coach that has wanted a physical football team that can run the ball and rest the defense is now at the end of his contract with the team, coaching a side that does not do a single one of these things even close to well. What the Cowboys can do well on Monday night is remain in the game, at bare minimum, long enough for ESPN’s telecast to not turn into an extended

Photo by Al Pereira/Getty Images Houston will be quite the challenge One overlooked aspect of the Cowboys’ most recent iteration of their rivalry with the 49ers was just how dominant the San Francisco defense had become. Much of that had been led by then coordinator DeMeco Ryans, who called defensive plays against the Cowboys in each of their two playoff losses to the 49ers. Last year, Ryans left San Francisco for the head role with the Texans, the team that drafted him back in 2006 when he won Defensive Rookie of the Year. Ryans hired Matt Burke as his defensive coordinator and brought Cory Undlin from San Francisco to be his pass game coordinator, but Ryans still calls the plays. Those two have been instrumental in Ryans recreating the same lethal defense that got the best of Dallas in two straight playoff games. Ryans did not invent the 49ers’ defensive scheme, though he did help perfect it. Ryans began his coaching career as a defensive quality control coach with the 49ers in Kyle Shanahan’s inaugural staff in 2017. A year later, he was promoted to linebackers coach, where he helped oversee the rapid development of both Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw. Ryans was there when Robert Saleh tweaked the scheme away from the traditional Legion of Boom style he had cut his teeth in and pivoted towards a mix of the Wide 9 defensive front schemes and the Vic Fangio style of two deep safety shells. And Ryans ensured the linebackers tied it all together. So when Saleh left for the Jets head coaching job, Ryans was the obvious choice to succeed him. Under Ryans’ leadership, the 49ers defense took off in a way it hadn’t under Saleh and hasn’t returned to since Ryans left. His scheme is fundamentally identical to what Saleh and others have run in the past – primarily rush just four and play tight, constricted zone coverage that suffocates throwing lanes – but the way Ryans achieves it is what makes it so unique. The use of Wide 9 alignments upfront wreaks havoc on offensive lines. In San Francisco, this approach had been instilled by defensive line coach Kris Kocurek, who had implemented the same approach with the Lions under both Jim Schwartz and Jim Caldwell to great success. Ryans then hired Burke in Houston precisely because of his familiarity with the scheme; Burke had coached alongside Kocurek in both Detroit and later with the Dolphins. By spreading the defensive line way out in the Wide 9 alignment, it forces offensive linemen to stretch horizontally as well. This often results in tackles being left on an island, which frees up for creative stunts and blitzes up the middle in addition to edge rushers having more room to try and beat the tackle. That was a big reason why the Texans traded up in Ryans’ first year to draft Will Anderson, a star edge rusher from Alabama who went on to win Defensive Rookie of the Year last season. This year, they signed Vikings superstar Danielle Hunter to pair with Anderson. On the back end, Ryans has retained the 49ers’ signature penchant for operating out of two deep safety shells, though he frequently utilizes disguised coverages and rotates safeties after the snap to play a wide variety of zone coverages. Undlin, who followed him from San Francisco, has long majored in this practice, dating back to his days with the Patriots, as well as spending three seasons under Jim Schwartz in Philadelphia. With the 49ers, Ryans used a lot of zone coverage and frequently used safety Talanoa Hufanga as an enforcer in the middle of the field, routinely dropping him into the box. In Houston, he inherited Jalen Pitre, who is a different player but offers similar physicality. Ryans also brought in 49ers veteran Jimmie Ward, who actually predated Ryans in San Francisco, to be Pitre’s running mate. Together with 2022 third-overall pick Derek Stingley Jr. and current second-round rookie Kamari Lassiter, the Texans have built a physical secondary to carry out Ryans’ diverse coverage schemes. Ryans’ second year in Houston is yielding some great results so far. The Texans rank ninth in EPA/play and second in defensive DVOA. Only three teams are giving up fewer passing yards per game. Their pass rush leads the league in pressure rate and is seventh in sacks. Hunter currently ranks eighth in the league in pressures while Anderson, who will miss the game with an injury, is 16th in pressures while still leading the team in sacks with eight. Only two teams have posted a positive EPA/dropback against this secondary, which is tied for the second-most interceptions in the NFL. None of this is good news for the Cowboys, whose offense hasn’t scored a touchdown in AT&T Stadium since September 22 against the Ravens. They’re also coming off a game in which Cooper Rush averaged a paltry two yards per attempt. That was against an Eagles defense that functions fairly similar to the Texans, with Houston slightly outpacing them in production. Ryans has a history of punking these Cowboys offenses, and this figures to be his easiest matchup against them yet. Simply put, Dallas is not capable of scoring in bunches right now, and they don’t have the capability to stretch this defense out the way teams have to in order to have success. This should be another tough day facing off against Ryans, even if the uniforms have changed.

Photo by Jack Gorman/Getty Images What will you be watching when the Cowboys play the Texans? It doesn’t seem like that long ago when Derek Carr’s older brother David threw two touchdowns to help the expansion Houston Texans win the first football they ever played in the opener of the 2002 season. It was an embarrassing day for the Dallas Cowboys who ended up finishing the season 5-11 for the third-straight year. The Cowboys have once again fallen on hard times. This time when they face their interstate foe, it will be the Cowboys who will be the underdog as the Texans are reigning AFC South champs and looking to take down the division again. Dallas has been an absolute disaster at home this year and there aren’t many reasons to expect things to change. Here are five things to watch when the Cowboys host the Texans on Monday night. 1. A HEAVY DOSE JOE MIXON It’s a regular talking point in our weekly Things-to-Watch piece to express our fear of just how badly the Cowboys run defense will be worked over in this game. The anxiety is justified as their defense is one of two teams (the other being Carolina) that are averaging over 150 rushing yards allowed this season. The Cowboys have already faced four of the top six running backs in rushing yards this season, and will now have to go against another good runner in Joe Mixon this week. Only three running backs are averaging over 90 yards a game this year. Derrick Henry and Saquon Barkley are two of them with Mixon being the third. It’s the highest per-game production Mixon has had in his eight-year career. His high output is a result of high volume. The Texans new running back is averaging 21.6 carries per game, the most in the NFL. This means we should expect a heavy dose of Mixon in this game as Houston is committed to running the ball. 2. NICO AND FRIENDS The Texans started the year with an arsenal of wide receivers that featured Nico Collins, Stefon Diggs, and Tank Dell. Collins has missed extensive time and Diggs is out for the year with a torn ACL. Collins is expected to make his return from injured reserve as he’s missed the last five games with a hamstring injury. Getting Collins back will be a huge boost for the Texan’s offense. Collins and Dell make a nice one-two punch, but the Cowboys shouldn’t forget about former second-round pick John Metchie III who is coming off his best game as a pro. He missed his rookie season battling leukemia, but he has gradually ramped up and is starting to flash some of that Alabama talent that caused him to be one of the better receivers coming out of his draft class. A healthy Collins is trouble enough, but the talent across the board of this Texans WR group could give the Cowboys secondary trouble. 3. SHORT STUFF WILL GET YOU NOTHING The Cowboys’ offensive scheme offers very little to get excited about. With Cooper Rush back under center, the offense should be very predictable. They’ll try to run the ball, fail, and then proceed to throw a plethora of lazy passes short of the sticks. It’s sorta their thing this year. Don’t expect the Texans’ defense to concede the small stuff and allow the Cowboys to die a slow death. They love to attack at the line of scrimmage. This defense has talent across the board and expect them to have safeties lurking when the Cowboys attempt to hit their receivers out in the flat. If Dallas doesn’t at least attempt to take shots upfield, the Texans will make quick work of the Cowboys’ possessions. 4. THE MINGO DEBUT The Cowboys have a former second-round receiver of their own as they should finally unveil Jonathan Mingo wearing the star. Expectations will be heightened as many aren’t pleased with what the front office gave up to get him, but in fairness to the 23-year-old receiver, he needs to flash some of the skills that piqued the team’s interest. On Thursday, we mentioned how the Cowboys could use their new wide receiver and how the second half of the season will serve as a barometer for how much help their passing game truly needs. If they can find a way to get him somewhat involved in the offense, this will be a promising first step for the team’s new receiving. 5. RELYING ON RICO It only took half a season, but the Cowboys appear to have finally decided to make Rico Dowdle the lead running back. He’s only had one game in his career where he had more than a dozen carries in a game and that was back in Week 5 against Pittsburgh. Expect him to eclipse 12 carries once again as the team tries to get him involved early. Of course, saying and doing are quite different. The Cowboys have struggled to run the ball this year. The team has the fourth-worst rushing efficiency and the second-worst yards after contact this season. And all of this comes with the lowest rate of light boxes in the NFL this season. Look for the Cowboys to give Rico plenty of opportunities in this one, but success on the ground should once again be hard to come by.

Kyle Terada-Imagn Images Notable headlines surrounding America’s team. Week 11 Injury Report: 2 more Cowboys starters ruled out Monday – Shane Taylor, Inside The Star Dallas will be shorthanded at CB on Monday night. Out CB DaRon Bland (Foot) CB Jourdan Lewis (Neck) FB Hunter Luepke (Calf) It’s no surprise QB Dak Prescott will not be available for Monday. Prescott’s hamstring injury turned out to be more serious than any of us anticipated. The tendon partially detached itself from the bone, and Prescott had surgery this week to repair it. CB DaRon Bland continues to struggle to return from a foot injury suffered in training camp. Cowboys Nation anxiously awaits the return of the All-Pro, but it will have to wait at least another week. Lewis on the other hand popped up this week with an injury to his neck. He has been one of the Cowboys’ most consistent & productive players in this 3-6 season, and will miss the Monday night game w/ a neck injury. Everyone this team needs can’t seem to stay on the field, and it sucks to see. Now without Lewis or Bland, the Houston Texans are welcoming Nico Collins back this week, it will get ugly in a hurry. Questionable T Chuma Edoga (Toe) WR CeeDee Lamb (Back) G Zack Martin (Shoulder) LB Nick Vigil (foot) The Cowboys have a season-high 19 total players that are listed on the report, you can find that below, and right above, I’ve posted it in both spots. Gut Feeling: Staff predictions for Cowboys-Texans – Staff, DallasCowboys.com Can Dallas finally get a win at home? Nick: I was the little brother growing up. It’s not fun. No matter, what you do, you’re always going to be younger and less experienced. Now, you can get bigger and taller and all that and grow past your older sibling as the Texans have appeared to do this year. But if you watch how they’re playing lately, everything has been close. They’ll play up against the better teams, and play down to the teams with lesser records. Something tells me this one will be close as well. I think the Cowboys’ defense rides the wave of what they were doing last week. The offense will play better – do they have a choice? The crowd will be raucous because the Texans are coming with their best shot ever to win at AT&T Stadium. I think the Cowboys get some crazy plays on defense and special teams and figure out a way. The kid brother stays down again … give me the Cowboys 23-19. Cowboys predicted as potential landing spot for $25 million coaching hire in 2025 – K.D. Drummond, Cowboys Wire This will not be the last time Dallas fans hear this name between now and next season. Of course the common denominator is that each coach has had to work with Jones as their GM, but seeing how that’s not going to change, what will he look for in his next coach after McCarthy’s tenure ends in January (or sooner)? That could be a head coach with more success than every one of the others combined. Bill Belichick is starting to refloat his interest in returning to the sidelines in 2025, and Dallas is predicted to be one of the spots where he could land. Belichick, 72, has spent this year working in the media, most notably for ESPN’s College Gameday and CW Network’s Inside the NFL. When last in the NFL with the New England Patriots, his salary was believed to be the highest among NFL head coaches, $25 million. He earned it, winning seven titles with the Patriots over a two-decade run. Comparatively, McCarthy is believed to be making around $5 million to coach the Cowboys. NFL Makes Huge Trey Lance Announcement Before MNF in Week 11 – Jovan Alford, SportDFW Week 10 isn’t quite in the books it seems. However, before we can look ahead to this pivotal primetime matchup, there was still one piece of outstanding news from Dallas’ 34-6 Week 10 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. On Saturday, Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network reported that the NFL fined Cowboys backup quarterback Trey Lance $22,511 for unnecessary roughness (use of helmet). Lance used his helmet in the fourth quarter to push Eagles safety Reed Blankenship out of bounds after tight end Jake Ferguson fumbled. The young quarterback was not penalized for this action during the game, but the NFL highlighted it with a fine. The former North Dakota standout got on the field in the second half as Cooper Rush and the offense struggled against the Eagles’ defense. Lance wasn’t much better than Rush (13-of-23, 45 yards), completing 4-of-6 passes for 21 yards and an interception. He also had 17 rushing yards in the blowout loss. Nightmarish Tony Pollard stat is poetic justice for Cowboys’ Jerry Jones- Jerry Trotta, The Landry Hat The offseason decisions continue to look worse. Former Cowboys running back Tony Pollard is thriving with the Titans Entering Week 9, Pollard had the most rushing yards gained after contact, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required). Pollard has since slipped to fourth in that department behind Derrick Henry, Josh Jacobs and Chuba Hubbard, but he had just nine carries last week due to negative game script. The Titans’ offense has been a disaster and yet Pollard has flourished. While Pollard ranks fourth in total yards after contact, he’s first among running backs with at least 100 carries in yards after contact per attempt (3.77), per PFF. Despite being mired in arguably the worst passing attack in the NFL, Pollard is averaging 4.4 yards per carry and is tied for seventh with 19 explosive runs, which are runs of 10 yards or more. There’s a strong argument to be made that letting Pollard leave was the sound decision. The Cowboys have a quality back on the roster in Dowdle. By not signing Pollard, they are set up to pair Dowdle with an impact rookie