After a month into the NFL season, the Dallas Cowboys are still mediocre.  Yep, another 2-2- start for this franchise and they are lucky to even get those two wins. The offense is a mess, the players aren’t prepared and at times the talented defense even could look loss.  So is there a silver lining for this team?

Well the way the team played last week against Detroit was something different. It wasn’t a perfect game by any stretch of the imagination, but on offense it looked like they were executing on most snaps.  The team looked confident and they allowed Zeke to take over the game.

So this week the team is down south in Houston to face off against a Texans team that is much better than their record shows. This is a crucial game to add some wins before the schedule gets much tougher.  Here are the top 3 ways the Cowboys can sneak out of Houston with a win and one way they will fall to the Texans.

Keep the pass rush unbalanced

Back in week 2, the Cowboys faced off against the Seattle Seahawks and they were dealing with many offensive line problems. One way they offset that against a good Cowboys pass rush was to run the football a lot. It pretty much helped neutralize the pass rush and helped make the defense back off a bit in terms of creating pressure on the quarterback.  This week the Cowboys are the ones facing a talented pass rush and it is scary. On side you have J.J. Watt, a perennial All-Pro defensive end and on the other side is the former number one overall pick, Jadeveon Clowney. Both have had slow starts to the season, but as of late have really picked up the pressure.  They have a combined 7 sacks in the last two games.   So how do you stop it?  Well, the obvious thing is to just block better, but this offensive line is still not back to normal. Until then, run the ball right at them and throw them off their balance. A great rushing attack will keep the pass rush at bay and then allow the play-action to develop and hurt them down field.  So keep running baby, keep running and you stop the pass rush.

Let Dak run!

One of the major reasons this offense can be so lethal is the combination of Zeke and Dak playing the RPO. When both are involved in the rushing attack, the defense can’t keep up and this team shreds them apart. It isn’t ideal to keep running your QB in these games and risk his health, but you don’t have any other major weapons that can help you right now. This is the best you have and you need to use it. Allow Dak to run the RPO and let him flourish. It is what he is best at. Oh and this kind of goes with solution one, but keep running the DAMN football!  When this team runs the football, this team is dangerous!

Always have your eyes on Watson!

Deshaun Watson came on to the NFL scene last year and immediately made an impact as a young quarterback. He was the MVP before he went down with a torn ACL and now he is back and showing signs of that same player he was before the injury. Watson through four games has 7 touchdowns and just four picks. Add in the fact he’s got a quarterback rating of just 93.5 and a completion percentage of 62.2, he is not the reason this Texans team is 1-3. One major fact is really the weak offensive line the Texans have, making Watson run for his life much more than he wants too. Yet, that is what makes him dangerous as he can kill you with his athleticism. Though the Cowboys posses their own ferocious pass rush, mobile quarterbacks seem to be their weakness. The Cowboys will have to contain Watson and even have linebacker Jaylon Smith staying in as a spy. If you let Watson loose, he will make you pay with his feet or maybe he will get enough time to throw to his All-Pro receiver DeAndre Hopkins.  Contain Him or its going to be a long night.

Break Down in Coverage

This happened twice last week against Detroit and it seems to be an issue that could pretty much spell doom for the Cowboys. Until last week, the Cowboys ‘ corners were doing a great job and the safeties were decent enough.  Yet, Golden Tate exposed this Cowboys secondary and taunted them as he scored. This week it gets worse as the Texans have a much more dangerous receiver in Hopkins as mentioned before. Hopkins will take over this game if you allow him too.  Play sound defense all night, make sure the calls are right and everyone on backside is on the same page. If Hopkins gets loose, the Cowboys will not win. Period.

So those are just a few things about this match up that need to happen or not happen if you want a Dallas Cowboys victory tomorrow.  A win over the Texans gives you confidence going into the tough part of your schedule, a loss will feel like an avalanche is on its way.