Cowboys @ Texans · Week 4

WEEK 4 · FINAL

THE READ

70 points between Cowboys and Texans

70 points, and Cowboys had more of them, 44-26. C.J. Stroud was steady for Texans — 18/34, 273 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT — in a losing effort. Danielle Hunter was the problem for Texans — 2.5 sacks. Rome Odunze's high-water mark for the year. Total yards: Texans 404, Cowboys 242.

The Wire · league beat

THE WIDER PICTURE

Team	SRS	SOS	MARGIN	TO +/-
Cowboys	+15.6	+0.0	+15.6	+34
Texans	-12.0	+2.0	-14.0	-17

SRS is how many points a side beats an average team by once you account for who they played — beat a good team by 3 and it counts for more than beating a bad one by 20. SOS is how hard that schedule has been. Full table.

Cowboys — NFC #5 · 14-3 Playoff picture →

In the MVP race

#1 Jaydon Blue HB · Cowboys · 17.0% of the field

The whole board →

IN THE BOOTH

Ava Collins Beat reporter

Houston moved the ball at will—404 yards, 273 through the air—and still lost by 18 because it couldn't stop turning it over; 2 giveaways in a shootout where Dallas didn't have any made the difference.

Sierra Vaughn Analyst · replying

Houston's margin problem isn't execution—it's structural. The Texans have been outscored by 14 points per game all season, and that gap wiped out a dominant performance here; they're headed toward a historically bad record unless the roster itself changes.

They only ever read the box score and this league's own numbers — none of them has a source, and none of them can report anything that did not happen.

C.J. Stroud

Texans

18/34, 273 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT

Danielle Hunter

Texans

2.5 sacks

Rome Odunze

Texans

5 catches, 123 yards, 2 TD

THE STORY SO FAR

⭐ Rome Odunze has not had a better afternoon this season.

WHAT DECIDED IT

Total yards Texans 404, Cowboys 242 Texans

Through the air Texans 273, Cowboys 188 Texans

On the ground Texans 131, Cowboys 54 Texans

Pressure Texans 5 sacks, Cowboys 1 Texans

THE ROOM Final. The recap is below.

📺 THE WEEK 4 SHOW this game is in the week's show ▶ Watch the show

THE MATCHUP SCOUT every number below is counted from the export or read off the roster — nothing is inferred about playcalling

LEAGUE DATA counted by Madden, and arithmetic on top of it

Balanced Pass 51% · Rush 49% · 37.9 scored, 22.3 allowed

10.0 yds/att 67.3% completions 6.8 yds/carry 345.4 yds/game 1.0 giveaways/game 8.8% sack rate last 5: 5-0

Primary weapon: CeeDee Lamb WR — 21% of the receiving yards · DEPENDENCY SPREAD

SAPPHIRE METRICS QB efficiency 75 · Efficient Balance 99 Ball security 72 Back usage 44% QB runs 2.2/game

Most exposed: pressure -- sacked on 8.8% of dropbacks

PERSONNEL off the roster — unit averages, best starters only

QB 90 WR 87 TE 84 RB 88 OL 78 DL 86 LB 80 DB 85

Best: CeeDee Lamb WR 93 Fastest: KaVontae Turpin WR 95 SPD 8 at star dev or better

Out: CeeDee Lamb WR 93 · 4wk

YOUR NOTEBOOK what you wrote about them — private, and never a Sapphire statistic

HOW THEY PLAY the man, not the franchise — only weeks the record attributes to him, this season

Trollstradamus - Texans

Texans · his last 8 games

Throws it Gives it away One back One target

Pass / run70% / 30% Points for / against19.8 — 39.8 Margin-20.0 Giveaways a game4.2 Sacks taken6.0% of dropbacks Lead backEmmett Johnson · 13.1/g Top targetRome Odunze · 42% QB carries0.6 a game

Billyw0928

Cowboys · his last 8 games

Runs it

Pass / run49% / 51% Points for / against37.1 — 16.8 Margin+20.4 Giveaways a game0.9 Sacks taken7.1% of dropbacks Lead backJaydon Blue · 13.1/g Top targetCeeDee Lamb · 24% QB carries2.5 a game

Counted from the weeks each man actually held his team — so a franchise that changed hands is not credited to whoever has it now. Nothing above is a playcall: the export does not carry those, and neither does this.

THE SERIES Billyw0928 against Trollstradamus - Texans — the men, not the teams

Billyw0928 leads it 1-0. Billyw0928 won the last one.

1 meeting avg 44.0 — 26.0 biggest: 18 pts to Billyw0928

S1 · week 4 Billyw0928 44 — 26 Trollstradamus - Texans BILLYW0928

Only meetings Sapphire can attribute to both men are counted — a Madden export never says who owned a team last season, so the series starts where the record does.

MATCHUP ADVANTAGES unit averages against each other — inside three points is a push

Cowboys receivers vs Texans secondary 87 v 90 TEXANS

Texans receivers vs Cowboys secondary 86 v 85 EVEN

Cowboys line vs Texans front 78 v 87 TEXANS

Texans line vs Cowboys front 79 v 86 COWBOYS

Cowboys backs vs Texans run defence 88 v 83 COWBOYS

Texans backs vs Cowboys run defence 70 v 84 COWBOYS

Cowboys passer vs Texans secondary 90 v 90 EVEN

Texans passer vs Cowboys secondary 83 v 85 EVEN

TOP PERFORMERS

C.J. Stroud QB Texans 273 pass yds

Dak Prescott QB Cowboys 188 pass yds

Emmett Johnson HB Texans 125 rush yds

Rome Odunze WR Texans 123 rec yds

KaVontae Turpin WR Cowboys 63 rec yds

Jake Ferguson TE Cowboys 56 rec yds

Jaydon Blue HB Cowboys 54 rush yds

Tank Dell WR Texans 54 rec yds

Nico Collins WR Texans 51 rec yds

Will Anderson Jr LEDG Texans 1.5 sacks

🎬 The Game Recap
this game as an episode -- the score, the stars, the numbers that decided it -- and a video you can post ›

BOX SCORE

COWBOYS

PLAYER	C/ATT	YDS	TD	INT	SCK	LNG	RTG
Dak Prescott QB	9/18	188	1	0	5	49	105.7

TEXANS

PLAYER	C/ATT	YDS	TD	INT	SCK	LNG	RTG
C.J. Stroud QB	18/34	273	3	2	1	80	84.5

COWBOYS

PLAYER	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	BTK	YAC	LNG	FUM
Jaydon Blue HB	12	54	4.5	1	0	14	24	0
KaVontae Turpin WR	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0

TEXANS

PLAYER	CAR	YDS	AVG	BTK	YAC	LNG
Emmett Johnson HB	15	125	8.3	1	28	23
Phil Mafah HB	1	6	6	0	3	6
Rome Odunze WR	0	0	0	1	0	0
Marlin Klein TE	0	0	0	1	0	0

COWBOYS

PLAYER	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	YAC	DRP	LNG
KaVontae Turpin WR	2	63	31.5	0	4	0	49
Jake Ferguson TE	4	56	14	1	5	1	24
George Pickens WR	1	29	29	0	0	0	29
Jaydon Blue HB	1	24	24	0	28	0	24
CeeDee Lamb WR	1	16	16	0	0	0	16

TEXANS

PLAYER	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	YAC	LNG
Rome Odunze WR	5	123	24.6	2	48	80
Tank Dell WR	2	54	27	0	18	47
Nico Collins WR	2	51	25.5	0	1	29
Marlin Klein TE	7	27	3.9	1	21	7
Emmett Johnson HB	2	18	9	0	0	19

COWBOYS

PLAYER	TKL	SCK	INT	PD	TD
Shavon Revel Jr CB	5	0	0	1	0
Jalen Thompson FS	4	0	0	0	0
Malik Hooker FS	3	0	0	0	0
Cobie Durant CB	3	0	0	2	0
Devin Moore CB	2	0	0	0	0
Caleb Downs SS	2	0	0	1	0
Jaishawn Barham MIKE	1	0	1	1	1
Malachi Lawrence REDG	1	0	0	0	0
Quinnen Williams DT	1	1	0	1	0
DaRon Bland CB	1	0	1	0	1
Markquese Bell SS	1	0	0	1	0
Bobby Okereke SAM	1	0	0	0	0
LT Overton DT	1	0	0	0	0
Rashan Gary LEDG	0	0	0	1	0

TEXANS

PLAYER	TKL	SCK	PD
Danielle Hunter REDG	3	2.5	0
Reed Blankenship SS	2	0	0
Jamal Hill WILL	2	0	0
Henry To'oTo'o WILL	2	0	1
Kamari Lassiter CB	2	0	1
Jalen Pitre CB	1	0	0
E.J. Speed SAM	1	0	0
Kayden McDonald DT	1	1	0
Will Anderson Jr LEDG	1	1.5	0
Kamari Ramsey FS	1	0	0
Calen Bullock FS	1	0	0
Sheldon Rankins DT	0	0	1

COWBOYS

PLAYER	FG	XP	LNG
Brandon Aubrey K	3/3	5/5	61

TEXANS

PLAYER	FG	XP	LNG
Ka'imi Fairbairn K	2/2	2/2	48

RECENT FORM

Cowboys

L 38–48 vs Ravens WK 3

W 52–3 vs Commanders WK 2

L 23–33 vs Giants WK 1

Texans

L 20–23 vs Colts WK 3

L 15–27 vs Bengals WK 2

W 42–28 vs Bills WK 1

TEAM STATS

Cowboys		Texans
242	TOTAL YARDS	404
188	PASSING YARDS	273
54	RUSHING YARDS	131
5	SACKS ALLOWED	1
1	SACKS MADE	5
0	GIVEAWAYS	2
2	TAKEAWAYS	0

Bold is the side that won that line. Giveaways come off a team's own offensive rows and takeaways off its own defensive rows — two separate payloads, so they need not tie out against each other.

ALL-TIME HEAD-TO-HEAD

1 COWBOYS — 0 TEXANS

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