The Dallas cowboys (10-3) earned their tenth victory of the 2022 NFL season by beating the Houston Texans (1-11-1) at AT&T Stadium. For the first time since 1996, the Cowboys have strung together seasons with 10 or more wins. In the span between the 1991 and 1996 seasons, Dallas won three Super Bowls.
dak prescott (24/39, 284 TD yards, 2 INTS) led a 98-yard, 11-play drive in 2:38 for ezekiel elliott gave the Cowboys the win with a rushing touchdown.
The Texans tried to win the game with 41 seconds left, but consecutive false start penalties by Laremy Tunsil complicated the series and it all ended with a Israel Mukuamu interception in the end zone off a desperate throw by David Mills.
Here are the Five keys to the victory of the Dallas Cowboys over the Houston Texans.
last series
During the last offensive series, Prescott had a precise performance. The Dallas attack had no plays for negative yardage and the quarterback connected three times with Dalton Schultz, once with CeeDee Lamb, Noah Brown and Elliot in addition to running three times to keep possession alive. Despite Michael Gallup being unable to score on a two-yard reception, Elliott gave it the win with a run down the center of the line.
BR Committee
Elliott had 81 yards and a score on 18 offensive touches and Tony Pollard added 62 yards from scrimmage in 14 plays designed for him. According to the NFL Statistics Service, Pollard joined Terrel Owens, Frank Clarke and Duante Thomas as the only Cowboys players to record 10 touchdowns, rushing and passing, in a six-game span.
Fourth Down Defense
The Texans played it twice on fourth down and both times the Cowboys’ defense imposed its conditions. First in the second quarter, on Dallas’ 4th-and-3 from 1-42, Dameon Pierce only added two yards on a run down the center of the line. Later, after Prescott’s second interception, the Houstonians were unable to advance four yards to the end zone and lost the ball at the 2-yard line.
Lost the ball
The Cowboys committed three turnovers and the Texans two. From Prescott’s interceptions and KaVontae Turpin’s muffed punt, Houston had 14 points, while Dallas could have sealed the game early had they gotten drives off Dameon Pierce’s fumble in the third quarter.
QB Changes
Houston started with David Mills (16/21, 175 yards, INT) as the starting quarterback, but he was replaced by Jeff Driskel (4/6, 38 yards, TD) during the Texans’ scoring drives.. Curiously, the head coach decided to use Mills in the last offensive series and this ended with the interception in a ‘Hail Mary’.