The Texans have had a rough start to their season (1-3), but that was probably to be expected with a new coach.  The Cowboys, however, are off to a slow start (2-2) and they were expected to be Super Bowl contenders. 

Coach Kubiak would love to be able to run the ball more effectively as his teams did in Denver.  The problem against the Cowboys is that their defense is so tough against the run, allowing only 75.3 yards rushing and 3.1 yards per carry.  With the Texans own problems running the ball (76 yards per game, 3.2 ypc) the thought is that Coach Kubiak will let David Carr come out throwing against the Cowboys. It makes sense using the two best playmakers (Andre Johnson and Eric Moulds) as much as possible.  David Carr has completed 73% of his passes this season and has a QB rating of 108.9.  The Cowboys defense is vulnerable to the pass as they allow 215.8 yards passing per game.  Chances are that the Cowboys will leave CBs Anthony Henry and Terence Newman on the wide-outs one on one, so that they can bring the maximum heat at David Carr. 

The Cowboys are probably licking their chops looking at game film of the Texans defense.  The Texans allow 139.8 yards rushing per game (4.7 ypc) and 295.3 yards passing per game (69.8%, 113.1 QB rating).  The Cowboys love to run the football, so Julius Jones (388 yards rushing) and Marion Barber (129 yards rushing) will get the first shot to punish the Texans defense.  As soon as they establish dominance on the ground, Bledsoe will go to the air.  Bledsoe is under fire in Dallas, but he will look like he’s on fire against the Texans defense.  Look for Terry Glenn and Terrell Owens to both have good game.  TE Jason Witten should get enough scraps from the table to stay happy too.

The Cowboys are gonna win this game big, because they have more talent at almost every position on the football field.

The Texans have released TE Bennie Joppru who has suffered season ending injuries the last three seasons.  The Texans were trying to switch him to fullback, which he wasn’t picking up well.

The Texans special teams have played pretty well so far this season, which is important for such a young football team.  The Texans only allow 7.3 yards per punt return and 21.3 yards per kick-off return.

Kris Brown has made all three of his FGs and all 7 XPTs.  Punter Chad Stanley has averaged 43.1 yards per punt, 38.5 net yards per punt and has placed 29.4% of his kicks inside the 20 yard line.

Phillip Buchanon has averaged 6.0 yards per punt return and 21.2 yards per kick-off return (before being replaced by Edell Shepherd.  Edell Shepherd has excelled at returning kicks averaging 28.1 yards per return.  When Jerome Mathis returns, this unit will even be better.

Of the 3 facets of a football team, the special teams has been the best so far.

Even though the Texans are coming off their first win, they have alot to work on.  On offense the line needs to run block better (3.2 ypc) and pass-block better (15 sacks).  The running game can’t all be blamed on the line.  Ron Dayne (47 car, 153 yds, 3.3 ypc) just doesn’t have the skill to be the main running back.  Rookie Wali Lundy (17 car, 57 yards, 3.4 ypc) lost the starting job quickly.  It’s possible that Samkon Gado could be the main back after he gets the playbook down.  The Texans need a running game to help slow the opposing teams pass rush (helping David Carr) and to keep the opposing offense on the sidelines.

The defense needs major work despite playing pretty well last week.  The Texans are giving up 139.8 yards rushing and 4.7 yards per carry this season.  Opposing offenses are completing 69.8% of their passes for 295.3 net yards passing.

All the Texans have to do is protect QB David Carr and reap the benefits.  Carr is leading the NFL in QB rating with a rating of 108.9.  Carr has completed 81 of 111 passes (73.0%) for 865 yards with 7 TDs and 2 INT.  Carr has been sacked 15 times this season, and that will have to change if the Texans want to win more games this season.  Carr has the arm and the receivers to put up alot of points if he has protection.

The defense really improved for the Texans on Sunday against the Dolphins.  The defense had allowed 483.7 yards total offense in the first three games, but held the Dolphins to 289 total yards.  Leading the way was the rookies.  Demeco Ryans had 7 tackles and 1/2 a sack, Mario Williams had 1.5 sacks.   The Dolphins only carried the ball 14 times for 70 yards (5.0 ypc).  The Dolphins also completed 23 of 39 passes for 219 net yards thru the air.

David Carr got protection on Sunday, and looked like a surgeon on the field, slicing up the secondary of the Dolphins.  Carr completed 22 of 29 passes for 230 yards with a TD and a INT.  RB Ron Dayne had 22 carries for 58 yards (2.6 ypc) and caught 3 passes for 11 yards.  WR Andre Johnson had a huge game, catching 9 passes for 101 yards (11.2 avg) and a TD.  Eric Moulds pitched in 4 catches for 76 yards.

This was a nice win for the Texans, but that need to build of it.

The Texans have to be very pleased with rookie linebacker Demeco Ryans.  Ryans already has 30 tackles this season, with many more to come due to the offenses inability to drive the football.  DE Mario Williams has had a very slow start, but it’s way to early to judge him yet.  Williams only has 8 tackles so far.