The Dallas Cowboys and Houston Texans were in rough shape after the 2013 season, but both teams find themselves in a great position sitting at 3-1 on the new, young season. One of those teams will be in even better shape after Sunday, as the two teams will meet in Arlington for a Week 5 matchup.
Texans vs. Cowboys 2014: Unlikely 3-1 teams battle it out in Week 5
The Dallas Cowboys are hoping DeMarco Murray can carry the team to a 4-1 record on Sunday.
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Dallas is off to its best start in six seasons on the back of an impressively strong running game. It's won the past three games thanks to a strong offensive showing, and the defense has actually performed better than advertised after a lackluster game against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 1. All in all, the Cowboys are much better off than anybody suspected.
Houston isn't doing anything particularly well, but they're doing a passable job at most things. As it turns out, that's been enough to score wins over Washington, the Oakland Raiders and the Buffalo Bills. All three of those teams are struggling and the Texans, the worst team in the league a season ago, have been able to take advantage. The blemish on the record comes from a 30-17 loss to the New York Giants in Week 3.
Digits
Running back DeMarco Murray is the guy to watch in this one. After a couple decent seasons in his first two years in the league, Murray broke out in 2013. He carried the ball 217 times for 1,121 yards and nine touchdowns in 14 games that year, but he's on pace to blow those numbers out of the water. Murray has 99 carries through four games, with 534 yards and five touchdowns, a per-carry average of 5.4 yards.
Murray will probably slow down at some point, either through him just regressing to the means or thanks to the high carry count later in the season. But that's not likely to happen against the Texans, a team that ranks No. 24 against the run this season, allowing 130.3 rushing yards per game on average. Murray has had 100 yards or more in all four games this season, including 149 yards and two touchdowns against the New Orleans Saints in Week 4.
What the Texans need is to get the passing game flowing. Receivers Andre Johnson and DeAndre Hopkins are playing well, with 40 receptions for 553 yards and three touchdowns between them, but they need to do more. Dallas allows opposing quarterbacks to throw for nearly 300 yards per game on average and Ryan Fitzpatrick will need to exploit that if the Texans are to keep up with Murray and Tony Romo.
Who to watch
DeMarco Murray: This is kind of obvious, isn’t it? Murray’s worst game on the season saw him carry the ball 24 times for 100 yards with a touchdown. Obviously, he’s eyeing another big performance against a questionable rush defense. Murray is the most exciting player on the Cowboys right now and again, while he might regress at some point in the near future, it’s not likely to happen against the Texans on Sunday.
Arian Foster: Foster is struggling at the moment, having picked up just 6 yards on eight carries against the Buffalo Bills in Week 4. But Foster is playing well in the passing game, catching seven passes for 55 yards against Buffalo. Before that, he ran for 103 yards in Week 1 and 138 yards in Week 2, before missing Week 3 with an injury. Foster is still a little banged up, but smart money is on him being just as important in the passing game this time around.
J.J. Watt: You can list Watt on every single preview related to the Texans . He's just very good at what he does, but he's also been banged up a little and was a limited participant in practice throughout the week. Watt is dealing with a thigh injury, but he's expected to play and start. How close to 100% he looks will be something to watch; when healthy, he's one of the most dominant defenders in the league.
How to watch
Where: AT&T Stadium
When: 1 p.m. ET
TV: CBS
Announcers: Ian Eagle, Dan Fouts
Online streaming: Verizon NFL Mobile
The venue
The Cowboys built the massive AT&T Stadium prior to the 2009 NFL season and have been there since. It has a retractable roof, is one of the nicest stadiums in the league and cost a considerable amount of money. But the Cowboys aren’t impossibly strong there by any stretch of the imagination. The home-field advantage is always there, but the Cowboys have had issues filling all the seats, as evidenced by the game against the 49ers.
Odds
The Cowboys opened as four-point favorites, but the line has widened significantly since then. Dallas was favored by as much as a touchdown on some books, according to OddsShark.
Preliminary judgment
SB Nation’s experts aren’t exactly split on this one. Ryan Van Bibber, Stephen White, Joel Thorman, David Fucillo and Matt Ufford all picked the Cowboys to win, while Danny Kelly and PFT Commenter think the Texans will pull off the upset. For their full Week 5 picks, go here.
Further reading
For more on the Cowboys, head on over to Blogging The Boys. If you want more on the Texans, check out Battle Red Blog.
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