The Houston Texans are looking to build on a great start and perhaps start taking a peek at their first postseason appearance. The only thing the Dallas Cowboys are thinking about is getting a win.
The Texans seek to open a season with three wins for the first time in franchise history as they host the stumbling Cowboys on Sunday afternoon.
Using a good mixture of running and passing, Houston leads the NFL in total offense and opened the season 2-0 for the second team in its nine-year history.
Arian Foster rushed for a team-record 231 yards and three scores in the Texans’ 34-24 victory over the defending AFC champion Indianapolis Colts in Week 1.
Matt Schaub took that one step further by passing for a franchise-high 497 yards as Houston erased a 17-point deficit to beat the Washington Redskins 30-27 in overtime last week. The Texans’ have won a club-high six straight dating to 2009.
While Houston has struck a good balance between the run and pass, Dallas has relied almost exclusively on the pass.
Tony Romo has thrown 98 passes in the first two weeks, completing 65 for 656 yards, but he has engineered only two touchdown drives for an offense that ranks fourth in the NFL in total yards.
A shaky offensive line, 18 penalties, four turnovers and two missed field goals have kept Dallas off the scoreboard, and the burly line will be tested this week by star defensive end Mario Williams, who leads the AFC with four sacks.
Last week, Romo threw 51 times, completing 34 for 374 yards, but threw two interceptions on tipped balls as Dallas began its season 0-2 for the first time since 2001 with a 27-20 loss to the Chicago Bears.
Miles Austin, who is tied for the NFL lead with 20 receptions and leads with 288 yards, should have some room to operate against the Texans, who rank last allowing 442 yards of offense per game. However, Romo's longest completion has been for just 30 yards and he has thrown just 13 balls farther downfield than 15 yards.
Fortunately, two of Romo’s top weapons, tight end Jason Witten and rookie wideout Dez Bryant, are expected to play after suffering injuries late in the Bears game.
While the Dallas defense held Washington to two field goals in a 13-7 loss on Week 1, Chicago’s Jay Cutler dissected the Dallas blitz for 277 yards and three TDs. Dallas did hold both Washington and Chicago under 100 yards rushing, but it will need to improve upon its totals of two sacks and zero turnovers forced to keep the Texans at bay.
Last week, Schaub rallied Houston from a 27-10 deficit with 332 yards passing after intermission. He threw a TD pass to Kevin Walter on the last play of the third quarter and hooked up with Andre Johnson on a 34-yard TD on fourth down with 2:03 remaining to force overtime.
Neil Rackers’ 35-yard field goal with 3:04 left in the extra session gave Houston its first win in seven OT contests.
Schaub completed 38 of 52 balls for three touchdowns. He was intercepted once and sacked five times. Johnson and Walter combined for 23 catches and 302 yards, creating a big challenge Sunday for Dallas corners Terence Newman and Mike Jenkins, who was carted off the field in the fourth quarter last week with a bruised knee but is expected to play.
The Houston offense will be without left tackle Duane Brown, a 2008 first-round draft pick who was suspended this week for four games for violating the league’s performing-enhancing drug policy.
The clubs have split two previous games, but haven't played in four years.