Football and the State of Texas go hand-and-hand whether its at the high school level, college level or the Pros. This state will always love its football and will trash talk and stand up for its team no matter what. Week 5 in the NFL The Houston Texans head up north and go against their instate rivals The Dallas Cowboys. Anyone that lives in Texas knows that these 2 teams will be fighting for more then just a win, they will be fighting for bragging rights! The fans will never respect each other and will never want to see the other team win. Cowboy fans always talk about the Texans having no titles and the Texans always talk about the Cowboys living in the past and being irrelevant the past few seasons. Both of the Texas teams are going into week 5 with a 3-1 record and will put it out on the line in a playoff like atmosphere. The AT&T stadium will be filled with two teams that understand a lose is not really acceptable to their fans or city.
Texans fans want nothing more then to see their team beat the Cowboys in their own stadium. Since 2002 the Texans and Cowboys have played each other a total of 3 times in the regular season. The Texans played the Cowboys for the first time on 9/8/2002 and won 19-10, but the next two times the teams met up it wasn’t so pretty. On 10/15/2006 the Cowboys stomped the Texans 34-6 and the most recent game on 9/26/2010 the Cowboys won 27-13. This season the Texans are coming in with a playoff like mentality, they know that this game means a lot to the owner, city and fans that rep that Battle Red, Liberty White and Steel Blue! Texans head coach Bill O’Brien was stated saying “I know this game means a lot to Mr. (Bob) McNair, the organization and the city of Houston. i know it means a lot to our fans.” Players like LB Brian Cushing have spoken up and said this game will have a “special feel” to it on Sunday. The Cowboys QB Tony Romo knows that their is one man that wont be stopped on the Texans Defense and that is DE #99 J.J. Watt. Romo was quoted saying “I see a dynamic player who might be the best player we’re going to go against all season.” Watt is having an MVP like season with 2 touchdowns, one on the offensive side and one on defensive side with his 80 yard interception last week against the Buffalo Bills. He already has 9 tackles and 2 sacks in the first 4 games and has even been called a young Michael Strahan. Ex-New York Giants DE Micheal Strahan was asked about the comparison and he said “He plays like run like a champ and can line up and rush the passer unlike anyone else on the field.”
The Texans Defense is ranked 24th against the run giving up 130.2 yards per game and are ranked 14th against the pass only giving up 237.5 yards per game. The Cowboys Defense is ranked 14th against the run only giving up 108.5 yards but are ranked 24th giving up a whopping 379.8 against the pass. This game will be hard on both teams, the Cowboys will have to watch out for RB Arian Foster and the Texans duo at Wide Reciever in Andre Johnson and DeAndre Hopkins. Now the Texans defense wont have a cake walk either since they will have to somehow stop RB DeMarco Murray which is having an MVP like season and the Cowboys duo at Wide Reciever in Dez Bryant and Terrance Williams. The game will be intense and test both teams, but it will be a well tested game for each to see where they stack up this season. The cowboys are on a hot streak so far and don’t look like they will be cooling off anytime soon but I think a mixture of JJ Watt and Brian Cushing can disrupt the Dallas offense just enough to give the Texans a win. Texans QB Ryan Fitzpatrick must not make mistakes and must get the ball to his two receivers with ease or the Texans could struggle even if the Defensive side shows up. I predict that Watt will be a huge reason the Texans will win this game 24-21 even though I believe it will go down to the wire. This game will be close, this game will be tricky but in the end I see the Texans winning this brawl on the gridiron and showing the NFL they are going to be at the top of the AFC South this season.
