Clarence Hill’s 5 Things Dallas Cowboys must do to beat Texans: Don’t eat the cheese
The Dallas Cowboys (9-3) are heading into Sunday’s game against the Houston Texans (1-10-1) as 17-point favorites.
It’s the largest betting line in the NFL this season.
While it’s indicative of the disparate fortunes of the two teams, it would be wrong to say the Cowboys are heading into the game with nothing on the line.
Not only would a win move them one step closer to making the playoffs in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2006-2007 but it would gave them double-digit wins for the first time since 1995-1996, which proved to be the end of their dynasty era when they won three Super Bowl titles in 1992, 1993 and 1995.
“All accomplishments here are good accomplishments,” coach Mike McCarthy said. “I think anytime you work for the Dallas Cowboys, I go back and look at the season we had last year, just some of the records, the performances we had, anytime you can say it’s the best or something that hasn’t happened in 20 years, 10 years, it tells you you’re moving in the right direction.”
The Cowboys were 12-5 in 2021 but lost in the first round of the playoffs. They are hoping to reach the Super Bowl for the first time since 1995. So 10 wins is nice. It’s a step in the direction. But it’s not the end all be all for the Cowboys.
“Yeah it’s cool,” running back Ezekiel Elliott said. “We all want double-digit wins in back-to-back seasons. But we want to make a run in the playoffs. That’s what’s important. That’s nice but that’s not the goal.”
Clarence Hill’s 5 Things the Cowboys must do to beat the Texans:
Don’t eat the cheese, it doesn’t taste good
Former Cowboys coach Bill Parcells used to have a saying about a team feeling themselves and reading their press clippings when things are going good.
He would call it rat poison and warn them to not eat the cheese.
It’s a message that coach Mike McCarthy has expressed to the Cowboys this week heading into Sunday’s game against the 1-10-1 Texans.
“Talked a lot of trash about the media in the team meeting,’’ McCarthy said. “Just don’t listen to them and all those good things. Don’t take the cheese.’
The message came through loud and clear. They have no plans on taking the Texans for granted, per quarterback Dak Prescott.
“You’ve been here long enough you know cheese doesn’t taste good,” Prescott said. “It doesn’t really serve you anything if you do. Coach always gives that message about eating the cheese and as he says, it’s for the young guys and the guys who haven’t been around and it’s important for us older guys to make sure the young guys understand that. We got to show up each and every day we got to get better each and every week and each opportunity that we go out there is not easy.
“And so if we’re not focused on those guys, giving those guys the respect as I said before you’ll be very upset the next day. Yeah, it’s important to continue to sharpen what we’ve got going, elevate ourselves and just keep building and knowing what’s ahead of us when we take care of that.”
Players want Odell Beckham but want not the circus
As Cowboys owner Jerry Jones continues his public courtship of receiver Odell Beckham one thing is clear among the players in the locker room.
They want Beckham on the team if he can help them win a Super Bowl but they want no part of the sideshow or the circus that Jones has created.
Cowboys defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence had this to say when asked if it’s fair to say he wants the team to sign Beckham: “It’s fair to say I’m trying to reach a Super Bowl. So if he can come and help us with that, then yes, I’ll accept him. But if we’re just gonna do the circus, no I don’t.”
Quarterback Dak Prescott said the players are focused on the Texans and focused on winning.
“DeMarcus is a guy who’s been there and understands that if you give anything gas from around here, it’s going to blow up and it’s going to be bigger than it needs to be,” Prescott said. “If he’s going to help us and we can get him in, that’s great. But if not, we’re not going to make some story and just continue to pour gas on the story that serves us no good. We are about winning right now in our locker room.”
Focus on stopping rookie Dameon Pierce
The Texans have one player on offense that the Cowboys must worry about and that’s running back Dameon Pierce.
He has 861 yards rushing on 198 carries, averaging 4.3 yards.
Add in the fact the run defense is the purported weakness of the Cowboys defense and it doesn’t take much to understand what the focus of the Texans offense is going to be. No one wants to face Micah Parsons and the Cowboys pass rush, they try will try to run on them.
“He’s dynamic and the way he breaks tackles,” coach Mike McCarthy said. “I think the biggest thing for us not to fluff up the importance of what he means to them but just really the focus that we have. We know regardless of who they line up with people are going to come into AT&T and try to run the football. So we need to stop the run. It’s a focus of ours.That focus won’t go away. I think as long as we continue to line up, especially with our with our personnel and our scheme are. That’s going to be the point of focus because that’s just the way everybody’s gonna try to attack us.”
James Washington set to make season debut
The Cowboys have not yet the secured the services of receiver Odell Beckham but they will have the fresh legs of James Washington taking the field for the first time against the Texans.
Washington, a former second round pick of the Steelers, was signed to a one-year in the offseason to help make up for the loss of Amari Cooper. But Washington suffered a fractured foot early in training camp and has missed the first 12 games of the season.
And he says he ready to go.
“Last week, I did a lot of scout team reps, but that was to get my feet wet again,” said Washington, who began practicing with the team Nov. 30. “It’s all coming back to me, quickly. I feel great. From four weeks ago to now, I feel a lot stronger in my plants and catching the ball in general. It’s kind of like riding a bike at this point. Once you start doing it, it all just feels natural.”
The Cowboys are excited to see him on the field.
“Yea, most definitely,” quarterback Dak Prescott said. “Over the past couple of weeks, seeing him out there and being able to feel comfortable within himself — his timing — I’m confident in him.
Said receiver CeeDee Lamb: “I’ve been playing against him since college. To see him out here running around in practice — very explosive. He’s your deep-threat guy so just be careful, is all I’m gonna say.”
Jerry Jones: Let’s play Texans every year
That Houston Texans got the first win in franchise history did not sour the taste Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has for the franchise on the other side of the state.
The two teams have played just five times in the regular season since that fateful game in 2002 and the Cowboys actually hold a 3-2 advantage in the series, winning three of the last four meetings.
Jones wishes they would play more.
“I would like to see us play them every year,” Jones said. “Now, that doesn’t work the way we schedule the NFL. But I’m a big fan of that where you have some natural rivalries and you have that here. So, I’m a big fan of that.
Jones also remains a big fan of deceased Texans owner Bob McNair, who passed away in 2002, as well as a deep appreciation for football in Houston.
“Mr. Wonderful. Total, complete person, man; self-made,” Jones said. I don’t know that I met anybody that spent any time around that didn’t have have wonderful things to say about him. He was a real leader throughout the years in the NFL; well respected. Everybody knew what he had done to put that Houston team, to put it back into football. I wanted so much for him to have success, for the Houston Texans to be everything they could be. A lot of people would think, ‘Well, you have all those Cowboys fans. Why don’t you just keep it Cowboys?’ Well, first of all, I don’t have that wish, but I don’t have that ability. But Houston deserves football. I have a long appreciation for what football means in South Texas and Houston especially.”
So, I got a lot of appreciation for Bob McNair.”
