The Dallas Cowboys face a winless Houston Texans team on Sunday. Don’t let the record fool you, though. This isn’t an easy game, and I think pretty much everyone around the Cowboys knows that by now.

The Texans have one of the best defenses in the NFL. More importantly for this matchup, they have one of the most ferocious pass rushes in football. Dallas needs its second win after a tough loss to the Ravens in Brazil, and getting it starts with surviving that defensive front.

Let’s break it down.

Protecting Dak Prescott comes first

Let’s start where we should start: Will Anderson Jr.

The Texans’ edge rusher is one of the best in the game, and he’s going to be in the Defensive Player of the Year conversation. Through three games, Anderson ranks second in the NFL in sacks with four. He’s also second in tackles for loss, second in quarterback pressures with 20, and second in third-down quarterback pressures.

And yet, I’m just as worried about Danielle Hunter. Here’s why.

Cowboys right tackle Terence Steele has to be better. I understand why a large portion of the fan base wants to see Broderick Jones, the tackle Dallas acquired from the Pittsburgh Steelers. But I’m not sure that’s what the Cowboys want to do. Jones was struggling with the Steelers before that trade.

Say whatever you want about the compensation. I believe the Cowboys gave up those picks with a long-term play in mind, not to start Jones right away. I don’t think that was ever the plan. Steele gives you something in the run game, and that’s still a question mark for Jones.

On the other side, Tyler Guyton has improved. I’ve been impressed with him so far. But Anderson is going to get him at some point. In fact, at many points. That’s just what it is. The question is how many snaps Guyton loses.

Hunter against Steele, however, is the kind of matchup that could put the Dallas offense in serious trouble. Not to mention, Anderson Jr. and Hunter move around interchangeably, so both tackles will be forced to face both edge rushers. 

That’s why I want to see as many max protect situations as possible. Get the tight ends involved in pass protection. I know this is the week where everyone is pointing fingers at head coach Brian Schottenheimer, and rightfully so. The Ravens loss is on him. But the max protection schemes he’s come up with going back to 2025 have been pretty solid.

Expect Dak Prescott under center a lot, with tight ends staying in to block. The Buffalo Bills had success with multiple tight end sets against Houston in Week 1. I’d expect a heavy dose of 12 personnel, with Brevyn Spann-Ford on the field as a blocker alongside Jake Ferguson, while George Pickens and CeeDee Lamb try to win outside.

This is a good secondary. But Dallas has elite wide receivers, and it can win that matchup if Prescott has time. The Texans have allowed the most deep passes in the NFL. To be fair, a lot of that comes from Josh Allen playing lights-out football in Week 1. Still, Prescott is one of the best deep passers in the league, so the explosives should be there.

Attack the banged-up linebackers

For all the talk about the Texans’ edge rushers, the position you need to circle is linebacker.

Houston is without starting linebacker Henry To’oTo’o, who is on injured reserve, and it’s also down Azeez Al-Shaair. Backup linebacker Jake Hansen is questionable. The obvious answer is the run game. This could be a game where the Cowboys lean on Javonte Williams, maybe a lot.

But I go back to the film from the loss in Brazil. The Ravens had Zay Flowers attack Dee Winters pretty much back to back to back, and it worked. Wouldn’t it be nice to see Lamb or Pickens isolated on a backup linebacker? I’d love to see Schottenheimer and offensive coordinator Klayton Adams scheme up ways to target those reserves.

There’s even a chance the Texans call up Kenneth Murray from the practice squad. To Cowboys fans, Murray needs no introduction. He was one of the worst linebackers I’ve ever seen play for Dallas.

That’s how banged up Houston is right now.

The Joey Porter Jr. effect

Finally, the defense. The Cowboys haven’t confirmed whether Joey Porter Jr. will play, but they’ve said they’re hopeful. Porter has said the back injury is gone.

His arrival doesn’t fix everything. But if he plays, I think it’s going to be felt starting Sunday. Cowboys defensive coordinator Christian Parker said it best: they look at him as an eraser. They look at him as somebody who can take care of the boundary wide receiver and take him out of a play for the most part.

That doesn’t necessarily mean Porter follows Nico Collins around. It means whoever lines up as the isolated receiver deals with Porter, often one-on-one. That frees up safety help for the other cornerback. It could also mean rotating the strong safety into the box more often, or getting more comfortable blitzing to manufacture a pass rush, something Dallas has struggled with mightily through three weeks.

Against one of the league’s most inconsistent offenses, Porter is going to help a lot.

Prediction: Cowboys win

The Cowboys are underdogs, with prediction markets giving them only a 43% chance to win. I’m taking them anyway.

Both teams are desperate. But I’ll take the best quarterback in the game, the best wide receiver duo in the game, and the best unit in the game. It’s the Cowboys’ offense against a severely banged-up Texans defense. The Dallas defense has to do better, but so does the Houston offense.

Give me the Cowboys.