Dallas Cowboys (0-2,0-2 ATS) vs. Houston Texans(2-0, 2-0 ATS), Week3NFL Football,Reliant Stadium, (Natural Grass) Houston Texas, Sunday, September 26th, 2010, 1:00 PM Eastern
By Jeff Hochman of JHSportsline.com
Point Spread:Dal +3/Hou -3
Over/Under:47
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Two teams heading in opposite directions will battlein week three,and it just so happens to be In-state rivals, Dallas Cowboys and Houston Texans. This should be one heck of amatch-up!
Dallas has started 0-2 and look completely lost on offense, but if they had any discipline they would be 2-0. Even thoughthe Cowboys are committing stupid penalties and turning the ball over in the red zone, they had a chance to win both games. Not being able to run the ball consistently has really hurt Dallas find any rhythm on offense. The undefeated Bears had a phenomenal victory over Tony Romo and the Dallas Cowboys in their first road game of the season. Jay Cutler threw for three touchdowns torching an over-rated Cowboys’ secondary. Dallas is only one game out of first place asevery NFC East team lost in week two.
The Texans are 2-0 after last week’s thrilling come-from-behind victory at Washington, defeating the Redskins 30-27, as 2-point chalk. Neil Rackers’ 35-yard field goal with 3:24 left in overtimesealed the win. MattSchaub finished the game 38-for-52 with a franchise-record 497 yards, along with three touchdowns and an interception, who have won a franchise-best six straight games dating back to last season. Heranks No. 2 inthe NFC with a 102.6 passer rating after two weeks.
Andre Johnsonhad a huge game (what else is new)as he caught 12 passes for 158 yards, and the game-tying score late in the fourth quarter. He briefly left the game in the third with a right ankle injury, but returned for the game-tying drive. He is listed as questionable, but is expected to start this game. The Texans are one of my Top5 NFL teams to “Play On” this season, which can be read here at Predictem.com. All 5 teams are a combined 7-3 ATSso far this season. It’s a must read if you have not already done so.
The Cowboys and Texans have playedeight times (including preseason)in their history, dating back to 2003. The home team has dominated going 8-0 straight up and 7-1against-the-spread. That could be scary for the Cowboys, as we all can agree the Texans are a much better teamthan in year’s past. They now have a running game in Arian Foster to help their lethal passing attack.Houston defeated the Cowboys in weekthree of the preseason by a score of 23-7, which happened to be my NFLX Game of the Year winner.
The Cowboys can not afford to go 0-3 to start their season. I would expect them to play their best game of this young seasonby eliminating stupid mistakes (penalties, turnovers, etc)on both sides of the ball. The Cowboys do have the better defense but will need their offense to wake up. They are averaging 13.5 points on offensecompared to 32 points for Houston after two games. Look for the Texans to test the Cowboys’ poise early with a lot of hard counts. Dallas should be able toexploit a Texans’ secondary that gave up 403 passing yards to Washington last week.
Jeff’s Pick to Cover the Point Spread: Dallas Cowboys +3.
The Cowboys had a players only meeting after Sunday’s loss,proving they know this is a must win game, and that themediocre playhas to stop now. Teams that start 0-3 are all but certain to miss the playoffs. I watched Wade Phillips’ press conference with the local media on Monday and for the first time that I can remember he was quite pissed off. He didn’t like some of the questions that were being asked and got ‘testy” with some of the writers. Finally, some emotion fromWade. Take Dallas in this upset special!
