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The Dallas Cowboys (6-5) were unable to score a touchdown for the first time all year in their 13-9 loss to the New England Patriots (10-1).
Recap
The Cowboys' No. 1 offense was shut down this past Sunday by New England's top ranked defense. Dallas was unable to cross the goal line and their best offensive players were kept in check. The Cowboys gave the ball to the Patriots twice (Interception and a blocked punt) deep in their own territory that led to 10 point deficit early in the 2nd quarter.
Quarterback Dak Prescott was 19/33 for 212 yards, 1 interception, and NO touchdowns. He was forced into having his worst performance of the year so far. Prescott was unable to connect with super star Amari Cooper who had zero catches.Receivers Michael Gallup and Randall Cobb both led the team with 4 catches each.
Pro Bowl running back Ezekiel Elliott had 21 carries for 86 yards and 4 catches for 40 yards. He was unable to make any big plays as the Cowboy offense went 2-13 on third down. With the offense unable to move Zeke was unable to carry his team to a much needed win.
Dallas falls to (6-5) but luckily they stay in first place atop the NFC East because their division rival Philadelphia Eagles (5-6) also lost.
3 Things to Watch For
1.Ezekiel Elliott (Running Back): Zeke was contained this past week, but I would look for him to have a break out game this week.He will be going against another top 3 defense but the Buffalo Bills are average against the run and strong against the pass.
2.Randall Cobb (Wide Receiver): Led the team this past week in receiving and should have another opportunity to do it again with Bills lock down cornerback Tre'Davious White shadowing Amari Cooper or Michael Gallup.
3.Jason Garrett (Head Coach): Finally looks to be on the "Hot Seat" according to owner Jerry Jones.Garrett had some very questionable play calls last week and was once again out coached. Let's see if he can figure something things out and put his best athletes in position to make big plays.
Coming Up
The Dallas Cowboys (6-5) will be at home going up against the Buffalo Bills (8-3) on Thanksgiving Day in Arlington, Texas at AT&T Stadium. Kickoff is set for Thursday at 3:30 pm Central time. The Cowboys are up against a team with a winning record and so far this year, that looks like a loss for them. Hopefully, Zeke will be able to carry the team to a win with a 20+ touch game.I can see it going either way and at least it will be a very good game.
If you have any fantasy players, the only must start players are:
Cowboys: Ezekiel Elliott (RB), Amari Cooper (WR), Dak Prescott (QB), Michael Gallup (WR), Randall Cobb (WR)
Bills: Josh Allen (QB), John Brown (WR), Devin Singletary (RB)
For you gamblers out there, the Cowboys are currently - 6.5 and the over/under is 45. After last week, there is no way I can lay 6.5 points. I would lean on Buffalo but I think the under is the play here.
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The Houston Texans head to Green Bay this weekend to play in one of the most highly anticipated matchups of the season.
On offense, the Texans will look to maintain the boost Joe Mixon and Dameon Pierce provided to the running game last week against the Patriots.
Despite Houston's success with the ground game against the Pats, there are some concerns. Most of the production came from two explosive runs. They ranked in the Bottom 5 in success rate (26.9%) and Top 10 in stuff rate (23.1%) amongst all teams in Week 6.
Despite the volume against New England, Houston's run game on Sunday:
Ranked Bottom 5 in success rate (26.9%) and Top 10 in stuff rate (23.1%) amongst all teams in Week 6.
Lots of inefficient runs with huge gains sprinkled in-between. Is that sustainable? #HTownMade
— John Crumpler (@JohnHCrumpler) October 15, 2024
Air it out
The passing game once again will go through Tank Dell and Stefon Diggs with Nico Collins sidelined. Dell received a large portion of the downfield work that Collins had been doing.
Tank posted the highest route win rate and average separation score for Houston in Week 6, per Jacob Gibbs, and Fantasy Points Data.
In what should be a high scoring game, expect Dell to be Stroud's main target downfield.
What about the defense?
The Texans defense is 30th in EPA against play action, so don't be surprised if that's how the Packers will try to get some big plays down field.
D'Angelo Ross stepped in at corner with Kamari Lassiter injured last week. He lined up at the left corner spot, where Packers receiver Christian Watson will likely run the majority of his routes this week.
With Derek Stingley lining up outside on the right, he'll be facing Romeo Doubs a majority of the time. We expect Doubs will have a quiet day and the Packers will target Watson against Ross, and Jayden Daniels in the slot versus Jalen Pitre.
Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans has been dialing up the blitz more and more. And that looks like a good idea once again this week, as Love is 28th in QBR when blitzed this season.
What does Vegas think?
The Packers are favored by 2.5 points, with the total set at 47.5 points.
There are so many more angles to cover in this exciting matchup. Don't miss the video above as we break it all down! And head to the SportsMap Texans YouTube channel right after the game as we react live!