Late in the third quarter, Dallas took the ball at its own 25-yard line and moved across midfield to the Texans’ 33-yard line, sparking the Cowboys’ hopes of a comeback. The team turned to Maher, who made a 53-yard field goal to bring the score back to within three, but the drive stalled there.
But then something seemed to go wrong. The Texans downed the bouncing ball at the Dallas 1-yard line after Turpin let the punt go rather than collecting the fair catch. Prescott, however, took a blow to his arm when throwing on second-and-20 at his own 2-yard line after managing to pick up a first down and then easing back again. The pass intended for the tight end Rather, Daulton Schultz immediately embraced cornerback Smith.
That’s when the Dallas defense came up huge and kept the Texans out of the end zone. Driskel was stopped on fourth-and-goal from the 3-yard line, the Cowboys getting the ball back with 3:20 left on the clock.
On the move they went. Prescott found Schultz for 21 yards, then again for 13 more. The quarterback would go on to convert a third-and-1 at the Texans’ 46-yard line and then saw Brown make a beauty of a diving catch near the right sideline for an 18-yard gain.
When Prescott then connected with Schultz down the seam for 18 yards, the Cowboys had first-and-goal at the Texans’ 4-yard line with 55 seconds left. It took three tries, but Elliott got the handoff and charged right up the middle for the 11-play, 98-yard game-winning touchdown.
The Cowboys’ record under Mike McCarthy speaks for itself. It also speaks volumes the team is continually plagued by self-inflicted mistakes under McCarthy’s tutelage. If it’s not penalties, which were oddly few and far between against Houston, it’s unforced turnovers, dropped passes, or missed tackles. You name it.
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