We have a battle for Longhorn State bragging rights on Monday night as the Dallas Cowboys play host to the Houston Texans in the Week 11 edition of "Monday Night Football."
Dallas leads the all-time series between the two Texas teams, 4-2, and took the last matchup with a 27-23 victory two seasons ago. A great many of the players from that Cowboys team won't be on the field, though, while the Texans have remade essentially their entire roster as well. In other words, we should expect a totally different matchup -- and likely a totally different result.
Can the Texans get back in the win column, or will the shorthanded Cowboys pull off a shocker? We'll find out soon enough. Before we break down the matchup, he's a look at how you can watch the game.
Where to watch Cowboys vs. Texans
Date: Monday, Nov. 18 | Time: 8:15 p.m. ET
Location: AT&T Stadium (Arlington, Texas)
Channel: ESPN | Stream: fubo (try for free)
Follow: CBS Sports App
Betting odds: Texans -7; O/U 41.5 (via Caesars Sportsbook)
Check out the latest Caesars promo code to get in the game.
When the Texans have the ball
Houston's offense has struggled relative to expectations this season, with C.J. Stroud and Co. not having quite the second-year breakout that was forecasted by so many.
Houston ranked just 15th in total yards and 17th in total points coming into Week 11, despite not yet having taken its bye. Stroud has completed only 62.9% of his passes at an average of 7.2 yards per attempt, with only 12 touchdowns against 6 interceptions. He has been sacked 34 times for a league-high 269 lost yards behind what has been arguably the NFL's leakiest offensive line. Worse yet, star wide receiver Nico Collins -- who should be back on the field Monday night -- has been out since Week 5, Stefon Diggs tore his ACL, Joe Mixon missed several games and Tank Dell didn't get up to full strength until recently.
For those reasons and more, it's been much more of a slog for this unit than we expected. Luckily for the Texans, they are about to face perhaps the slump-busting-est defense in the NFL at the moment. Dallas has been getting absolutely blasted both on the ground and through the air, allowing 4.7 yards per carry and 15 rushing touchdowns, as well as an incredible 8.4 yards per pass attempt -- second-worst in the NFL ahead of only the decrepit Jaguars defense. Even getting Micah Parsons back on the field last week against the Eagles didn't help much, as the Cowboys hemorrhaged 187 rushing yards at 4.9 yards a clip, and the Eagles barely needed to drop Jalen Hurts back to pass.
Dallas will once again be without Daron Bland in the secondary, and slot corner Jourdan Lewis will join him on the sideline this week. An already very thin back seven can't afford to be without yet another starter -- especially with so many injuries up front, and especially against Stroud, Collins and Dell. While Houston hasn't thrown it as well this season as the talent on hand suggests it should (mostly because the talent hasn't been on the field at the same time), there should be plenty of opportunities to strike on Monday.
Even with their weak offensive line, the Texans should be able to run the ball at will on Dallas. Everyone does.
When the Cowboys have the ball
The less said about the Dallas offense, the better. This unit was non-functional (yes, non-functional as opposed to dysfunctional -- because dysfunctional implies that it had a purpose on which it missed the mark; there was no purpose to it) last week against the Eagles, with Cooper Rush averaging south of 2.0 yards per pass attempt and the team ending five of its 13 drives with turnovers.
The Cowboys were already struggling to find yards and points with Dak Prescott under center. Having Rush out there behind a leaky offensive line, with a skill-position corps that is extremely lacking beyond CeeDee Lamb (who is banged up), makes it highly unlikely that things will get any better.
Prediction: Texans 27, Cowboys 6
This Cowboys team is in no condition to beat anybody -- even a Texans squad coming off back-to-back losses. With Collins back in the fold, Houston's offense should be able to move the ball fairly easily, and Dallas will almost certainly struggle to do the same. I'm betting that's a recipe for a blowout.
Bonus: Larry Hartstein, who is on a 25-9 roll on Cowboys picks, has released his best bets for the Week 11 Monday night matchup. Harstein is leaning the Under total, but who is he backing to cover? Find out right here at SportsLine.
