Texans’ misery deepens: CeeDee Lamb’s final TD seals Cowboys victory and brings Houston to 0-4

HOUSTON, Texas– The Houston Texans entered the season with Super Bowl hopes.

After four games, they are still hoping for their first victory.

CeeDee Lamb had a career-high 17 catches for 189 yards and his 12-yard reception with 40 seconds left lifted the Dallas Cowboys to a 34-30 victory over Houston on Sunday, dropping the Texans to 0-4.

The Texans went 12-2 last season after losing their first three games to become the first team in NFL history to make the playoffs twice after opening the season 0-3.

Now they face an even tougher climb if they hope to make the playoffs for a fourth straight season after their first 0-4 start since 2020. Only the 1992 Chargers rebounded from an 0-4 start to make the playoffs.

“It’s frustrating, but it’s the NFL,” defensive end Will Anderson said. “We’ve got to take a bow, man. Nobody’s going to come and save us…we’ve got to go out there and play grown-up football and we’ve got to take responsibility and really do our job.”

It was a second straight week where the Texans took a late lead only to see their defense give up a late score in a loss.

Sunday, Dallas (2-2) trailed by 4 after a 6-yard touchdown run by Woody Marks with about 2 1/2 minutes left. The Texans were facing third-and-14 when a hook-and-ladder play featuring a 2-yard catch by Dalton Schultz and a 19-yard run by David Montgomery set up that score.

Dak Prescott then orchestrated an 11-play, 74-yard drive that included a fourth-down conversion and capped it with the throw to Lamb to give the Cowboys the victory.

“Our team didn’t finish well today,” coach DeMeco Ryans said. “Defensively it wasn’t good enough. The offense comes out and plays like they played to give us 30 points and defensively we have to find a way to close this game out.”

Houston’s defense took a huge step backwards this season after leading the NFL in yards allowed (277.2) and ranking second in points allowed (17.3) last season.

This season, the Texans are allowing 343.75 yards and 27.25 points per game.

Houston did a good job defensively in the first half and led 16-6 at halftime. But the secondary subsequently collapsed as Prescott threw for 248 of his 335 yards in the second half and receivers were often left wide open.

“We need to use our technique better,” Ryans said. “In the second half it just wasn’t good enough. In the first half I thought everyone was playing coverages the way they were supposed to play, limited explosive plays and in the second half we didn’t run our coverages the right way.”

Ryans got upset after a postgame question about why the Texans haven’t been able to replicate last season’s defensive performance this season.

“I understand that a lot of people want to compare 2025 to 2026, but for me it’s not the same thing,” he said. “We have a different team. We have different people. It’s different. As much as we would love for 2025 to extend into 2026, that’s never the case or the way it works in the NFL. Just because you have past success doesn’t automatically mean you’ll have future success.”

Quarterback CJ Stroud addressed the team after the game and implored his teammates to stay positive during this difficult time.

“I just wanted to get in front of them and let them know how much I believe in them and trust them,” he said. “We’re not in a good situation and it’s not where everyone wants to be…but I have the utmost trust and hope in them. So I was trying to keep everyone together.”