The Texans (6-4) hit the road for a Monday Night Football showdown with the Cowboys (3-6). It's the second time in three seasons Houston has played at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, and the Texans are gunning for their first win over Dallas since 2018. Both clubs have lost their last two contests. Here are five things to watch when they kick off at 7:15 p.m. CT.
1) Hello Nico – After missing every game since the October 6 win over Bufalo, all signs are pointing to Nico Collins returning to game action on Monday. The wide receiver, who led the NFL in receiving yards at the time of his injury, was a full participant on both Friday and Saturday, and is questionable for the game in Arlington. His return, whenever that is, would be a welcome one for the Texans.
"Nico's been one of our best players when he was healthy," Head Coach DeMeco Ryans said. "So it's great to have him back, great to have his presence and the energy that he brings and also the playmaking ability that he brings. Happy to have him back and really proud of him for the work he's put in to get himself back."
Collins has 567 receiving yards and has been good for 17.7 yards per reception in 2024. Quarterback C.J. Stroud is also happy Collins is back, and explained just how important the pass-catcher is to the Texans.
"He brings a seriousness, an intent, a discipline, a mindset that we ask for from everybody," Stroud said. "I believe he has that personality where he wants the hard coverage guy, he wants the hard routes to run, he wants to make the hard plays. When he gets the ball, he is dangerous. He turns the whole team up, from the defense, to me, to [WR] Tank [Dell], he gets everybody juiced up to play hard and I definitely feel like we have been missing that."
2) Second half…stand up – The Texans have struggled to score in the second half of games in 2024. In 10 games, they've scored just seven touchdowns after the intermission. Five of those scores happened in the fourth quarter, and two came in the third. If you take out the win at New England, Houston's mustered just four touchdowns in their other nine games.
"When you really dive in and you're like, 'OK, what's going on? Is something off with the play calls? Are they doing something different? Are we doing something different? What's happening –,' it's football," Offensive Coordinator Bobby Slowik said. "Like it's the exact same as it was in the first half. We're not operating and executing the same."
Ryans elaborated, and explained what needs to change.
"With the inefficiencies, not only offensively, but defensively, it's just a matter of us focusing in and being on the details of our job," Ryans said.
3) Rattle Rush – The Cowboys are without Dak Prescott, and will most likely start Cooper Rush at quarterback. The Dallas signal-caller completed 13-of-23 passes for 46 yards without a touchdown or interception, and fumbled the ball twice in last Sunday's loss the Eagles. The Texans defense, meanwhile, is coming off a 5-interception effort against Detroit's Jared Goff, who completed just half of his 30 pass attempts last Sunday night.
"Cooper has been there awhile and he understands how to operate the offense very efficiently," Ryans said. "When it comes to everything, every operation that goes with the offense, the checks, getting them in the proper plays, Cooper does a great job of managing all of the pre-snap operations and he does a great job of getting the ball out, finding his playmakers, making really good decisions with the football."
4) Polar opposites – The Texans entered Week 11 with the 6th-best mark in the league in turnover differential, at plus-7. Taking the ball away from opponents seven more times than they've turned it over, they're in an entirely different realm than the Cowboys in that stat.
Dallas is currently at minus-10 on the year, and only two teams in the NFL are worse.
Houston hasn't lost the turnover battle in a game since Week 5, and they've been plus-10 in those five games since.
5) "Home" Crowd – While this is a road game for the Texans, there will likely be a boisterous contingent of Texans fans who show up at AT&T Stadium. Ryans, who played there as an Eagle and coached there as a 49er, has plenty of experience in Arlington.
"We expect to see some good support from our fans there as well," Rysns said. "Guys will embrace the environment there. It's all about playing well in that place. If our guys go out and execute well, it'll be a really cool place to play."
Safety Jimmie Ward played for San Francisco from 2014 through 2022, and suited up in both regular and postseason action against Dallas on the road.
"Whenever our fans show up, that definitely helps, especially at away games," Ward said. "It helps the defense when their offense has the ball, they might want to switch up the cadence. When our crowd's alive, that can affect the offense."
