The highly-anticipated Texas showdown ended in an overtime battle with Houston falling 20-17 to Dallas loss in overtime.
"Our defense played a good game," head coach Bill O'Brien said after the game. "For the most part, our defense did a good job of holding us in there and we just didn't do enough offensively."
Houston overcame a two-score deficit late in the game to send the game into extra time. Arian Foster ran in both of Houston's touchdowns, one with just 0:41 remaining in the fourth quarter of the Governor's Cup. Cowboys kicker Dan Bailey missed a 53-yard field goal at the end of the game but redeemed himself with the game-winning 49-yard kick to give the Cowboys the win.
The Texans remained scoreless in the first half, despite forcing three turnovers and holding Dallas to just a field goal. Tony Romo threw two touchdowns in the second half while the Texans added two touchdowns and a field goal.
Fitzpatrick completed 16-of-25 passes for 154 yards and one interception.
"It's frustrating, the way we were getting the turn overs, you've got to be able to capitalize on those," Fitzpatrick said. "This game is so much about momentum. Getting those big plays and coming up empty, it's one thing to start it out three and out but to have such momentum shift with a turnover and then not do anything with it, that's a really disappointing part of what we had today."
Arian Foster rushed for 157 yards on 23 carries and two touchdowns. Kendrick Lewis was involved in two Cowboys turnovers, a forced fumble and an interception."
DeMarco Murray had 31 carries for 136 yards. Romo was 28-of-41 for touchdowns and one interception.
On the Texans second possession of the day, Fitzpatrick's pass, intended for Arian Foster, was picked off by Cowboys cornerback Orlando Scandrick. The Cowboys marched deep into Texans territory, but Kendrick Lewis forced a fumble on Murray. Justin Tuggle recovered and Houston regained possession.
Special teams added Houston's second turnover of the day. Jeff Tarpinian forced a fumble on the punt return by Dallas. Alfred Blue recovered but the Texans were unable to convert it into points.
The Texans defense held Dallas to a field goal at the end of the second quarter. Dan Bailey's 33-yard kick was the lone score of the first half.
Houston trailed 3-0 at halftime.
Arian Foster put the Texans in the lead early in the third quarter with a 15-yard touchdown run. Foster scored the Texans first touchdown following his 33-yard gain to cap off a six-play, 71-yard drive.
The lead would be short-lived as Romo escaped a near sack by J.J. Watt and fired back with a 43-yard touchdown pass to Terrence Williams.
Lewis intercepted Romo in the red zone for his second turnover of the day. The Texans, deep in their own territory, were again unable to take advantage of the play and score.
Romo, following a 38-yard punt return by Dwayne Harris, took just four plays to throw his second touchdown of the day. Dez Bryant caught a two-yard scoring pass to give the Cowboys a 17-7 lead with 9:44 remaining in the fourth quarter.
The Texans pulled themselves out of a two-score deficit with back-to-back scoring drives. Randy Bullock added a 29-yard field goal after a 13-play, 76-yard drive that took 7:17 of the fourth quarter.
Foster added his second touchdown of the day to tie the score 17-17. Fitzpatrick connected with Johnson and Hopkins for 20 and 19 yards, respectively, on the four-play, 45 yard drive.
Bailey missed a 53-yard field goal to send the game into overtime.
Houston won the toss and received the ball first but was unable to get into scoring range. A 37-yard pass to Bryant set up the Cowboys for the winning field goal. Bailey successfully kicked in a 49-yarder two plays later to give Dallas the win, 20-17.
The Texans, who drop to 3-2 on the season, have a short week and will next host the Indianapolis Colts on Thursday night.
