Cowboys Score Late to Avoid Major Upset, Beat Texans 27-23
Dak Prescott stood on his own goal line with a second chance, moments after throwing an interception that had given the hapless Houston Texans a great chance to finish off a shocker.
The star Cowboys quarterback delivered, turning what had been quite the clunker against the team with the NFL’s worst record into his 18th career late-game comeback.
Prescott directed a 98-yard drive to Ezekiel Elliott’s short touchdown run with 41 seconds remaining, and Dallas avoided a major upset with a 27-23 victory Sunday.
Houston (1-11-1) appeared in position to end a seven-game losing streak after Tremon Smith’s second interception of the game put the Texans at the Dallas 4-yard line, up by three points with 5:47 to go.
The Cowboys (10-3) stiffened against a makeshift Texans offense, stuffing backup quarterback Jeff Driskel on a fourth-down run after running back Rex Burkhead was upended for a loss on the previous play from the 1.
“I think everyone knew the game wasn’t over,” linebacker Micah Parsons said. “We have to fight, just get through it. I was just happy we were able to get that stop.”
Starting at his 2, Prescott immediately completed a 21-yard pass to Dalton Schultz. The pair hooked up twice more, the latter an 18-yarder to put Dallas at the Houston 4.
After Michael Gallup’s attempted TD catch was barely broken up, Elliott scored on third down from the 2 to cap the 11-play drive.
“We got to love these moments,” Prescott said. “Who cares what’s happened these last 58 minutes of this game? We’ve got two minutes to go get a win.”
Tony Pollard scored twice for Dallas, which was a 16 1/2-point favorite, according to . The fourth consecutive victory kept the Cowboys two games behind NFL-leading Philadelphia in the NFC East.
Prescott was 6 of 6 for 79 yards on the go-ahead drive after completing just 20 of 33 with two interceptions before that.
The two picks left the 2016 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year with nine in his first eight games for the first time in his seven seasons.
“We can sit here and talk about all the things that didn’t go right,” Dallas coach Mike McCarthy said. “And I get it. But at the end of the day, you have to go win the game in the fourth quarter.”
After going back to Davis Mills as the starter following a two-game benching, the Texans threw in a wrinkle by having him share snaps with Driskel, who offered a hybrid wildcat/throwing role that included his first TD pass since 2020.
Kyle Allen, the replacement for Mills the previous two games, was inactive, and Mills did his part to help a Houston offense that was more efficient than normal.
Houston’s Chris Moore had career highs with 10 catches for 124 yards but was stopped a yard short of the goal line on a second-down grab on the possession that started at the Dallas 4.
Mills, who was 16 of 21 for 175 yards, was on the field after the Texans gave up the lead, with 41 seconds and no timeouts. His Hail Mary from near midfield was intercepted in the end zone by Israel Mukuamu with 3 seconds left.
Watch highlights below:
The post Cowboys Score Late to Avoid Major Upset, Beat Texans 27-23 was originally published on ESPN.
