Joe Mixon, Texans run over Cowboys, pad AFC South lead
Joe Mixon rushed for 109 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Houston Texans to a convincing 34-10 victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Monday night in Arlington, Texas.
Derek Barnett scored on a fumble return for the Texans (7-4), who hold a two-game lead over the second-place Indianapolis Colts in the AFC South. C.J. Stroud completed 23 of 34 passes for 257 yards and one interception, and Mixon added 44 yards on two receptions.
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Cooper Rush connected on 32 of 55 passes for 354 yards, one touchdown and one interception for the Cowboys (3-7), who lost their fifth consecutive game. Dallas’ KaVontae Turpin caught a scoring pass and CeeDee Lamb had eight receptions for 93 yards.
Houston held a 20-10 lead after a 29-yard field goal by Ka’imi Fairbairn with 7:05 left in the third quarter.
The Cowboys appeared to have answered with a field goal of their own when Brandon Aubrey connected from 64 yards, 1 yard shy of his career long.
However, Barnett was called for a head slap, a 15-yard personal foul that carries an automatic first down. Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy decided to take the points off the board and the ball was moved to the Houston 31-yard line.
However, Dallas eventually turned the ball over on downs as Rush’s pass on fourth-and-2 from the 8 sailed over the head of Jonathan Mingo.
Disaster struck for the Cowboys early in the fourth quarter as Barnett forced Rush to fumble on a strip-sack. Dallas offensive lineman Tyler Guyton recovered the ball, but Houston’s Jalen Pitre forced him to fumble. Barnett picked it up on a bounce at the Dallas 28 and cruised in for the second touchdown of his eight-year career to give the Texans a 27-10 advantage.
Mixon rushed for 71 yards and two touchdowns in the first half and the Texans took a 17-10 lead into halftime.
Mixon exploded up the middle for a 45-yard scoring run with 12:42 left in the opening period. Less than 12 minutes later, he scored from the 1 to give Houston a 14-0 lead.
Dallas got on the board when Turpin caught a short pass near his own 45-yard line and turned it into a 64-yard scoring play. He outran the Houston secondary for the touchdown nine seconds into the second quarter.
Houston moved ahead 17-7 on Fairbairn’s 33-yard field goal with 9:10 left in the half. Aubrey booted a 53-yarder for the Cowboys with 5:55 remaining before the break.
