ARLINGTON — It had been two months since the Houston Texans won a game on prime-time television. But it had been 10 months since they delivered a butt whoopin' this bad.
And it came with the Texans playing their best ball when it mattered most: after halftime.
“It’s about time,” left tackle Laremy Tunsil said, breathing a sigh of relief after the Texans had dismantled the Dallas Cowboys 34-10 at AT&T Stadium on Monday night.
The Texans took it to their Texas rival, just as they did 22 years ago when they beat Dallas 19-10 in prime time in their first game as a franchise. Except this time, the expectations and roles were reversed.
The Texans were expected to win, coming into this matchup as seven-point favorites. The Cowboys, who were down their starting quarterback, Dak Prescott, had lost four consecutive games before Monday.
The Texans certainly delivered. The 24-point victory margin was their largest since a 31-point win over the Cleveland Browns in last year’s playoffs. It was also their largest win over the Cowboys in seven meetings dating to that first game in 2002.
Houston needed a win like this. For its city, its franchise and its confidence. Coming into Monday’s matchup, Houston had lost two consecutive games, and three of its last four, including a last-second heartbreaker to the Detroit Lions on Sunday Night Football.
The Texans' offense in particular had lost its mojo. It hadn’t scored a touchdown in the second half of a game in more than month. Without Nico Collins, who missed the past five weeks with a hamstring injury, their offense had looked like a shell of itself.
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