Maybe next year Houston...

DALLAS 34, HOUSTON 6
Cowboys all over Texans in 34-6 victory
Terrell Owens contributes three touchdowns in runaway win for Dallas

by John McClain
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

IRVING - As the players walked slowly toward the tunnel that would take them to the visitors' dressing room at Texas Stadium, a guy wearing a Texans cap and shirt shouted to the players, "Ya'll are making it tough to be a Texans fan."

The Texans are testing the patience and loyalty of their fans after Sunday's second-half collapse against the Dallas Cowboys.

In turning a 6-3 halftime lead into a 34-6 defeat, the Texans continued to be roadkill. They haven't won away from Reliant Stadium since December 2004.

The Texans' latest defeat was caused by an abysmal second-half performance in which they were outscored 31-0 and destroyed mentally and physically by a Dallas team that had been as wet as the weather in the first two quarters.

"It's very frustrating because they just kicked our butts in the second half," coach Gary Kubiak said.

To add insult to injuries suffered by defensive tackle Seth Payne (torn knee ligament), offensive tackle Zach Wiegert (sprained knee), safety Glenn Earl (sprained neck) and offensive tackle Eric Winston (dislocated finger), Terrell Owens caught three touchdown passes in the second half — two from the unpopular Drew Bledsoe and one from popular backup, Tony Romo.

"It was a tale of two halves, and we got ours kicked," defensive tackle Travis Johnson said.

The trouble began for the Texans on Dallas' first series in the third quarter. The Cowboys went 68 yards in nine plays and took the lead for good when Bledsoe threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Owens. He ran a fade route and took the ball away from cornerback Lewis Sanders.

At that point, the Texans (1-4) came unhinged. In the second half, they committed all seven of their penalties and turned the ball over three times on two David Carr interceptions and a fumble by kickoff returner Edell Shepherd. The Cowboys (3-2) capitalized by converting the turnovers into 17 points and a 27-7 lead early in the fourth quarter.

"We had a good feeling at halftime," defensive end N.D. Kalu said. "You could see it in our eyes. There was a lot of energy in the dressing room. That's why the second half was so disappointing."

Sunday wasn't the first time the Texans have collapsed in the third quarter. It all four losses they've given up a touchdown on the opponents' opening possession after halftime.

"The first drive of the second half usually sets the tone," Kalu said. "What happened to us is the sign of a young team.

"When something goes bad, our attitude is like, 'Here we go again.' Subconsciously, of course. We have to get out of that mode. The only way to do it is to have some success in those kind of situations."

It was quite a turnaround from a first-half performance in which the Texans played terrific defense and went to the dressing room with a three-point advantage, thanks to a pair of Kris Brown field goals, including a clutch 48-yarder as time expired.

"We challenged ourselves at halftime," Cowboys linebacker Bradie James said. "They came out firing and really wanted to win, but once we made our halftime adjustments, we knew what we had to do. And we did it."

And they did it on both sides of the ball and on special teams. Safety Roy Williams set the tone for the Dallas defense with big hits. The offense scored on five of six second-half possessions. Running back Julius Jones finished with 106 of Dallas' 170 yards rushing.

Bledsoe, who was booed unmercifully by the fans in the first half, threw two touchdown passes in the second. Owens, Terry Glenn and Patrick Crayton caught five passes each.

"We have our own issues to deal with, so if we're not scoring points on every drive, we're not happy," Bledsoe said. "They decided to come after us and blitz us quite a bit, and we didn't handle it very well early. Then we made some plays against it and started having some success."

Success is a foreign concept to a Texans running game that was even more pathetic than usual with 34 yards on 17 carries.

The passing game couldn't carry the team in this game because David Carr threw two interceptions that set up Cowboys touchdown drives. Carr wasn't sacked, but he still threw for only 128 yards before coach Gary Kubiak replaced him with Sage Rosenfels, who was 8-of-11 for 70 yards in mop-up duty.