Why Texans called their timeouts on defense while trying to hold lead in loss to Cowboys
Clinging to a three-point lead in the final minutes Sunday, the Houston Texans did something that seemed counterintuitive: They used all three of their timeouts on defense as the Dallas Cowboys put together their game-winning drive that resulted in a 34-30 victory for the visitors from up Interstate 45.
After C.J. Stroud led the offense on an 87-yard drive that gave the Texans a 30-27 lead with 2:23 remaining, the Cowboys had the ball at their own 26 with two timeouts, plus the two-minute warning with which to work.
The Texans defense looked like it might get a quick stop, forcing the Cowboys into a fourth-and-4, but Dak Prescott hit Jake Ferguson for a first down and Dallas was on the move. After a 15-yard pass gave the Cowboys another first down at the Houston 46, the Texans used their first timeout with 1:02 left in the game. The logic was simple: Dallas already was in range for a game-tying field goal from Brandon Aubrey, who has made a 65-yarder in his career, but missed a pair from 60-plus yards in the first half, including one that was blocked. If the defense stops Prescott from finding the end zone and forces a field goal, the Texans could still give themselves time to get down field for a game-winning field goal.
"At the time I was not surprised that they were calling them, but everybody has a different plan in the way that you attack the last couple of minutes of the game and that was their plan of making sure they gave themselves enough time, which they should have," Prescott said.
The Texans used their last two timeouts on the next two plays – completions of 4 and 8 yards, respectively – with the Cowboys already inside the Texans' 34 with 52 seconds still to play.
Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said the Texans stopping the clock didn't change how he was calling plays or attacking downfield.
"No, not really," he said. "Just kind of expect that they're going to try to use them to save time. It shows that they respect our offense, and they know that we're capable of putting up points in a hurry."
With the Texans out of timeouts, the Cowboys needed just three more plays to find the end zone, which gave Stroud and the Houston offense the ball with 37 seconds left and no timeouts remaining. Of course, the Texans would have liked to been able to stop the clock in that situation, but they may not have had any time remaining – or at least very little – had they not already used the timeouts on defense.
The Cowboys scored while still holding two timeouts in their pocket, which Prescott pointed to as evidence the Texans' timeout strategy wasn't necessarily a benefit to the Cowboys offense.
"We could have called (our timeouts) if we needed to so they knew on their side, ‘Hey, let's call them to make sure we are give ourselves a chance on offense to be able to respond.' If we needed them, we would have called them," Prescott said. "I don't know if it had that big of an impact in just the score and the outcome. We felt good getting on the ball, having the plays that we had called, putting pressure on them. That's when we feel like we're at our best. I think it was just that's what they felt like they needed to do."
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This article originally published at Why Texans called their timeouts on defense while trying to hold lead in loss to Cowboys.
