Houston Sports: The top three must-follow storylines for fans

Storyline #2: Texas’ Team > America’s Team

The Best in Texas

When you watch the game as a whole, the final score of 19-16 doesn’t appear to be an instant classic and you would be right. There were moments in the game where things would go from good to bad and from potential disaster to a ray of light. But when all was said and done, the Texans came out on top and for now, have bragging rights over the Dallas Cowboys.

Veto the Bill

When they started 0-3, fans alike — not just of Houston Sports — panicked and were calling for Bill O’Brien‘s head. Now O’Brien is not out of the woods just yet. He made some head-scratching decisions in this game too. Take for example 4th and goal near halftime. O’Brien makes the right decision in going for it with Houston up 10-6. The only thing he gets wrong is the play call. A pass-first play that led to Deshaun Watson pushed out of bounds and a turnover on downs.

In fact, the red zone was a major problem. The Texans converted four field goals from inside the 20.  Those were 12 points that could potentially have turned into 28 and a big blowout. But for whatever reason, rather than run it, O’Brien decides to throw and it leads to nothing.

Watson: Aggressive or Heroic?

Every quarterback will get hit in this league. But Watson took some shots in the game to the point where the reporters were questioning his health. Some of Watson’s throws were terrible, including one when the pressure came and Watson threw up a bad pass to a Cowboy’s defender for an interception.

You had to worry about Watson because it felt like he was hurting. Hell, he was in a medical tent before overtime to see if he was okay. But to Watson’s credit, he got back up and kept playing.

What Won the Game?

Dallas fans will say they lost the game because head coach Jason Garrett chose to punt on fourth down instead of going for it. We didn’t have a short field and Watson took some chances of mixing up the run and pass plays. Ultimately, it was DeAndre Hopkins who made the play of the game with this big Texas tornado reception.

Remember in 2014, which by the way a lot of Texans fans were in Arlington compared to the number of Cowboy fans in Houston Sunday night? Remember when Tony Romo threw a big third-down conversion in overtime that simply won the game before the kick was made? That was basically our revenge right there with the Hopkins catch. At that point, it felt like a tie was on the horizon. But sure enough, that gain was all it would take to get the win even though it was a field goal that won it later on.

Conclusion

While both teams are 2-3 and still dealing with coaches in the hot seat, anytime you beat the Dallas Cowboys should be treated like a big win. You get bragging rights for the time being until you play them next time or you win the Super Bowl. This being the Texans’ second win of all-time, there is hope that the rivalry would shift into high gear and Houston could overtake Dallas soon.

Hope was what the third and final team waited for 56 years and now are four wins away from the chance to repeat as champions.  What a hell of a storyline for Houston Sports.