Week 1 of the NFL season reminded us of two truths about professional football in Texas: the Cowboys are still louder than their results; and the Texans are still trying to turn potential into power. Which means the state’s NFL bragging rights are as messy as a Sunday tailgate after last call.
Fresh off back-to-back AFC South titles, C.J. Stroud and the Houston Texans entered Week 1 with their sights set higher. “A lot better,” is how Hannah McNair, wife of owner Cal McNair, described Houston’s goal entering the season. Translation? It’s time to stop settling for division banners. The divisional round wall has tripped them up in each of their last three postseason appearances (2024, 2023, 2019).
Meanwhile, 250 miles north, the Dallas Cowboys still cling to the “America’s Team” brand. Why? Well, it probably has less to do with wins and more to do with the fact that no matter how they play, you can count on a Netflix docuseries, a behind-the-scenes special, or at minimum a new spotlight on Jerry Jones to keep them in the public’s bloodstream year-round.
Jones remains both the Cowboys’ greatest salesman and their most persistent obstacle. He can market the brand better than anyone in sports, but the on-field results keep telling a different story. And yet, Cowboys fans march into every season belting out the same familiar anthem: “This is the year the Cowboys are going to win the Super Bowl. Clock it.”
It’s been the soundtrack for almost three decades now, which makes it about as fresh as a box of pizza I forgot on my counter four days ago. But let’s be honest. What’s an NFL season without the Texans seeking to become the most popular and prominent team in the state of Texas while the Cowboys are still taking center stage?
The Texans spent the offseason trying to protect Stroud from reliving 2024, when he was pressured on nearly 39% of his dropbacks and sacked 52 times. They rebuilt the offensive line and handed the playbook to new offensive coordinator Nick Caley, a Sean McVay–Bill Belichick hybrid by résumé. The goal was simple. Don’t let your franchise quarterback look like he’s running from a burning building every Sunday.
But in Sunday’s opener against the Rams in Inglewood, those plans didn’t exactly pan out. Houston slogged through a 14-9 loss that looked more like a preseason scrimmage than a statement win. Stroud went down three times, faced pressure on half of his dropbacks, and spent most of the afternoon dodging defenders like he was trying to escape a crowded freeway.
Part of that was bad luck, part of it was a line in constant flux. Offensive lineman Ed Ingram was out with an abdomen injury, which shuffled Cam Robinson to left tackle and pushed rookie Aireontae Ersery to the right side. Tytus Howard, the lone returning starter, slid inside to right guard. Robinson briefly left with an injury, center Jake Andrews exited for good with an ankle, and suddenly the Texans were playing offensive line roulette.
Stroud still managed to throw for 188 yards on 19-for-27 passing, but he also threw a pick and rarely looked settled. The low point came late, when Dare Ogunbowale coughed up the ball inside the Rams’ 20 with under two minutes to play, smacked clean by linebacker Nate Landman.
Nick Chubb, making his Texans debut, was solid but not spectacular — 60 yards on 13 carries — but with 11 penalties and a patchwork receiving corps missing Christian Kirk (hamstring) and Tank Dell (still out from last December’s knee injury), Houston didn’t have the firepower to overcome its own mistakes.
The defense? Solid, as expected. But Caley’s debut as offensive coordinator was nothing to frame and hang on the wall. And with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — fresh off a road win in Atlanta and chasing a fifth straight NFC South crown — coming to Houston for Monday Night Football next week, the Texans need to clean things up fast. Otherwise, that offseason promise of being “a lot better” could quickly turn into “same old Texans.”
Meanwhile, “America’s Team,” as longtime NFL Films producer Bob Ryan loves to remind us, marched into a rowdy Lincoln Financial Field on Thursday night, hoping to spoil the reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles’ banner party.
For all the Cowboys postseason frustrations — three 12-win seasons in the last five years, only to bow out twice before even reaching the divisional round, plus two losing seasons sprinkled in — they still own the best record in season-opening wins in NFL history, going all the way back to 1960. Oh, and they also carried a 3-1 edge against Philly in Week 1 matchups heading into Thursday. Not a bad little nugget of motivation, a historical “feather in the cap,” for Brian Schottenheimer in his debut as head coach. The son of the late, legendary Marty Schottenheimer got bumped up by Jones from offensive coordinator this offseason, becoming the franchise’s 10th head coach.
Thursday’s NFC East clash gave Dallas plenty of chances to swipe an opening-night win. But hanging over everything was the storyline no Cowboys fan could ignore: life without Micah Parsons. The four-time Pro Bowl defensive end — the heartbeat of that defense — was shipped to Green Bay less than two weeks ago in exchange for three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Kenny Clark and a pair of future first-round picks in 2026 and 2027. ESPN reported last week that Parsons, in a bid to stay on the team he loved, made one final overture to Jones, which was flatly denied.
It was a blockbuster that didn’t just shake up Dallas’ defense, it rattled the fanbase too. Was Jerry Jones playing the long game with some brilliant roster strategy, or was he just giving the ol’ Magic 8-Ball another shake and hoping for “Outlook good”? Cowboys fans have been staring at the same answer for nearly 30 years, and somehow it always comes back “Reply hazy, try again.”
Instead, the Cowboys walked out of Philly with a 24-20 loss, their fourth in the last five meetings. The game itself? Pure NFC East chaos. It had a little bit of everything. Highlight-reel plays, nonstop jawing, missed chances, rain and enough shoving matches. And just when you thought that was enough drama, the cameras caught a couple of unsanitary bonus moments — yes, actual spits flying. Then, Mother Nature decided she wanted in, tossing in a 65-minute lightning delay that stretched a three-hour football game late in the third quarter into a four-hour marathon.
The first half turned into a track meet, seven possessions, seven straight scores. The Cowboys’ defensive line looked lost without Micah Parsons, while the Eagles’ defense showed the scars of an offseason exodus. No Josh Sweat (now with Arizona Cardinals), Milton Williams (New England Patriots), Darius Slay (Pittsburgh Steelers), C.J. Gardner-Johnson (Houston Texans), or Brandon Graham (retired). Linebacker Nakobe Dean is still sidelined from that torn patellar injury he suffered in January.
But the most damaging absence for Philly wasn’t about who left in free agency. It was about who got himself tossed before the game even started.
Let’s talk about the spit heard round the world. Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter didn’t make it past the opening kickoff. Cameras caught Dak Prescott spitting near the Eagles’ huddle. Prescott later swore he “spits a thousand times” during games but never at someone. But Carter didn’t buy it. Instead, he got in Prescott’s face and fired back with his own glob of spit, landing square on Prescott’s collar. Carter’s meltdown didn’t just get him tossed. It lit up the internet. Fans blasted him across social media, while pundits lined up to pile on. ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith didn’t hold back, calling the spit incident “disgusting” while others referred to it as “stupid,” and “disrespectful.”
Hard to argue that. As Carter was ejected, Philly fans booed, and the Cowboys suddenly faced a defense missing its best interior lineman.
That opened the door for Prescott, who was coming off a hamstring tear in Week 9 last season, to actually look comfortable in the pocket. He finished 21-for-34 with 188 yards but no touchdowns (more to come with that). It also made room for Javonte Williams to make a splashy debut of two rushing touchdowns, becoming the first Cowboys running back to score multiple TDs in his debut since before Jerry Jones even bought the team in 1989. Dallas had six rushing scores all of last season. They had two before the first quarter was complete.
Prescott delivered throws that should’ve been touchdowns, but CeeDee Lamb picked the worst possible time to go butterfingers. Lamb reached 503 career receptions, making him the third-youngest player ever to hit 500. But his night will be remembered for the fourth quarter. First, a drop on a routine first-down catch. Then a deep ball that would’ve put Dallas in a good position to score. And finally, a diving miss on fourth-and-3. According to ESPN Research, it was Lamb’s second game with three drops since Week 13 of last season against the Giants. Wrong kind of consistency.
That left Brian Schottenheimer — only one game into his tenure — joining Tom Landry, Jimmy Johnson, Bill Parcells, Jason Garrett and Mike McCarthy in the not-so-exclusive club of Cowboys coaches who lost their debut. Before kickoff, Schottenheimer said his goal was simple: starting the process of finishing what his father Marty never could and win a Super Bowl. After the loss, he still insisted Dallas has the pieces to hoist a Lombardi this season. But he’ll need fewer drops, a strong run game and a pass rush that finds life without Parsons to make that believable.
For now, the Cowboys still wear the “America’s Team” crown, even if it feels a little dusty. But if the Texans clean up their Week 1 mess, find a way to break through the divisional round wall, and keep trending upward, Houston could make a real case for bragging rights in Texas.
Of course, both franchises lost their openers, which means nothing actually changes — at least not yet. Same script, different season. The Cowboys will still flood your TV screens, hijack social media, and clog up every podcast feed. The Texans? They’ll have to win their way into the conversation. Until then, it’s status quo in the Lone Star State.