Cowboys beat Texans 34-30 as Lamb's late catch caps Dallas comeback

Lamb's record night delivers in the final minute

CeeDee Lamb caught a career-high 17 passes for 189 yards, including the 12-yard score with 40 seconds on the clock that put Dallas ahead for good, 34-30, over Houston on Sunday. Houston fell to 0-4 on the season. Dallas moved to 2-2.

Prescott directed an 11-play, 74-yard drive, with a fourth-down conversion mixed in, to set up the winning score. He finished 32 of 45 for 335 yards and the one touchdown. Stroud, playing after missing time with a hamstring issue on the Houston side, threw for 347 yards and two scores of his own, but the Texans could not hold a fourth-quarter lead.

A game that changed hands five times

Houston jumped out front behind Nico Collins, with Stroud finding him for a 7-yard touchdown early in the first quarter. Ka'imi Fairbairn added field goals from 51, 39 and 54 yards around a 50-yard Brandon Aubrey field goal for Dallas, pushing Houston's lead to 16-6 at halftime. Aubrey also had a 62-yard attempt blocked by Will Anderson late in the second quarter.

Dallas chipped away in the third. Javonte Williams scored on an 8-yard run to make it 16-13, then Collins' second touchdown, a 22-yard catch, put Houston back up 23-13. Williams answered from a yard out to cut it to 23-20 heading to the fourth quarter.

Williams scored his third touchdown of the half on a 2-yard run, giving Dallas its first lead, 27-23, with about 11 minutes to go. Houston answered with a drive built on a hook-and-ladder completion to Dalton Schultz and a 19-yard David Montgomery run, finishing with Woody Marks' 6-yard touchdown that put the Texans back ahead, 30-27, with 2:23 left. Prescott then drove Dallas 74 yards in 11 plays before finding Lamb for the winning score with 40 seconds on the clock. Stroud's final pass fell incomplete.

By the numbers

Dallas outgained Houston 399 yards to 397 and held a wide edge in first downs, 28 to 16, while being flagged six times for 47 yards against 13 penalties for 90 yards on Houston. Neither team turned the ball over. Williams finished with 62 yards and three touchdowns on 19 carries. Collins had seven catches for 118 yards and two scores in his first game back from a hamstring injury, and Montgomery led Houston's ground game with 24 yards on 10 carries.

Jake Hansen led Houston with 12 tackles and a sack, and Malik Hooker had seven tackles for Dallas. Jaylin Noel added a 53-yard kickoff return for Houston, and George Pickens had a 53-yard catch for Dallas that set up a short-yardage touchdown drive, aided by a pass interference flag and then a holding call on Houston's Kamari Lassiter.

Injury report

Houston listed Kenneth Murray Jr. (head, concussion), Jaden Crumedy (shoulder) and Jaylin Smith (hamstring) as questionable, with Marlin Klein out for a coach's decision. Dallas had DeMarvion Overshown out with a hamstring injury, along with Camden Brown, Emari Demercado and Ajani Cornelius out for coach's decisions. Houston keeps looking for its first win of the season, while Dallas tries to build on the comeback.

Facts per ESPN box score. Opinion is the taproom's.