FINAL: Houston 28, Dallas 16.

Well, you can’t win them all, right? It wasn’t particularly a great night for the Cowboys, so I’ll make this as quick as possible.

Offensive MVP: Tony Romo played three full quarters and threw completed 14 of 22 passes for 197 yards and two touchdowns.

Defensive MVP: Bradie James was one of the defensive bright spots, racking up eight tackles (five solos, three assists). Hopefully we’ll be seeing those kinds of numbers on a regular basis this season.

Offensive Analysis: It doesn’t really help that they were playing from behind all game long, and the defense let the Texans have a pretty good night. But, when it comes down to it, the offense didn’t have the kind of night anyone (or me, rather) expected.

A lot of that is due to the running game not getting anything going at all. Julius Jones got all of the carries in the three first quarter drives, instead of things being alternated as they had been in the first two games. It might not have made any difference though, as the Texans’ run defense came to play tonight, limiting the Cowboys to very few good gains on the ground. For the night, the Cowboys totaled only 57 yards rushing on 21 carries, which comes out to a 2.7 yard average.

Romo and Brad Johnson combined to put up pretty good numbers, minus the two picks. But, without a running game, they were the ones that looked one-dimensional, not the Texans.

Defensive Analysis: You can’t put it all on Terence Newman’s absence, but it certainly made a difference. The pass defense got burned for three touchdowns and 20 completions in 28 attempts (71 percent).

The run defense wasn’t near as effective as it had been in the first two games. After limiting the Colts and Broncos to 84 yards total in two games, the Cowboys allowed 142 yards rushing tonight, on 26 attempts (nearly 5.5 yards per carry). Ahman Green busted loose for a 46-yard run early in the second quarter, which helped set up the Texans’ second touchdown, and late in the fourth, after Jacques Reeves picked up a pass interference penalty on a crucial third down play, Sam Gado had a 16-yard run that set up the touchdown that put the game away.

The backup corners got burned multiple times. Reeves had the most struggles, getting that interference penalty, and getting burned a couple of passes. And, Ball got beat on the last touchdown. This is a little worrying, since quality depth at corner is pretty important, and if you don’t know if you can depend on the backups if the starters go down, then you just better hope the starters avoid any scrapes.

Overall Analysis: Well, it’s only a preseason game, but given the way the Cowboys had played in the first two weeks, tonight’s result is pretty disappointing.

It was just an off-night for the run game, so there’s not anything to really worry about there. But, you’ve got to hope the backups in the secondary get it together next week, not only for the sake of being able to count on more than just the starters during the season, but also for their sake, because cuts are coming up, and if you can’t hack it, you’re going to get hacked, and there’ll be someone on the waiver wire ready to take your place and get it done.

Okay, maybe I’m overreacting. But, either way, you want to be able to rely on the guys behind the starters, because of certain packages that call for extra personnel, and because you want an insurance policy in case something happens to a starter.

But, hey, you can’t win them all, and everyone has an off night. Credit to the Texans for coming to play, and for putting together a good all-around game to pick up the win. It’s a preseason game, but I’m sure it’s got to feel good to get a win over the in-state ‘rival.’

As for the Cowboys, it’s back to the practice field, as they’ll have a short week to prepare for the final preseason game at Minnesota. The Vikings will enter the game 1-2 on the preseason, after losing 30-13 at Seattle tonight. Hopefully the Cowboys will be able to round out a successful preseason, and have themselves ready to take on the Giants and start ther run towards claiming their first NFC East title since 1998.