The Houston Texans are now at a brutal 0-4 record on the 2026 season after dropping their Week 4 matchup against the Dallas Cowboys, 30-34.

It's a record that the Texans haven't seen their name next to their name on the standings since the start of the 2020 season; the first of three years where Houston failed to win more than four games in a season, and was fully focused on retooling and rebuilding this roster to a playoff contender.

But fast forward six years later, the Texans are in a vastly different, and much better, situation than they were in that 2020 season–– yet still, they're found an exact same 0-4 record they started with then.

While they entered this season as what many viewed as one the top contenders to make it to the Super Bowl in the AFC, they now sit four games under .500; a massive hole to start the new year, and clearly, an assortment of problems to work out if they want to make a similar climb up the standings as they did last year.

With Week 4 in the books, let's sort through just how the Texans performed in their loss against the Cowboys by looking at the good, bad, and ugly seen across the day:

The Good: C.J. Stroud and Nico Collins' Connection

A large chunk of the Texans previous three losses could be credited to poor performances on the offensive side of the ball. But in this game against Dallas, scoring the ball wasn't much of an issue for Houston–– which came largely because of the standout outing C.J. Stroud and Nico Collins had in the passing game.

Collins (hamstring) made his return to the Texans lineup in Week 4, where he certainly made his presence felt on the Dallas defense: seven catches on eight targets, 118 yards, and two touchdowns. It's only the second game of Collins' NFL career where he's hauled in over 100 receiving yards with a pair of scores.

So we know that all hope isn't lost for this Texans passing game when all key pieces within their lineup. Against the Cowboys, Collins was back at 100%, was a focal point of the passing attack, and delivered in order to help Houston lift up to their highest-scoring outing of the year thus far.

Even with those positives on the offensive end, though, the Texans proved to be far from perfect down the stretch. Stroud and Collins carried their weight extremely well, yet even a vintage performance on their behalf wasn't enough to lift this struggling Houston unit over the hump for that first win of the season.

The Bad: Where Is the Run Game?

The Texans' run game felt like it was going to be on a better trajectory after David Montgomery brought in three touchdowns during his Week 1 debut against the Buffalo Bills; the most rushing touchdowns the franchise has seen since Joe Mixon in 2024.

But since that eye-catching hat trick from Montgomery, there really hasn't been any real success generating in the run game in the three weeks to follow. Montgomery has been inefficient with a real lack of explosiveness. Woody Marks has been a bit more explosive, yet still not the lead back this Texans offense can confidently lean on week after week.

In this one against the Cowboys, the two Texans running backs combined for 46 yards on 16 carries, sitting right under 3.0 yards per carry. Such a result––on top of Houston's previous lackluster performances on the ground through the last few weeks––led to Stroud making their improvement a clear emphasis during his postgame presser.

"Yeah, we've got to find a way to get those guys a chance," Stroud said on Sunday. "Like, they're both special backs; both backs that can create. And I think they're trying their best, man. But I think we’ve got to find things that fit us; our run game execution needs to go up. And I have the utmost trust that it will."

The Ugly: Just How Dominant CeeDee Lamb Was

It's hard to imagine the Texans and their elite secondary were the ones allowing Cowboys star wideout CeeDee Lamb to have one of his most memorable days as a pro. But boy, it was a pretty dismal day for Houston's pass defense.

Just looking at Lamb's stat line tends to tell a good bit of the story: 17 catches on a whopping 21 targets, 189 yards, and a touchdown.

There's some receivers in the NFL who are lucky to record those types of numbers in a single season, but Lamb managed to do it in just a few hours against a defense that many talked up as the best in the league before Week 1.

Being without Azeez Al-Shaair and Henry To'oTo'o in the linebacker room certainly took a major hit to the Texans' defensive success. Both of them are integral parts to Houston's defense each week they're healthy and on the field.

However, even being without both of them on Sunday, it's becoming much clearer that Houston might not have as dominant of a defense that many expected them to carry into 2026––especially when it comes to their talent in the secondary.

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