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NFL Week 5 Picks & Odds For Dallas Cowboys At Houston Texans

By Carter Lee
Published on: 16:57 PST, Oct 3, 2018

Fans are making their NFL Week 5 picks, and as far as the books go, most of the money is with the Houston Texans to beat the Dallas Cowboys in an in-state Sunday Night Football rivalry meeting. Thus far, experts who have given their NFL Week 5 picks are following the money on this one, predicting that the inconsistent Cowboys will fall to the rising Texans. Sunday night, the 2-2 Cowboys will make a short trip to NRG Stadium to face the 1-3 Texans. The NFL action airs on NBC at 8:20 p.m. EST.

If you’re looking to live stream Sunday Night Football, as the Daily Dot reported, there are several options. Sling TV and FuboTV are popular among NFL fans for streaming games, and they both come with a free trial. Those with Hulu Live TV will be able to stream the Texans and Cowboys game, as well those with YouTube TV and PlayStation Vue. If you’re looking for the audio stream of the NFL Sunday night contest, XM Streaming 812 has the Texans feed and XM Streaming 808 has the Cowboys feed.

The last time these two teams met was four years ago in October of 2014, and Dallas beat Houston 20-17 in overtime. The Texans have met the Cowboys just four times in NFL history, and Dallas leads the series 3-1. The Texans are tied for last place with the Colts in the AFC South, and they desperately need a W. The Cowboys are tied with the Eagles for second place in the NFC East, behind the Washington Redskins.

Feed The Zeke

The Cowboys narrowly beat the Lions 26-24 in Week 4 and running back Ezekiel Elliott was the star of the show. Quarterback Dak Prescott completed 17 of his 27 passes for 255 yards, two touchdowns, and zero interceptions. Ezekiel Elliot led both the air and ground games, receiving four times for 88 yards and a touchdown and carrying 25 times for 152 yards. Geoff Swaim logged three receptions for 39 yards and a touchdown. Kicker Brett Maher came through for the Cowboys, putting up a total of 14 points.

With 3,040 yards in 29 career games, Zeke has been lighting the NFL on fire. NFL Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson is the only running back to reach 3,000 yards in fewer games than Ezekiel, as ESPN reported. Jim Brown, an NFL Hall of Fame running back, also reached 3,000 yards in 29 games.

Zeke took himself out of a few plays in the Lions game because of ankle and knee soreness, but he had a full practice on Wednesday. As ESPN documented, Elliott has assured Cowboys fans that he felt great on Wednesday and that he’s good to go on Sunday against the Texans.

“This is the best Wednesday practice I had. This is the freshest I have felt of any Wednesday. I did a good job of coming in and getting that treatment to be ready to go today…I was banged up. It’s football. That is what it is. I am young. I got fresh legs. I’m going to get the ball as much as I can.”

Defensively, Dallas played solidly in Week 4, with Demarcus Lawrence leading the way with eight tackles and three sacks. However, for the first quarter of the NFL season, the Cowboys have allowed 24 points in each of their last two matchups. The Cowboys’ offense is scoring only 16.8 points per game on average, and their D is allowing an average of 19.3 points per game.

Will Zeke Be Fed Against The Texans’ Defense?

After a rough three weeks, the Houston Texans finally clicked into gear in Week 4 against the Colts, beating their divisional rival 37-34 in an overtime victory. However, even in the three games they lost, the Texans were competitive, losing by a touchdown or less. Against the Colts, quarterback DeShaun Watson looked impressive, and rookie receiver KeKe Coutee was unleashed after Will Fuller went out due to a hamstring injury.

Watson completed 29 of his 42 passes for 375 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. Watson also carried the ball six times for 41 yards and a touchdown. DeAndre Hopkins found 10 receptions for 169 yards and one touchdown, and Coutee logged 11 receptions for 109 yards. Before leaving the game, Fuller had four receptions for 49 yards and a TD. Kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn made three of his four field goals, and he put up a total of 13 points on the scoreboard. Houston ranks fifth in the NFL in total offense, averaging 24 points per game.

Defensively, Jonathan Joseph had a total of eight tackles. Star players J.J. Watt and Jadeveon Clowney finally showed up this NFL season, each making four tackles and two sacks a piece, and Clowney also secured the ball on a fumble recovery for a touchdown. If the Texans’ defense performs again in Week 5 like they did against the Colts, then that will likely spell trouble for Zeke and Dallas, as the Cowboys are relying heavily on their ground attack.

NFL Week 5 Picks & Odds For Texans vs. Cowboys

This all-Texas game should be a fun one to watch. As of the time of this writing, the Texans are favored to beat the Cowboys with a spread of -3. Some fans are playing the over in this one, which is set at 45, though most experts are suggesting staying away from the over/under because they are expecting the Houston D to show up. As far as the books are concerned, most of the money is backing the Texans at -3. Most NFL experts align with the money, as most picks are also pointing to a Houston victory.

As with all NFL games, injuries may play a part in this one, as both teams have a litany of players that saw limited participation in practice. To keep up with the latest injury reports for Dallas and Houston, you can follow the link in the tweet below.

For the NFL season, the Texans are allowing just 94.3 yards on the ground per game on average, but they are allowing 307.3 in the air. However, Dallas has been relying heavily on their ground attack with Zeke running the ball, and that may not bode well for the Cowboys against J.J. Watt and company. Dallas has played inconsistently this season, and even though they have lost three games, the Texans have seemingly improved in each outing. Most expert NFL Week 5 picks are with the Houston Texans beating the Dallas Cowboys by more than a field goal.

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