CeeDee Lamb's 17 catches beat Texans -3 even with Collins back

The whole case was Nico Collins, and Collins delivered: 7 catches, 118 yards, two touchdowns, with C.J. Stroud going 21 of 31 for 347. It didn't matter. CeeDee Lamb caught 17 balls for 189 yards, 140 of them after halftime, Javonte Williams punched in three short touchdowns, and Dallas outscored Houston 28-14 in the second half. Cowboys 34, Texans 30, so laying 3 misses by seven. Houston also took 13 penalties for 90 yards and burned every timeout on the last drive. Right read, wrong team.

Nico Collins returned to practice Wednesday, limited, after missing two games with the hamstring, and he is the whole difference in Houston's passing game with Jayden Higgins out for the year and Tank Dell on IR. Dallas is coming off a game in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday, so it gets a long trip home before a road game. Both of those are real, but the case depends on Collins actually playing, which is why this is a lean. If Collins is ruled out Friday, I'd flip to the points.