Tyler Guyton’s heart was in the right place.
Guyton’s mistake won’t come close to “butt fumble” lore, but it summed up the sorry state of the Dallas Cowboys. Guyton, the Cowboys’ first-round draft pick and left tackle, allowed pressure on a fourth-quarter play against the Houston Texans, and quarterback Cooper Rush had the ball knocked out of his hands. Guyton scooped the ball out of the air and had visions of glory as he started to run. But he was hit by safety Jalen Pitre and learned that 322-pound men shouldn’t be carrying the ball in the NFL. Guyton fumbled, Texans defensive end Derek Barnett scooped it up and returned it 28 yards for a touchdown and a 17-point Texans lead.
Even worse, Guyton injured his shoulder on the hit and left the game.
The way the Cowboys' offense has played with Rush, everyone knew 17 points was way too much of a hole for the Cowboys to get out of. Dallas fans could feel free to turn in early, if they hadn’t already.
The Texans didn’t play very well but they didn’t have to. The Cowboys at least kept it relatively close after a terrible start, but they are one of the NFL’s worst teams right now and it showed. The Texans cruised to a 34-10 win to improve to 7-4 and stay atop the AFC South.
It was the sixth straight home game in which the Cowboys trailed by at least 20 points, which is an NFL record, according to ESPN.
The Cowboys are 3-7, even worse without injured quarterback Dak Prescott and it’s not going to get much better. They can just hope to limit the embarrassing moments the rest of the way.