alk about heartbreaking. The Cowboys went into Houston with a chance to put themselves in front of Philadelphia in the NFC East. After the Eagles lost to the Vikings earlier in the day http://www.thecowboysfootballauthentic.com/jeff-heath-jersey-authentic , Dallas was gifted an opportunity to jump out to the front of the division early on, especially if the Redskins lose to the Saints on Monday Night Football. But Deshaun Watson and J.J. Watt stood in their way, and in the end the Cowboys walked away with an overtime loss that dropped them to 2-3, squandering their opportunity. Truth be told, there were probably ten or fifteen plays that shaped this game, but here’s our best attempt at narrowing it down to just five. Dak gets picked off and stirs up the blame gameAfter limiting the Texans to a field goal to make it a 10-6 Houston lead, the Cowboys offense was stringing together a really nice drive. Ezekiel Elliott was gaining momentum and Dak Prescott was making plays with his feet and arm. After a questionable spot, the Cowboys drew up a QB sneak on fourth and one and converted, keeping the drive alive on Houston’s 39-yard line with under two minutes in the first half. On the very next play, Dak took a shotgun snap and had Tavon Austin in lax man coverage. He rightly targeted the speedy receiver and the play very well could have turned into six points. Instead, the pass was high and it ricocheted off Austin’s fingertips and into the defender’s hands. The pick killed all momentum for the Cowboys, who were hoping to at least make it a one-point game, and it also raised the question of who was more responsible for the turnover. Watch it again, and you be the judge: Jaylon Smith stops Deshaun Watson on fourth and goalAfter the interception http://www.cowboyscheapauthenticstore.com/tyrone-crawford-jersey-cheap , Deshaun Watson moved the Texans offense right down the field in a two-minute drill that seemed destined for a touchdown to take a 17-6 halftime lead. After Jeff Heath stopped Deandre Hopkins a yard short of the endzone on third down, Houston decided to go for it instead of taking the field goal. Watson took the shotgun snap and had nowhere to throw to, so he decided to use his legs. That’s when Jaylon Smith decided to prove how great he is: The stop was not only very impressive and a complete and total justification for drafting Smith in the first place, but it kept the Cowboys in the game. Giving up a touchdown would have made it a two score game with the Texans getting the ball in the second half, and doing so after a momentum-killing interception could have killed any chance of a comeback as well. Instead, it was a 10-6 score at half with some positive momentum for Dallas. Dak pulls a Tony Romo and hits Tavon for 44 yardsMuch later, in the middle of the fourth quarter, the Texans had just kicked a field goal to go up 16-13 and the Cowboys were trying to respond. Starting at their own 25-yard line, the Cowboys called a play-action pass for Prescott and when J.J. Watt came with the pressure, Dak did his best to one-up Tony Romo’s iconic spin move. After getting away from the pressure, Dak threw up a prayer to Tavon Austin and hit him for a huge completion: The play unfortunately didn’t serve as a spark for a touchdown, but it did put the Cowboys in position for a game-tying field goal, which they ended up hitting after the rest of the drive fizzled out. And after an otherwise rough outing, Prescott showed that he’s still capable of big plays. Pressure gets to Watson and Xavier Woods picks it off to force OTThe Texans got the ball back with under two minutes in the game and Watson was doing his best to move his offense into field goal range with a tie game. A big 18-yard pass to Keke Coutee to convert on third down set the Texans up on Dallas’ own 49-yard line. On the next play Youth Allen Hurns Jersey , DeMarcus Lawrence and a blitzing Jaylon Smith created pressure that nearly sacked Watson, but he tossed up a ball that overthrew his receiver and fell right into the hands of Xavier Woods. With only ten seconds left after the pick, the Cowboys weren’t really given enough to try and win the game, but Woods’ interception defeated any efforts by Houston to win the game, giving the Cowboys one last shot to win in overtime. Cowboys opt to punt on fourth and one in OTThe Cowboys got the ball first in overtime and started moving the ball and picking up steam. On third and one at Houston’s 42-yard line, Zeke got the handoff and was stuffed for no gain after a blitzing Zach Cunningham came in unblocked. Faced with a fourth and one around midfield in Houston territory, many fans were calling for them to go for it. After all, the Cowboys had done something similar with success in the first half. But instead, Jason Garrett opted to punt it away. Chris Jones pinned the ball at the 10-yard line, but the Texans still drove down the field to kick a game-winning field goal. Naturally, Garrett has since taken a lot of heat for the decision, and even Jerry Jones was critical. Given how well the defense had played thus far, it makes sense to have faith in the defense, but there’s also something to be said for taking risks and trusting the league leading rusher and Great Wall of Dallas.Cowboys vs. Panthers: Five things to watch in the game The Dallas Cowboys will be playing football on Sunday in a real game that will count in the standings. Can you believe it? The time has finally arrived. The Cowboys will square off with their first NFC South team as they travel to Carolina to face the Panthers. The last time these teams met was in 2015 and the Panthers gave the Cowboys a 33-14 Thanksgiving beat-down. Carolina came into that game 10-0 and finished 15-1 en route to a Super Bowl appearance.The Cowboys are hoping for different results this time as they look to get off to a good start in 2018. It’s should be a great game as these teams are evenly matched Cheap Zack Martin Jersey , but what are some things that could be the difference maker? Here are five things to watch when these two teams square off.Panthers DT’s vs. Cowboys interior OLThe Cowboys were going to have their hands full with the Panthers stud defensive tackles Dontari Poe and Kawaan Short no matter what, but the absence of All Pro center Travis Frederick is going to make it that much more challenging. Backup center Joe Looney has been solid in relief, but when you consider that he’ll have rookie Connor Williams on his left, that can create a cause for concern for Cowboys fans as they fend off two former Pro Bowlers.The offensive line is such an important part of the Cowboys success. They need it working to get Ezekiel Elliott going and they need it to keep Dak Prescott upright. Winning the battle in the trenches is going to be key for Dallas on Sunday.Which will effectively influence...Cowboys first-down efficiencyThere is no secret that the Cowboys are going to employ a heavy does of the running game. Keeping quarterback Dak Prescott in manageable down-and-distance situations is going to be imperative and the Cowboys offense will need to win on early downs to make that possible. With the tough defensive front of Carolina, it’s going to be difficult for the Cowboys to move the pile. Dallas will need to work in some bootleg tosses, play-action, and quick passes in order to keep the Panthers from overloading against the run.If the Cowboys get stuffed early or have some negative plays that put them behind the chains, then their offense could be forced to play uphill. It’s going to be important for the Cowboys to be efficient on first down.Randy Gregory vs. Taylor MotonThe Panthers offensive line is beat up as several key starters are battling injuries. One of those key starters is left tackle Matt Kalil who was selected fourth overall in the 2012 NFL Draft (by Minnesota). On Tuesday, the Panthers put Kalil on injured reserve, making him unavailable to them for the first half of the season.That leaves second-year tackle Taylor Moton to protect Cam Newton’s blindside. While Panthers fans are pleased with the progress of last year’s second-round pick, Moton is very inexperienced and only played five snaps last year.Opposing Moton will be another second-round pick who doesn’t have a whole lot of playing experience himself - Randy Gregory. However, the Cowboys young edge rusher has hit the ground running once he was reinstated by the league and he’s ready to show the world what he can do. This will be an interesting battle to keep an eye on as how well these players perform will have a huge affect on how successful these teams can be this season.Double-down on double-deuceChristian McCaffrey can be explosive when he gets in space and the Cowboys defense will need watch this guy carefully. McCaffrey can beat you as a running back, but he’s even more dangerous catching passes as the majority of his 1,000+ scrimmage yards last season came as a receiver. With Panthers coach Ron Rivera indicating that McCaffrey will get a heavy amount of touches Cheap Cole Beasley Jersey , this could open things up for the second-year running back to have a big season.The Cowboys will counter that with the great explosiveness of All-Pro linebacker Sean Lee. And with the improved movement from Jaylon Smith, the defense has a good core group of players who can go after the ball carrier. When it comes to McCaffrey, the Cowboys better allocate an extra defender to track his whereabouts. He’s a slippery littler sucker and if they don’t have an insurance policy in place when one guy misses, it could turn into a big play for Carolina.The rookie receiversThe Cowboys didn’t select fan-favorite D.J. Moore in the first round, but the Panthers did. Dallas opted to wait until the third round to draft their new wide receiver when they selected Michael Gallup with the 81st overall pick. How well will these young receivers fan in their NFL debut?Devin Funchess is the Panthers top receiving threat at the moment, but with with the talent of Moore, it’s only a matter of time before he starts becoming more involved in the offense. Cam Newton has a big arm and if Moore gets loose deep down field, it could result in a big play for the Panthers offense.The Cowboys have an assortment of receivers and could end up dressing all six of them on the roster. It’s unclear what Gallup’s role will be, but he developed some nice chemistry with Prescott in training camp. Can the rookie makes a splash in his first NFL game?What will you be watching on Sunday?