Rich Reacts to the Cowboys’ ‘GOTI’ Offense Showing Up in Dallas’ Comeback Win vs the Texans

Rich asked for pedal to the metal. Dallas floored it.

After the Cowboys left Rio de Janeiro with a tie-chasing loss, Rich told Brian Schottenheimer on The Rich Eisen Show that it was time to get aggressive. He had the receipts. The season started with Dallas turning down a fourth and inches on its first possession in New Jersey, punting, and failing to get the Giants off the field. Then in Rio, Rich said, "you don't go for the win, you go for the tie," and the defense gave up a chunk play to Zay Flowers. "And off they go back home with nothing but a one and two record in your hand."

Against Houston, Schottenheimer played like a man who had heard him. "I like that he listens to me," Rich joked. "Or at least I can pretend that he does."

Twice, Schottenheimer sent Brandon Aubrey out for field goals in the 60-yard range. "Neither worked. Neither worked. But I like it," Rich said. "It puts stress on the side of the football." The misses had a cost: Houston used the field position from the missed 65-yarder to kick a field goal and carry a 10-point lead into the locker room.

Then GOTI showed up. That is the "greatest offense there is," a nickname Dallas gave itself "before playing a down," which Rich called "aggressive." Third quarter, touchdown. Next drive, touchdown. The drive after that, touchdown. Only when "Gotti got got" did Dallas finally punt, and Houston answered with a touchdown to go up three.

That is when Dak Prescott, in Rich's telling, said "screw it." Dallas could have kicked a field goal to tie. "But nuh-uh, they kept pressing on because I don't know if you've heard, CeeDee Lamb could not be stopped."

The numbers are absurd. Lamb drew 21 targets, which Rich noted is Deion Sanders' number, and caught 17 of them for 189 yards. Javonte Williams added three touchdowns on the ground. And with George Pickens on the other side, the fantasy brain kicked in on set: "At some point he's going to score. He's got to score. Wait a minute. The fantasy just creeped out of me."

Prescott explained the math defenses face. If they roll coverage to Pickens, "the numbers are in favor of CD." If they play Lamb that way, the numbers favor Pickens. "And then if you want to play both of them, you're leaving guys that I've got a great rapport with one-on-one. And we're going to attack you however we can."

The defense? "It's not great," the set agreed. But as Rich put it, "defensively at some point we think it'll come together, but in the meantime they're putting up 34."

Now look at the division around them. The Giants have Jameis Winston "feeling himself." The Eagles "can't score after halftime." And Washington is hoping its quarterback with a bad non-throwing arm can come back, otherwise it is counting on a third stringer out of Rutgers to keep throwing touchdowns. The set even floated "Kaliakmanis mania" for Athan Kaliakmanis and his connection with Chig Okonkwo, then conceded it might not fit on a t-shirt.

Rich's conclusion: the Cowboys have to feel good about winning the division right now, even after losing to a Giants team with a better record.

Houston is another story. If someone had told Rich before the season that the Texans would be 0-4, he would have asked if C.J. Stroud was hurt or regressing, or if Nico Collins was hurt. Instead, the defense is the mystery. "They are playing like last year's defense was a one hit wonder," Rich said, cueing up "99 Luftballons" for good measure. With Danielle Hunter and Derek Stingley Jr. on that side, he is "shrug emojiing."

Time is running out. Houston goes to Tennessee in what Rich called a should-win game, then faces Jacksonville in London, a Jaguars team that "1,000% look like the AFC South winners again," then the Giants before a bye. The Texans need all three, he said, to come out of the bye with a shot at the Chargers and a path back to .500.

Stroud "has been balling out." But the run game has vanished, with David Montgomery disappearing since his three-touchdown performance in week one, and the line may be suspect.

Rich's bottom line was blunt: "The Texans are in trouble and the Cowboys are not."