'Dallas Day' in Houston Keeps Texans Reeling

The Eagles' star tight end dominated in different phases, collectig 100 yards receiving with a touchdown

HOUSTON - The Eagles were in South Texas on Thursday night, outlasting the upstart Houston Texans, 29-17, to move to 8-0 for the first time in franchise history.

Despite the location being Jalen Hurts’ adopted hometown (he’s technically from the Houston suburb of Channelview), there was plenty of Dallas talk as well.

Not Cowboys interlopers, however.

The “star” of Thursday’s game was Dallas Goedert and coach Nick Sirianni went to “Friday Night Lights” and the description of Dallas Carter High School to explain the talents of his tight end who did it all in the win over the Texans.

Whether it was hauling in eight of his nine targets for 100 yards and a touchdown, acting as Jalen Hurts’ as his blocking sled on the quarterback sneak, or helping out a struggling Jordan Mailata against the always impressive Jerry Hughes, Goedert was indispensable for the Eagles.

“We showed a clip (Wednesday) from “Friday Night Lights” and they were explaining Dallas Carter. And during it, he said, ‘they’re big, they’re fast, they’re mean, they’re strong, and they’re fast,’” Sirianni smiled. “ … That’s a good explanation of who Dallas Goedert is. “He’s big, he’s strong, he’s fast, he’s mean. And he’s fast.

“And that’s why he’s so productive.”

Goedert was a handful for the Texans all night, perhaps the most dominant player on the field. He was open all night, he pushed around whomever he liked, and he blocked like a flex tight end should not be able to block.

“You’re just seeing his game elevate,” Sirianni said. “I hope what everyone is seeing on these nationally televised games is what we see every day in practice, and what we’ve seen consistently these last two years, Dallas Goedert deserves attention for being one of the best tight ends in the NFL.”

Thursday’s game was Goedert’s fourth-career 100-yard outing and a season-high for him in 2022.

“Anytime my number gets called I want to make a play,” Goedert said.

The high point was the "Dallas Drive" that bridged the end of the third quarter and the start of the fourth, and turned a precarious 21-17 advantage into the 29-17 two-score cushion the Texans couldn’t handle.

“We had a package in, the 12 personnel where me and Jack Stoll are on the same side and it was really based on what the defense was going to give us as to what we were going to do,” Goedert said of the scoring march in which he had four receptions for 41 yards and a four-yard TD.

“They gave us a lot of man to man and we knew we had good matchups there if they did that. It was just a great scheme. We put it in this week. Coaches did a great job getting us ready for it and we did a great of executing it. It was fun.”

Fun enough to keep the Eagles as the NFL’s only unbeaten team and get to 8-0 for the first time in the franchise's 89 years history.

“Winning this game was huge for us,” said Goedert. “We knew it would be a physical game, a short week like this and a team like the Texans are going to come out swinging for sure, play physical and hope they can get us down and run away with it.

“We were able to persevere.”

-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Extending the Play" on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen