Cowboys fake punt vs. Texans: Risky trick play backfires for Dallas on 'Monday Night Football

The Cowboys entered Week 11's "Monday Night Football" matchup vs. Houston in a difficult position. Quarterback Dak Prescott (hamstring) is out for the year, forcing backup quarterback Cooper Rush into action. As a result, Dallas apparently felt the need to break out a trick play early in the game.

However, the Texans were not fooled by the play, properly sniffing out the Cowboys' motives to create a huge turnover on downs. That allowed Houston to keep its momentum in the first quarter.

The Sporting News breaks down the Cowboys' failed fake punt against the Texans.

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Cowboys fake punt vs. Texans

The Texans took an early 7-0 lead, thanks to a huge Joe Mixon touchdown run on the team's first drive. With the Cowboys in an early hole on their first drive, they didn't want to yield too much ground to the Texans. 

Dallas faced 4th-and-9 at their own 33-yard-line, but head coach Mike McCarthy called a fake punt to try and catch the Texans off guard. However, Houston appeared fully prepared for it, as Bryan Anger's pass to Juanyeh Thomas was stopped well short of the first down thanks to a John Metchie tackle.

Houston couldn't take advantage of the great field position, as C.J. Stroud threw an interception on fourth down to end the Texans' drive. Still, stopping the fake punt is a good encapsulation of the two teams in this game, with the 6-4 Texans leading their division and the 3-6 Cowboys struggling mightily.

This isn't the first time this year that the Cowboys failed at a fake punt attempt, as they had the same fate against the Falcons.

Dallas special teams coordinator John Fassel is known for his various fake punt attempts throughout his career, but clearly, opposing teams are onto his trick playcalls.