Joe Mixon ran for three touchdowns, Derek Barnett returned a fumble 28 yards for a score and the Houston Texans piled onto the Dallas Cowboys’ misery with a 34-10 victory on Monday night.

The Texans (7-4) stopped just the second two-game losing streak in quarterback CJ Stroud’s two seasons while maintaining a two-game lead in the AFC South.

In a season filled with things gone wrong for the Cowboys (3-7), debris fell from their stadium’s retractable roof as it was opening a few hours before the game.

There was no delay and no injuries were reported, just another mishap to foreshadow a fifth consecutive defeat for a team that lost five games total in each of the past three playoff seasons.

Cooper Rush threw a 64-yard touchdown pass to KaVontae Turpin but lost his second start since Dak Prescott’s season-ending hamstring injury. The Dallas losing streak is its longest since a seven-game skid in 2015.

Stats leaders

THouston Texans

• Passing: CJ Stroud, 23/34, 257 yards, 1 INT
• Rushing: Joe Mixon, 20 carries, 109 yards, 3 TDs
• Receiving: Nico Collins, 4 catches, 54 yards

Dallas Cowboys

• Passing: Cooper Rush, 32/55, 354 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
• Rushing: Rico Dowdle, 10 carries, 28 yards
• Receiving: CeeDee Lamb, 8 catches, 93 yards

The Cowboys trailed by 10 early in the fourth quarter when Barnett knocked the ball out of Rush’s hand as he was throwing. Dallas rookie left tackle Tyler Guyton caught it and was trying to run when Jalen Pitre knocked the ball loose again.

Barnett scooped it and scored, although he almost stepped out of bounds running free toward a pylon.

The Cowboys had earlier appeared to have pulled within a touchdown on a 64-yard field goal from Brandon Aubrey, but Barnett was penalised for slapping Terence Steele on the rush.

Dallas erased the points by taking the penalty, but Rush’s fourth-down pass from the Houston eight-yard line was incomplete.

Texans receiver Nico Collins returned after missing five games with a hamstring injury and took a screen pass 77 yards to the end zone the first time he touched the ball, only to have it called back because of an ineligible receiver downfield.

That possession ended with a touchdown anyway on Mixon’s 45-yard sprint up the middle, while he also ran wide for a one-yard score and 14-0 lead. Mixon had 109 yards rushing and set up a field goal with a 37-yard catch-and-run on a screen.

Already without Prescott, the Cowboys lost tight end Jake Ferguson to a concussion and perennial All-Pro right guard Zack Martin and left guard Tyler Smith to ankle injuries.

Rush was sacked five times, three on the same possession when Martin and Smith were injured.

The Texans didn’t need much from Stroud, who has been in a mini-slump. He threw for 257 yards with an early interception on fourth down.

Rush was 32 of 55 for 354 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Turpin had three catches for 86 yards.

Scoring summary

Who said what?

Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy on his team’s struggles: “In reality, it’s very frustrating. It’s frustrating for everybody, frustrating for players, frustrated for coaches. But we just, we have a lot of moving parts going on and we just have to be cleaner and more detailed in certain spots.”

Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans on Barnett’s fumble recovery TD: “The play he made really changed for game for us. It flipped the momentum. It got everybody juiced up on the sideline. It was just a huge play.”

Texans quarterback CJ Stroud: “It’s not as bad as it ever seems, and it’s never as good as it ever seems. Those type of games, you have to come out with a win, especially going up like that at the half. But what are we going to do about it?”

What’s next?

The Texans are back in Houston next Sunday as they host the Tennessee Titans (2-8) in an all-AFC South clash, while the Cowboys visit the Washington Commanders (7-4) in the NFC East.

Week 12 begins on Thursday night when the Pittsburgh Steelers face the Cleveland Browns from 1.15am in the early hours of Friday, live on Sky Sports NFL