Through three games in 2026, Cowboys receiver CeeDee Lamb has 20 catches for 309 yards and three touchdowns. That performance invites an obvious question.
Can Lamb be guarded?
“No,” Lamb said this week. “I don’t think I can be guarded.”
It helps that Lamb has receiver George Pickens on the other side of the field. As J.J. Watt observed during the Week 3 Ravens-Cowboys game in Brazil, defenses are devoting extra attention to Pickens. Which makes it easier for Lamb to face single coverage.
On Sunday against the Texans, that could mean cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. handling Lamb, with Kamari Lassiter (plus help over the top) covering Pickens.
However it goes, it will be impossible to take both Lamb and Pickens away. The best way to do it will be to put so much pressure on quarterback Dak Prescott that he doesn’t have time to find whoever is open.
Cornerback Joey Porter Jr. will make his first appearance of the 2026 season on Sunday.
Porter is active for the Cowboys less than a week after joining the team in a trade with the Steelers. Porter was listed with a back injury while in Pittsburgh, but his contract impasse with the team was seen as the true reason for his inactivity and Porter was not on the injury report for the Cowboys.
Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reports that Porter is expected to play a limited number of snaps against the Texans in his Cowboys debut, but his presence should be welcomed for a defense that has struggled to find consistency over the first month of the season.
Cowboys at Texans
Cowboys: LB DeMarvion Overshown, CB Cobie Durant, CB Caelen Carson, RB Emari Demercado, LB James Houston, OL Ajani Cornelius, WR Camden Brown
Texans: LB Azeez Al-Shaair, DE Chris Braswell, OL Febechi Nwaiwu, OT Nate Thomas, TE Marlin Klein
Titans at Ravens
Titans: RB Michael Carter, CB Jaylon Jones, G Drew Moss, OT Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson, TE Kylen Granson, DT Jackie Marshall
Ravens: QB Joe Fagnano, LB Trey Hendrickson, WR Chris Moore, DT Aeneas Peebles
Patriots at Bills
Patriots: OT Dametrious Crownover, TE Tanner Arkin, QB Behren Morton, CB Christian Gonzalez, DT Christian Barmore, CB Channing Canada
Bills: WR Skyler Bell, S Jalon Kilgore, CB Christian Benford, LB Mike Danna, G Ar’maj Reed-Adams, OT Jude Bowry, DL T.J. Sanders
Jets at Bears
Jets: WR Adonai Mitchell, RB Breece Hall, CB Nahshon Wright, LB Kiko Mauigoa, LB Kinglsey Enagbare, G Dylan Parham, TE Mason Taylor
Bears: QB Caleb Williams, OL Ozzy Trapilo, CB Cam Lewis, DL Jaydon Loving, DL James Lynch, DL Jamree Kromah
Jaguars at Bengals
Jaguars: CB Montaric Brown, WR C.J. Williams, CB Christian Braswell, S Jalen Huskey, LB Jack Kiser, OL Daniel Faalele, DE Wesley Williams
Bengals: S Bryan Cook, S Kyle Dugger, LB Swayze Bozeman, OL Myles Hinton, WR Colbie Young, DT B.J. Hill, DT Landon Robinson
Cardinals at Giants
Cardinals: QB Carson Beck, CB Starling Thomas, S Dadrion Taylor-Demerson, LB Cameron Robertson, OL Josh Fryar, WR Reggie Virgil
Giants: S Ar’Darius Washington, RB Devin Singletary, CB Nikko Reed, LB Jihad Ward, OL J.C. Davis, TE Thomas Fidone, DL Bobby Jamison-Travis
Rams at Eagles
Rams: WR C.J. Daniels, QB Ty Simpson, CB Cam Lampkin, CB Jaylen Watson, OL Bill Murray, TE Colby Parkinson, DT Aaron Donald
Eagles: WR Hollywood Brown, WR DeVonta Smith, QB Cole Payton, S Marcus Epps, LB Zack Baun, OT Lane Johnson, OL Fred Johnson, TE Dallas Goedert
Packers at Buccaneers
Packers: OL Jacob Monk, G Kevin Zeitler, G Aaron Banks, DT Anthony Campbell
Buccaneers: LB Rueben Bain, QB Baker Mayfield, DB Benjamin Morrison, TE Ko Kieft, OL Luke Haggard, OL Billy Schrauth, DL DeMonte Capehart
Since the Texans joined the NFL in 2002, they’ve faced the Cowboys only seven times. The eighth meeting happens today.
During his Friday appearance on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said he’d like to play the Texans more often. And he suggested the league is considering the possibility of embracing geographic rivalries between teams from opposing conferences.
“You can add that in the mix, and I’m not saying it’s not in the mix,” Jones said. “It’s just that other things come up and you have a different reason for the scheduling. We obviously have a rotation involved that is the best as far as fair, complete competition year-in, year-out, around the entire league. But it’s certainly something that I would look at.
“And I wouldn’t just narrow it down to Dallas and Houston. I’d look at the entire league, you saw a game on TV [Thursday] night between Cleveland and Pittsburgh. They’re in the same division, but those kinds of proximities, those kinds of ‘my town against your town, and who’s the best town?’ Which I think is a fundamental of our game of football. ‘My town against your town. My school against your school.’ That’s a big part of it. It’s hard to emulate anyplace but in the United States to get that rolling.”
It would have been a great way to deal with the 17th game. Instead, the league added an interconference game tied to a rotation of divisions and the spot at which the team finished in the prior season. Perhaps the geographic rivalries could become a feature of an 18-game season. (Or the inevitable 19-game season.)
Beyond the Texans and the Cowboys, other no-brainer annual interconference rivalries would include the Jets and Giants, the Rams and Chargers, the 49ers and Raiders, the Ravens and Commanders, the Steelers and Eagles, the Buccaneers and Jaguars, the Titans and Falcons.
There wouldn’t be 16 natural fits, so the league would have to identify one annual rival for each team if it ever adopts that approach. Packers and Chiefs. Bears and Colts (especially if the Bears move to Indiana). Lions and Browns. Broncos and Seahawks.
There would still be questions to answer. Who would the Bills’ and Patriots’ annual rivals be? Would the Vikings and Bengals become a geographic rivalry by default?
The Dolphins would perhaps fit with the Saints or Panthers. The Cardinals would be lost in the wilderness.
Still, the existence of a few forced rivalries would be more than offset by a cluster of annual games between teams linked by location. The league could even set the games for the same weekend every year, with a marketing slogan and special Nike uniforms.
And, yes, the more it could be turned into a moneymaker, the more likely it would be to happen.
The NFL’s announcement of fines for Week 3 featured six infractions for player safety fouls that qualify toward possible suspensions.
Two of those fouls were hip-drop tackles. 49ers linebacker Fred Warner and Rams safety Kam Curl were each fined $17,911. Warner was also fined $23,882 for illegal use of his helmet in a tackle.
Texans linebacker Jamal Hill, Giants tight end Isaiah Likely, and Steelers linebacker Cole Holcomb were each fined for blindside blocks. Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair was fined for a hit on a defenseless player.
Any player with three fines for any one of those infractions will be suspended for one game. The same potential penalty applies to fouls for launching or horse-collar tackles. No player has been fined more than once for any of the qualifying infractions yet this season.
The Cowboys elevated defensive backs Reddy Steward and Juanyeh Thomas from the practice squad to the active roster for Sunday’s game against the Texans.
Thomas signed with the practice squad this week.
The Cowboys will get help this week with the returns of safety Malik Hooker (forearm) and cornerback Shavon Revel (knee/ankle). Both players fully practiced on Friday and do not have an injury designation.
In addition, new Cowboys cornerback Joey Porter Jr. will make his 2026 debut.
Porter, who the Cowboys acquired from the Steelers this week, was not on the injury report and will play.
Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said on 105.3 The Fan on Friday that Porter “is going to get some snaps” against the Texans.
