Sunday of Week 4 may have delivered turning points for three teams that looked headed for early-season trouble. According to ESPN, the Cowboys, Rams and Patriots each produced fourth-quarter comebacks that could alter the course of their seasons, joining past examples of midseason reversals such as the 2024 Eagles and 2025 Seahawks.
The most detailed of those rallies came in Houston, where Dallas beat the Texans 34-30. According to ESPN, the Cowboys’ probability of winning dipped as low as 21.5% with two minutes remaining, and their chance to make the playoffs rose to 82.3% after the victory per ESPN’s Football Power Index.
The final drive was led by Dak Prescott, who engineered a two-minute sequence that included five first downs and culminated in a 12-yard touchdown to CeeDee Lamb with 43 seconds left, according to ESPN. Woody Marks’ touchdown had given the Texans a 30-27 lead with 2:26 remaining. An earlier fourth-down conversion to Jake Ferguson helped extend a critical Cowboys possession, and Prescott went 8-of-11 for 74 yards on the winning march, ESPN reports.
CeeDee Lamb’s performance was historic. According to ESPN, Lamb finished with 17 catches — the most by any Cowboys wide receiver in a single game in franchise history — on 21 targets for 189 yards and 11 first downs. ESPN notes Lamb recorded three first downs on the drive that produced the winning score. The report adds that Houston appeared to adopt a notably conservative plan, limiting deep shots and allowing more underneath work to Lamb and George Pickens.
ESPN wrote that the Rams and Patriots also staged fourth-quarter rallies in Week 4 that shifted disappointing starts into the rearview. While their flaws remain points of concern, those comebacks provided each club a potential launching point as they move forward in the season, according to ESPN.
