Here are five takeaways from this past weekend's football action around the state. Cowboys put themselves in tough spot It was another blown opportunity for the Dallas Cowboys to show they can beat a good team Sunday.  Dallas still has only beaten one team this season with a record above .500, and that came against the 5-4 Eagles, following a 28-24 loss at home to Minnesota that saw the Vikings hold Ezekiel Elliott to 47 yards rushing on 20 carries.  Now tied with the Eagles atop the NFC East at 5-4, the Cowboys certainly don’t have the edge in strength of schedule over Philadelphia for the rest of the year. While the Cowboys have already played and beaten the Giants twice, the Eagles have yet to play the Giants and also get to play the Dolphins.  Philadelphia’s hardest remaining games are against the Patriots and Seahawks, but both of those contests are at home.  Starting with Sunday’s contest at Detroit, the Cowboys have serious work to do in order to make the playoffs.  Longhorns stay alive with win over ranked foe Texas kept its hopes of making the Big 12 title game alive with a critical home win, knocking off Kansas State, 27-24, in the first of a tough four-game stretch to end the season.  The Longhorns likely will need to win them all to make a return trip to Arlington.  After a poor start that saw Kansas State score two easy touchdowns, the maligned Texas defense stiffened from there and gave the offense a chance to catch up and score enough points to win.  Cameron Dicker nailed a 26-yard field goal as time expired to send Texas (6-3, 4-2) to victory and into its next test on its road to get back to Arlington, a game at Iowa State. Texas is in third place in the Big 12 standings, a game ahead of an Iowa State team that nearly won at Oklahoma, one game behind Oklahoma (Sooners do hold the tiebreaker) and two games behind league-leading Baylor.  Texans win during bye week There might not have been a better win for the Houston Texans than Sunday, and Houston didn’t even play because of its bye week. The Texans saw their lead in the AFC South increase to a full game thanks to the Indianapolis Colts improbably losing at home to the lowly Miami Dolphins, 16-12.  Houston now prepares for a brutal three-game stretch that could define its season, with games at Baltimore, home against the Colts and home against Super Bowl champion New England over the next three weeks.  Baylor wins classic in Fort Worth; OU and Texas next Many eyes around the country were on Fort Worth on Saturday to see how unbeaten Baylor would start a three-game gauntlet and whether the Bears were legitimate threats to make the Big 12 championship game, or succumb to late-season pressure. It took a 51-yard field goal late in regulation to tie and three overtimes, but the Bears continued their amazing season with a 29-23 win to improve to 9-0.  The next two weeks should be the most anticipated pair of home games in a long time for Baylor, which will host Oklahoma and Texas in back-to-back weeks.  The Oklahoma game will be in prime time and ESPN’s College Gameday will be on campus, adding to what already should be a raucous atmosphere. Tomball Memorial makes history It was great to be a player, coach, parent, alumni, or anyone else associated with Tomball Memorial High School in suburban Houston. Thanks to a 27-24 win over Cy Ranch, Tomball Memorial earned a share of the District 14-6A title, the first district title in school history. Tomball Memorial also reached the nine-win mark for the first time in school history as well.