FanPulse: Cowboys and Texans fans are both bad at predicting games Deion Sanders Jersey Stitched , but both predict a win on Sunday Every week many of you here at BTB are polled on various things concerning the team and matters across the NFL. This is part of SB Nation’s new FanPulse tool. Sign up for the Cowboys FanPulse here to take our weekly surveys.One of the things each fan base is asked every week has to do with their upcoming game and the confidence surrounding it, from a point-spread perspective. Fans are asked how many points they expect their team to win or lose by. It’s interesting to see which fan bases have the best grip on their team so far this season.Cowboys fans predicted a loss for the first time this season, thankfully they were wrongHeading into last week confidence was pretty low for the Cowboys fan base (6%). It was no shocker all things considered when the fans predicted Dallas to lose, but it was the first time through four games that a loss was predicted.Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty ImagesAs you know the Cowboys defeated the Lions by a narrow margin which might make their fans all the less confident since they thought Detroit would win the game. Predicting games is a hard thing to do, and it’s not one that Cowboys fans are relatively good at. Week 1: FanPulse predicts Cowboys win by 6 (Panthers), Cowboys lose by 8Week 2: FanPulse predicts Cowboys win by 4 (Giants), Cowboys win by 7Week 3: FanPulse predicts Cowboys win by 6 (Seahawks), Cowboys lose by 11Week 4: FanPulse predicts Cowboys lose by 1 (Lions), Cowboys win by 2Cowboys FanPulse season record: 1-3Texans fans had gotten down on themselves Youth Darren Woodson Jersey , and they were even wrong thereThose that have made the incorrect choice in life in terms of which NFL team to root for in the Lone Star State have had a rough season so far. The Texans started off 0-3 and were staring a fourth loss in a row before Indianapolis Colts head coach Frank Reich got a little risky.Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty ImagesWhile Houston ended up coming out on top in Indy, Texans fans had had enough before the game even kicked off. They were also winless when it came to predicting games prior to Week 4 because, well, they kept predicting wins.Week 1: FanPulse predicts Texans win by 2 (Patriots), Texans lose by 7Week 2: FanPulse predicts Texans win by 8 (Titans),Texans lose by 3Week 3: FanPulse predicts Texans win by 1 (Giants),Texans lose by 5Week 4: FanPulse predicts Texans lose by 4 (Colts), Texans win by 3Texans FanPulse season record: 0-4Both Texas teams are feeling confident coming off of winsConfidence is up for both the Cowboys and Texans, 29% and 21% respectively Darren Woodson Jersey Stitched , and both fan bases are expecting a win on Sunday night. Barring a tie, which is certainly possible, only one can walk away victorious, so who will it be?Cowboys fans think Dallas will win by 4, and Texans fans think Houston will win by half of that amount. Maybe rooters of America’s Team are feeling a little bit more confident, but to be fair the Cowboys have twice as many wins as the Texans.The last time these two teams met the game went to overtime and was ultimately decided by three which is the average of the two predictions. Maybe we’re in store for something of that magnitude this weekend, hopefully we’re on the right end of it if that ultimately does come to be.While we’re at it as far as wishing for things to repeat, let’s hope something like this happens again as well. Another Super Bowl ends with the Patriots hoisting the Lombardi. No matter the underdog narrative that Boston is so desperately trying to sell, the world knows better. They are the gold standard and Bill Belichick did what he always does to a relatively inexperienced opponent White Bill Bates Jersey , he shut them down. That’s the prevailing takeaway we should be talking about is that defense won the championship in a year when offenses were scoring more points than ever. The Patriots proved that it’s often the teams that find balance that end up champions. The Rams ran into a Patriots squad that was seventh in team defense. Coincidentally, New England also had the fourth-best offense and the Rams countered that with the 20th ranked defense. The L.A. Rams have arguably the best defensive player in the league in Aaron Donald. They also have Ndamukong Suh and Michael Brockers, all of which played their tails off but none of it mattered. This league will always come down to the team that is balanced offensively and defensively. The Patriots scored one touchdown and that was all they needed. On their scoring drive the Rams defense couldn’t get off the field. Football is simple, it really doesn’t change all that much from year to year. We live in a world where hot takes and snap judgments are the norm, nobody is married to their opinions as they change with results of next week. Remember the Monday Night Football game where the Los Angeles Rams defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 54-51 right before Thanksgiving? Remember the lines drawn between those who thought it was the best game they ever saw versus those that thought the lack of defense was embarrassing to the league?High-scoring affairs are exciting to watch but so are games where every inch seems like a struggle. As great as that Monday night game was, the next week’s Thursday Night Football game where the Cowboys beat the Saints 13-10 was the highest-rated TNF game ever. So, what did we learn from the Patriots 13-3 Super Bowl win over the Rams?For starters, championships are still decided by who you can trust to get a necessary stop. All year long, we’ve seen so much swooning over 33-year-old coach Sean McVay Bill Bates Jersey 2019 , his innovative play-calling, and how he was leading the charge towards the future of the NFL. All that innovation on offense, with second-highest scoring squad in the league, and we saw a total of three points from the Rams?! What about Jared Goff and Todd Gurley? What about Robert Woods, Brandin Cooks, CJ Anderson? Tyler Higbee, anyone? The Rams offense was held to 260 total yards and three points? The Patriots played man defense most of the year but decided to change it up in this game to feature more zone as they believed it would work against Goff. It worked beautifully and on offense, New England ran the football, made mismatches with Rob Gronkowski White Robert Newhouse Jersey , and ate the Rams alive in the slot. It didn’t matter how much L.A. spent in free agency, how they constructed one of the most talented rosters in football, New England attacked their weaknesses to perfection.The Chiefs and Rams were two of the most exciting offenses we’ve seen but both teams struggled defensively, both teams were eliminated in the postseason by the most balanced team in football. Those hoping for an offensive revolution were mistaken because that’s not the future after all. Turns out, defense still matters in the NFL despite the rules making it more impossible to master each year. There may be some really great offensive minds out there dialing up the creativity and hitting big plays but the league always catches up.Maybe all the things that Jason Garrett preaches about balance isn’t something we should roll our eyes about each time he utters it. The Cowboys have an up and coming defense. Build on that by finding more balance on offense and maybe this Cowboys team will be contending for a title. Some may be disappointed by such a low-scoring Super Bowl, it certainly took a dip in the ratings, but that’s football. The Patriots have dominated for almost two decades in a league that doesn’t want repeats because they often find a way to be balanced. It’s not about which team has the next big thing on offense or who has the most talent on defense. It’s about building a team that can adapt to different situations and collectively has the balance to beat any opponent. That’s the mark of a championship team, that’s the lesson learned for every team that was watching from home.