ARLINGTON, Texas – Texas coach DeMeco Ryans called running back Joe Mixon “a force” after his three-touchdown performance in Houston’s 34-10 victory over the Dallas Cowboys on “Monday Night Football.”

Mixon did the heavy lifting for the Texans’ offense as he scored all of their offensive touchdowns and rushed for 109 yards. His three rushing touchdowns were the second most he has had in a single game in his career.

Mixon tied a Texan single-game record for rushing touchdowns, becoming the fourth player in franchise history to accomplish the feat. But Ryans and Mixon credited the offensive line for paving career paths for the former Pro Bowl back.

“Joe, when he’s going, he’s a force for us,” Ryans said. “The run game starts with our offensive line. I challenged them to play fast and aggressive. I thought they did a really good job. I really like the way we kept churning it out in the run game, and am proud of the boys for taking on the challenge.”

According to ESPN Research, 79 of Mixon’s 109 rushing yards came before contact, including going untouched on his 45-yard rushing touchdown in the first quarter, the longest score of his career. This was Mixon’s sixth straight game with a rushing touchdown, tying the longest streak in Texans history, set by former All-Pro running back Arian Foster in 2011.

“I think everyone was aware of the game plan, and we came out here and got executed for four quarters,” Mixon said. “It was great to see the O-line just kind of go out there and impose their will… It was a time in the fourth quarter where the (offensive line) was like, ‘Man, let’s take it to these guys.’ .’ And I’m like, s… I went to Bobby Slowik (the Texans offensive coordinator) and ‘I’m like, man, those guys trying to run it.'”

The opening holes in the offensive line for Mixon also helped quarterback C.J. Stroud have an efficient game, completing 67.6% of his passes, tying his third-highest completion percentage of the season, for 257 yards with an interception. He also went 8-for-8 on out-of-bounds passes for 99 yards, according to Next Gen Stats.

And most importantly, the offensive line limited pressure on Stroud to just 36% of his dropbacks, down from the 41% season percentage entering Monday.

“(They were) great, I was hanging out there a lot,” Stroud said. “I thought we mixed up the protections pretty well. There were always things that needed to be cleaned up, but we definitely took a step forward. That’s what we wanted.”

According to ESPN Research, Mixon became the third player in NFL history to have at least ten rushing touchdowns in his first eight games with a new team, and the first since Eric Dickerson returned to the Los Angeles Rams in 1983.

“We put it together in the pass and run game. So we can build on that,” Tytus Howard told ESPN. “Just take these games and run with them for the rest of the season. We know what we have to do. It was our best week of practice all season, so you have to build on that.”