IRVING, Texas — Nobody is more surprised by Dallas’ 3-1 mark heading into Sunday’s showdown against the Houston Texans (3-1) than the Cowboys themselves.

The team certainly had a positive outlook toward the season, especially in regards to the offense, but the Cowboys expected to be challenged by some shortcomings on defense.

“Who would have dreamed we would be sitting here at 3-1,” Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said. “I don’t know what’s in the soup, but I like it. One of the interesting things is we are the third-youngest team in the NFL. We are really excited about our young football team. I think it’s all in the future.”

The offensive line is the key to the team’s success, contributing to the No. 1 rushing attack in the league.

The key now for the Cowboys is to stay focused despite a growing sense of optimism in the fan base.

“Don’t read your own clippings,” Cowboys cornerback Brandon Carr said. “(The season) is 17 weeks, and you can’t come up for air until the 17 weeks. You know around here how things go in December and January and those last couple of games. It’s crucial that … you don’t eat the cheese, keep the chip on your shoulder, stay hungry and just keep that attitude because we’re still in the process of establishing our identity as a football team.”

Coach Jason Garrett doesn’t worry about the Cowboys getting ahead of themselves after huge win against the New Orleans Saints last week because their past struggles are too fresh and they still have too much work to do.

“We’re not going to have any issues with complacency,” Garrett said. “We’ll make that point very loudly and clearly. But one of the byproducts of doing this new schedule the way we’re doing it is the emotional part kind of goes away by the time we get to the tape, and that’s a really good thing. When we watch the tape, it’s about learning.”