HOUSTON -- In one of the several backroom deals struck by general manager Charley Casserly in the days leading up to the February expansion stocking draft, cornerbacks Aaron Glenn and Marcus Coleman ended up representing more than 20 percent of the Houston Texans' salary cap total.

And Sunday night, in the Texans' historic victory here over the Dallas Cowboys, the pair of former New York Jets starters demonstrated why they might be worth the $13.49 million in cap space they occupy.

And why, in the case of Glenn in particular, Houston management might want to reconsider the deficient contract extension offer they proposed last week, the one that was summarily rejected by the ninth-year veteran.

"They were," noted Texans linebacker Jamie Sharper with an unwitting but appropriately financial-toned references to the cornerback tandem, "just like money in the bank, weren't they? (The Cowboys) kept going after them, and those guys kept on responding, big-time."

	"	Yeah, a pretty nice homecoming. We heard all that stuff from their players about how, if they lost, it would be just like losing to Baylor. Well, guys, how does it feel? "
		— Marcus Coleman, Texans cornerback

Years from now, when many of the 69,604 fans in attendance at sparkling new Reliant Stadium are regaling their grandchildren about the 65-yard touchdown pass from David Carr to Corey Bradford -- the one that proved to be the signature play in Houston's stunning 19-10 victory -- Coleman and Glenn might be little more than footnotes.

But Sunday night, they had their hands all over the upset victory, and one has to wonder if Jets officials are having second thoughts about sacrificing the pair for salary cap reasons.

The Cowboys lost in part because young cornerback Duane Hawthorne had a crucial coverage gaffe, making too shallow a break on the ball, allowing the speedy Bradford to streak behind him for the fourth-quarter touchdown catch that snapped a 10-10 tie. Houston can claim the Texas Championship, at least for this year, because Coleman and Glenn had no such faux pas.

You don't succeed in the NFL without cornerbacks and the Texans, for all the poise demonstrated by Carr, would not have become the first expansion franchise since the 1961 Minnesota Vikings to have even been close in the inaugural outing if not for the brilliance of Glenn and Coleman.

Outside of a 46-yard touchdown burst by Dallas backup tailback Michael Wiley, on which Coleman got caught too far inside, their errors were kept to a minimum, it seemed. The Cowboys contributed to the success of the two corners by running plenty of two-man routes and using "max" protection schemes in an attempt to keep the Houston blitz away from second-year quarterback Quincy Carter.

But to overplay Dallas' lack of offensive imagination is to diminish the performances of the Houston corners. It was, for sure, a gleeful Texas two-step for Glenn, who played collegiately at Texas A&M and former Texas Tech standout Coleman.

"Yeah," said Coleman, "a pretty nice homecoming. We heard all that stuff from their players about how, if they lost, it would be just like losing to Baylor. Well, guys, how does it feel?"

The two Houston cover defenders combined for 10 tackles, an interception and seven passes knocked down, completely thwarting the efforts of Carter. The aggressive Glenn, seemingly discovering a fountain of youth at 30, had a pickoff and six passes defensed in a tour-de-force performance.

Casserly, who agreed to pluck both corners off the Jets expansion list in return for New York exposing offensive right tackle Ryan Young among its unprotected players, certainly got the better of the deal. Yeah, the Jets got some much-needed cap relief, but the Texans secured a pair of experienced veterans to build a secondary around.

The perception is that coach Dom Capers' trademark 3-4 defense is primarily constructed around its linebackers. But you can't run all of the exotic zone-blitzes Capers prefers, bring rushers from every obtuse angle imaginable, without having some cover guys too. And Sunday night, Glenn and Coleman played like they did in their primes, smothering Dallas receivers for much of the game.

As he hurriedly dressed, Glenn rubbed some goop called "Sportin' Waves" through his hair. For most of the game, he and Coleman seemed as if they were coming in waves.

"It's just playing ball, that's all, but it was pretty special," said Glenn, a former Pro Bowl performer who is in the final season of his contract and counts a team-high $8.013 million against the Houston cap. "Me and that big guy over there (Coleman), we've been playing a long time together. I don't know that we've ever had a more satisfying win, to tell the truth. I mean, I played in an AFC Championship Game, and I wasn't as nervous for that as I was tonight."

It was almost as if Glenn and Coleman were cloned, so often were they involved in plays, so frequently did they step up when called upon. Not only did they defend the pass, but they also supported against the run, particularly cutting off the off-tackle "stretch" play Dallas prefers.

Said Carter, who completed just 13 of 30 passes for 131 yards, and finished with an anemic 42.5 efficiency rating: "That No. 31 (Glenn) was all over the place, wasn't he, man? He made a lot of plays. He always had a hand in there, breaking up a pass, it seemed like."

Glenn only smiled when asked if he had divined on video Carter's penchant for the quick slant. And he declined comment when asked if Carter had been telegraphing his passes for rookie wide receiver Antonio Bryant. But four of Glenn's pass deflections came on slants. And of Carter's 30 attempts, 15 of them were directed at Bryant, a second-round draft choice.

The former University of Pittsburgh standout finished with four catches for 47 yards, but wore Glenn like a hairshirt. On a second-quarter interception, Glenn worked his way under a slant route and then outmuscled Bryant for the ball. The pickoff led to a 42-yard Kris Brown field goal and 10-0 lead. It was a classic case of an experienced cornerback perhaps knowing a young wide receiver would not finish off his route.

But more than that, it was also a wounded player not long appreciated by his former employers, demonstrating to a national television audience that he is not yet into his football dotage. There was a lot of help behind Coleman and Glenn, as Houston played a lot of "cover two" in the secondary, but the two drove on the ball and made plays and essentially shut down the Dallas aerial game for long stretches.

"You can't play scared at that position," acknowledged Capers after a victory he will long treasure. "Those two guys were anything but scared. They both played a great game."

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.