The sun shone and the stars aligned Thursday as Dak Prescott defeated Patrick Mahomes and the Dallas Cowboys defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 31-28 in a blockbuster Thanksgiving game at AT&T Stadium.
CeeDee Lamb tormented Trent McDuffie with seven catches for 112 yards and a touchdown, while hurdler George Pickens rushed for 88 yards as the centerpiece of the NFL’s most potent passing attack.
Prescott completed 27 of 39 yards for 320 yards, two touchdowns and an interception on the opening drive, keeping Dallas afloat at 6-5-1 as the two teams remained close for their playoff fate.
Trailing 31-21 with four minutes left, Mahomes summoned his trademark heroics when he somehow stumbled out of a collapsed pocket, leaped over a diving tackle attempt and hit an off-balance Xavier Worthy 42 yards from the platform.
He turned it into a 10-yard touchdown strike to Hollywood Brown with 3.27 left to close the deficit to three points, only to see an ice-cold Prescott lead the Cowboys into victory formation.
Mahomes completed 23-of-34 for 261 yards and four touchdowns, but the Chiefs were sacked three times and fell to 6-6, once again dooming their postseason hopes.
Leader in statistics:
Chiefs:
Patrick Mahomes, 23-of-34, 261 yards, 4 TDs rushing: Kareem Hunt, 14 carries, 58 yards receiving: Laci Rice, 8 catches, 92 yards, 2 TDs
Cowboys:
Passing: Dak Prescott, 27/39, 320 yards, 2 TDs, 1 rushing: Javonte Williams, 17 carries, 59 yards Receiving: CeeDee Lamb, 7 catches, 112 yards, 1 TD George Pickens, 6 catches, 88 yards
From Laci Rice to Pickens, the X-Factor receivers excelled early in a frenetic fourth quarter that was steeped in playoff stakes and created a playoff atmosphere.
Mahomes’ mayhem and magic put the Chiefs up 21-20 in the opening seconds of the final period, when he defied both expectations and angles to float a 3-yard touchdown pass to Rice on fourth-and-goal. Mahomes had no intention of letting Andy Reid send a field goal unit, but he appeared to be slipping toward no-man’s land when he shifted to his left outside the pocket with a defender in his face before twisting and picking up his star receiver.
That capped off an 11-play, 80-yard drive (49 of which went to Rice) and gave the Chiefs a 21-20 advantage, with the highlight of the third quarter being two Matt Arraiza punts inside the 5-yard line.
Pickens ignited a comeback with a 39-yard catch-and-run with a nice hurdle, then an 11-yard grab down to Prescott’s scramble-and-strike touchdown flip to Javonte Williams for a 28-21 lead. Pickens then made a two-point conversion inside the pylon, then looked up to the sky and celebrated with arms outstretched. He wasn’t playable again.
Rice and Travis Kelce committed sloppy drops on Kansas City’s next drive trying to give the ball back to the Cowboys. Prescott began its response with a 51-yard strike from his own 10 to Lamb, before Brandon Aubrey made a 26-yard field goal to make it a 10-point lead.
A second-half twist loomed as Mahomes’ magic turned the field over on a 42-yard heave to Worthy and continued his march toward Brown’s toe-tap touchdown in the back of the end zone to make it 31-28.
However, the Cowboys homered as Lamb drew the last of multiple pass interference penalties from McDuffie before Pickens’ 13-yard catch sealed the game.
The clash between the NFL giants came to a head within minutes of kickoff, with Prescott intercepted by Jaylen Watson on just the third play of the game. The Chiefs needed just two minutes to temporarily dampen the Dallas crowd’s momentum when Rice punished the pick with a 27-yard catch-and-run.
Steve Spagnuolo was employing an aggressive blitzkrieg approach to try to disrupt Prescott. Prescott took advantage of the storm, leading a 12-play, 75-yard drive that culminated with Lamb’s 15-yard touchdown catch, which included a devastating double move that lost McDuffie from the Cowboys’ receiver.
It ended up being the Chiefs. Mahomes was able to rescue a third-and-14 with a 16-yard scramble to the 9, but then Kareem Hunt converted a third-and-goal from second at bat. The two-time MVP wasn’t denied, linking up with Kelce on the ensuing play for a 2-yard go-ahead touchdown.
Dallas took a 14-10 lead on Brandon Aubrey’s 49-yard field goal, and Malik Davis took the lead up the middle for a 43-yard rushing touchdown after an eight-play, 85-yard possession that included two third-down conversions.
Kansas City lost starting left tackle Josh Simmons and right tackle Ja’Wuan Taylor, both rookies, to in-game injuries.
Reid’s team will return to Arrowhead in Week 14 to take on the Houston Texans, while the Cowboys will take on the Detroit Lions.
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