With both teams currently on the outside looking in as far as the playoff picture, the Dallas Cowboys and Kansas City Chiefs came into this Thanksgiving showdown at AT&T Stadium hungry for a win.
And thankfully, it was Cowboys fans who went home happy as Dallas once again came-from-behind to earn a 31-28 victory. This marks the team's first three-game winning streak since a five-game stretch from Nov. 12 to Dec. 10 during the 2023 campaign. It also pushed the Cowboys' record above .500 for the first time this season, Dallas now sitting at 6-5-1.
In a battle between star quarterbacks, the Cowboys' Dak Prescott went toe-to-toe with the Chiefs' Patrick Mahomes. Prescott completed 69.2 percent of his passes for 320 yards and two touchdowns for a 100.4 passer rating. Meanwhile, his counterpart finished with a 67.6 completion percentage for 261 yards, four touchdowns and a 129.7 mark.
After a tough outing last Sunday, CeeDee Lamb found his form again and racked up 112 yards on seven catches and a score. And with a 17-yard catch in the first quarter, he also became just the 15th player in NFL history, and the first in Cowboys record books, to surpass 7,000 receiving yards in his first six seasons.
Lamb was joined by George Pickens, who kept his hot hand with six grabs for 88 yards, while on the ground, Dallas topped the 100-yard rushing mark again. The team finished 137 yards rushing with Javonte Williams picking up 59 of those.
Defensively, the Cowboys sacked Mahomes three times, including two by Jadeveon Clowney, and had nine quarterback hits with four tackles for loss. Corralling wideout Rashee Rice proved difficult at times, as the SMU product had 92 receiving yards and two touchdowns. In the end, though, it wasn't enough.
The Cowboys outgained Kansas City, 457 yards to 362, and converted 56 percent of their third-down tries to the Chiefs' 38 percent. Dallas also narrowly won the time of possession, 30:54 to 29:06
First Quarter
Things couldn't have started much worse for the Cowboys as less than two minutes into the game, they found themselves down, 7-0. Although Dallas got the ball first, on the team's third snap, Prescott got hit while trying to connect with Pickens, which provided an easy opportunity for Chiefs cornerback Jaylen Watson to pick off the pass.
Set up at the Dallas 37-yard line, Kansas City then needed only two plays of its own to cross the goal line. Mahomes threw a short screen to Rice, who then raced 27 yards untouched for the score.
But the Cowboys offense regrouped, found their form and came right back with a 12-play, 75-yard drive to tie the game. Lamb caught four passes for 44 yards during the series, three of which came on third down. And the last of those was on third-and-10 at the Chiefs' 15-yard line when Prescott found Lamb in the back-right corner of the end zone for the home side's first touchdown.
With the day showing signs of being a barnburner, Mahomes drilled a pass into tight end Travis Kelce in the end zone on the last offensive play of the first quarter to put Kansas City back on top, 14-7. That capped a 12-play, 72-yard possession that saw the Chiefs run the ball nine times for 66 yards. That included a 16-yard scramble on third-and-14 at the Dallas 25 that kept their drive alive.
Second Quarter
After Dallas got a 49-yard field goal from Brandon Aubrey to narrow the gap early in the second frame, the Cowboys defense needed to show they could stop the Chiefs' high-powered offense. And they did, finally, forcing a punt.
With that, Prescott and company were able to march 85 yards in eight plays to take their first lead of the day. A 12-yard completion to Pickens on third-and-3 at the Dallas 36 was immediately followed by a 9-yard toss to Lamb and then a handoff to Malik Davis, who sped 43 yards to pay dirt to put the Cowboys in front at the half, 17-14. That was the longest rush of Davis' career and the longest touchdown run for Dallas since 2022.
Third Quarter
Although the game looked headed toward a shootout early on, the defenses, particularly on the Cowboys side, took more control as the second half got underway. After Kansas City reached the end zone on its first two possessions, Dallas forced punts on the Chiefs' next four series.
But despite the visitors maintaining a field-position advantage, pinning the Cowboys inside their own 5-yard line on back-to-back possessions, the Dallas offense flipped the script, traveling 78 yards in seven plays to the Kansas City 18. There, Aubrey spit the uprights from 36 yards out to increase the Cowboys' lead to six points, 20-14.
Fourth Quarter
Unfortunately, in the final minutes of the third quarter, Mahomes found his rhythm again, and by the time the fourth got underway, Kansas City had a third-and-goal at the Dallas 3-yard line. And though they failed to reach the end zone on their first try, the Chiefs scored on fourth down when the quarterback connected with Rice for the touchdown.
But a quiet day for Pickens, who had just two catches coming into this possession, suddenly exploded as he took a short pass and spun away from one defender before racing down the right sideline and leaping another opponent for a 39-yard gain. After Pickens hauled in another 10-yard pass, Prescott then did a nifty job of avoiding the rush and dumping a pass off to Javonte Williams for the 2-yard touchdown. With a successful 2-point conversion, fittingly scored by Pickens, Dallas was again on top, 28-21.
However, with more than 11 minutes remaining, there was still plenty of game left to play. But after the Cowboys defense forced another punt, Prescott immediately threw a 51-yard bomb to Lamb, taking his team from its own 10-yard line to the Kansas City 39.
KaVontae Turpin then came up with a huge recovery of a Pickens fumble at the Chiefs' 8-yard line, setting up Aubrey for a chip-shot 26-yard field goal and giving the Cowboys a two-possession lead with just over five minutes on the clock.
And once the Chiefs came right back and used only 1:49 of game clock to reach the end zone, things got really interesting. Mahomes continued to keep plays alive by eluding Dallas defenders, finding Xavier Worthy wide open down field for a 42-yard gain and then later connecting with Hollywood Brown for the touchdown, the receiver making an impressive tiptoe grab in the back of the end zone to pull to within three.
Needing a big-boy drive with just 3:21 remaining in the game, the Dallas offense was up to the task. Just before the two-minute warning, the Cowboys faced a crucial third-and-2 at the Chiefs' 41-yard line, but Prescott threw a dart to Pickens on a slant for a 13-yard gain, moving the chains.
Game over.
The Cowboys will now finish up this gauntlet of three games in 12 days by traveling to Detroit next Thursday to take on the Lions in a must-win game for their playoff hopes.