Arrowhead Pride
QB Patrick Mahomes acknowledges Chiefs’ tough road ahead | ESPN
“You’ve got to win every game now — and hope that’s enough,” Mahomes said of the Chiefs’ attempt to make the postseason with five games left in the regular season.
With a 6-6 record and outside the AFC’s playoff picture, the Chiefs’ chances of clinching a postseason berth dropped Thursday from 63% to 47%, according to ESPN Analytics. All five games remaining on the Chiefs’ schedule, starting Dec. 7 against the Houston Texans, will be against AFC opponents, too. Mahomes understands that every game for the Chiefs is essentially a play-in game to keep their playoff hopes alive.
“We’re going to play a lot of good teams coming up,” Mahomes said. “If we’re going to make the playoffs, we’re going to have to win them all. That’s got to be the mindset when we step into the [training facility] when we get back.”
Chiefs-Cowboys on Thanksgiving: What We Learned from Dallas’ 31-28 win | NFL.com
Chiefs’ miscues come back to haunt. Patrick Mahomes nearly pulled off another epic comeback, stacking how-did-he-do-that plays, particularly late in the game, to cut the Cowboys’ double-digit lead. However, the miscues and a mid-game lull spelled doom. Following back-to-back early scoring drives to open the game, the offense went cold. Four straight Chiefs drives sputtered over the second and third quarters, despite crossing midfield on each possession. The hiccup allowed the Cowboys to take control of the contest in the middle frames. Mahomes engineered a comeback bid, but the defense’s inability to slow Dak Prescott stung. Drops peppered the offensive problems, but penalties on both sides of the ball were K.C.’s biggest bugaboo. Andy Reid’s squad was penalized 10 times for 119 yards on the day, including multiple holds and big defensive pass interference calls. It’s not the winning ball that the Chiefs have been known for the past decade. The loss pushed K.C. to 6-6, putting its 10-year playoff streak on life support.
Chiefs-Cowboys takeaways: George Pickens, Dak Prescott spark win, boost playoff hopes | The Athletic
Losing the numbers game
Chiefs coach Andy Reid admits he determines his team’s fourth-down decisions by feel, but his intuition seemed to let him down in this one.
With the Chiefs trailing by three in the third quarter, Reid elected to punt on a fourth-and-4 from the Cowboys’ 44.
According to NFL analyst Ben Baldwin’s fourth-down bot, that single decision to punt instead of going for it reduced the Chiefs’ win probability from 52 percent to 45 percent. It’s difficult for that big of a swing to take place on a single coach’s decision.
The rest of the game only solidified why the Chiefs shouldn’t have willingly surrendered a possession. Dallas went field goal, touchdown, field goal on its next three drives, putting the game out of reach when K.C. was still trying to play catch-up. — Newel
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