Arrowhead Pride
NFL Thanksgiving grades for Week 13: Cowboys ace test, Packers earn ‘A-‘ | CBS Sports
B – Chiefs
After seven straight years of reaching at least the AFC title game with Patrick Mahomes, this might have been the dagger that finally ends Kansas City’s playoff streak. This loss epitomized the Chiefs’ entire season: The team that always finds a way to win close games lost another close game. After going 12-0 in one-score games last year, the Chiefs are 1-6 this year. The defense couldn’t get a single stop in the fourth quarter and they failed to stop the Cowboys’ on almost every key third down that came up. On the offensive side of the ball, Patrick Mahomes was impressive, but the offense also disappeared at times. The unit punted on four straight possessions during a span that ran from the second quarter to the third quarter. There were also some ugly drops and two questionable punts in the second half that came on fourth-and-5 or shorter in Cowboys territory. It’s been a nightmare season for the Chiefs (6-6), and at this point, they only shot they’re going to have of making the playoffs is if they win out, and even then, it won’t be guaranteed.
“We’ve got to put it all together for four quarters in this league. That’s something we’ve been great at in the past. But it’s not the past. Now it’s the present. You have to be able to do that week-in and week-out. Even last week, we weren’t consistent — and we won the game. So, it’s just being consistent throughout an entire game, bringing the right mindset [and] the right energy. It’s something that we’re going to have to do the rest of the way out.”
— Chiefs’ quarterback Patrick Mahomes
Chiefs’ locker room was different after loss to Cowboys. So was Patrick Mahomes | The Athletic
This was minutes after the Chiefs’ 31-28 road loss to the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium on Thursday, and Karlaftis turned away from his locker to face reporters, preparing himself not to offer excuses for his team’s latest close loss.
“We’ve got to dig deeper, got to do more, got to look at ourselves in the mirror,” Karlaftis said. “Now is where this team is going to figure out what we’re made of.”
Look around the rest of the locker room — and at Karlaftis, too — and there might be more reasons to doubt the Chiefs can actually pull themselves out of the 6-6 hole they’ve already dug this year.
Ahead of Karlaftis was rookie left tackle Josh Simmons, who exited the game with a wrist injury. He already had a cast on by postgame, his arm also supported by a black sling. Next to him was right tackle Jawaan Taylor, who suffered a strained tricep. That left him checking his phone afterward while sporting...
