Blogging The Boys
Next stop, Super Bowl?
It may feel comical to suggest the 6-5-1 Cowboys are Super Bowl contenders, but they just beat the two teams from last year’s Super Bowl – not to mention the last two Super Bowl winners – in a span of just five days. Whether or not they’re contenders for the big game, it’s hard to deny this team is different.
Just a few days after their grueling comeback win over the Eagles, Dallas played host to the Chiefs in an island game on Thanksgiving. A win could provide a catalyst forward for the rest of the season, not only for the record but for the confidence of the locker room.
Things started out as poorly as it could have, though. Dak Prescott, hit as he threw, was intercepted on the third play of the game. Two plays later, Patrick Mahomes hit Rashee Rice for a touchdown. Both the offense and the defense were off to miserable starts.
Then, things stabilized.
Prescott started to get into a rhythm, hitting CeeDee Lamb on third down to move the chains twice before finding him in the corner of the endzone for a score. Just like that, the game was tied up again. It was time for the defense to respond, though against someone like Mahomes, that’s easier said than done. It proved to be true, as well, with Mahomes picking up a first down on a third-and-14 scramble before finding Travis Kelce for a touchdown on fourth-and-goal.
On the Cowboys’ next drive, Brian Schottenheimer demonstrated a clear understanding of how crucial it was to come away with points. On fourth-and-short at the Kansas City 48, he went for it, and Prescott found Jake Ferguson for the first down. A few plays later, though, Dallas came up short on third down and opted for the field goal, cutting it to a 14-10 Chiefs lead.
Now it was the defense’s turn to step up. Just as they did against the Eagles, Matt Eberflus’ unit locked in early into the second quarter. They took advantage of a first down holding call and Jadeveon Clowney sacked Mahomes on second down, setting up third and 26. Kansas City punted for the first time.
The Chiefs’ next drive went similarly. A second down hold backed them up and led to third-and-16, at which point Dante Fowler got a sack on Mahomes – which had to be confirmed via replay, as the quarterback had tried to throw it away – to help run the clock out and get to halftime.
Of course, in between those two drives came a crucial score. Prescott had two big third-down conversions, one to Ferguson and one to George Pickens, before Malik Davis came in to spell Javonte Williams and ripped off a big one.
That score gave the Cowboys a halftime lead over the Chiefs, somehow overcoming the terrible start to the game and wresting away control. The Chiefs, who had been shut out in the second quarter, saw a...
