Chiefs, Mahomes Lose Shootout to Cowboys, 31-28, Drop Back to .500

The Kansas City Chiefs reverted back to their old one-score ways against the Dallas Cowboys, losing a 31-28 shootout that dropped the Chiefs back to 6-6 and put their playoff hopes on life support.

This game was mostly about Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott out-dueling his Chiefs counterpart, Patrick Mahomes, as Prescott shredded the Kansas City defense in the second half especially.

The start of the game made it look like it might be all Chiefs, all day. Kansas City picked off Prescott on the Cowboy’s first series, and Mahomes and company quickly converted the interception into a score, with receiver Rashee Rice breaking free for a 27-yard touchdown after hauling in a Mahomes throw.

Dallas countered with an impressive drive that set the back-and-forth tone for the rest of the evening. The drive lasted for 12 plays and went 75 yards, with receiver CeeDee Lamb catching a 15-yard Prescott strike for the touchdown. Lamb would dominate much of the first half, but the Chiefs answered with a 72-yard drive that Mahomes capped off with a 2-yard touchdown throw to tight end Travis Kelce.

The Cowboys next counter resulted in a 53-yard field goal by kicker Brandon Aubrey field, and on their next drive one of the first key plays of the game occurred. An explosive 43-yard touchdown run by running back Malik Davis put Dallas ahead 17-14 at halftime, and they were able to hold onto the lead for most of the rest of the game.

It wasn’t easy, though. Both teams took the third quarter off from scoring touchdowns, with another Aubrey field goal from 36 yards out extending the Dallas lead to 20-14.

The Chiefs finally broke through early in the fourth quarter to retake the lead, 21-20, on a 3-yard touchdown pass to Rice, who finished with eight catches for 92 yards and two scores, although his performance was marred by another key drop late in the game to stifle a Chiefs drive.

The difference down the stretch was Dallas receiver George Pickens, who took over for Lamb and dominated the second half. The Chiefs simply couldn’t stop Pickens, and when he wasn’t making big catches and acrobatic leaps, he was drawing key penalties, including multiple flags on KC corner Trent McDuffie.

It was running back Javonte Williams who closed out the drive that put Dallas back in the driver’s seat, and Pickens made a huge play on a two-point conversion throw from Prescott to widen the margin back to seven, 28-21. Another Aubrey field goal extended their lead to 31-21, as the Chiefs had chances to counter but kept coming up short.

Mahomes finally got Kansas City home with another touchdown toss to receiver Hollywood Brown, and his fourth TD toss of the day narrowed the margin to three, 31-28. But Prescott ran the Cowboys’ four-minute offense to perfection, leading Dallas to multiple first downs that allowed the Cowboys to force the Chiefs to burn timeouts, and they were able to go into victory formation right after the two-minute warning.

Prescott ended up with 320 yards passing to go with two TD throws and a pick, while Mahomes tallied 261 yards to go with his four TDs.

But the key hidden stat in this one was actually zero. That was the number of times Prescott was sacked, despite the fact that Kansas City sent pressure throughout the game. But the Chiefs pass rush never got home, and when they didn’t blitz Prescott usually had a clean pocket that gave him time to wait for Lamb and Pickens to get open. Mahomes, meanwhile, spent much of the day on the run, but it rarely affected his ability to make plays.

The Chiefs are now faced with the prospect of having to run the table to make the playoffs, with their next game at home against the Houston Texans. They’ll need plenty of help to make the playoffs even if they do win out, while Dallas inserted themselves squarely into the playoff picture and the NFC East race as they prepare for their upcoming road game against the Detroit Lions.