Cowboys vs. Chiefs third quarter recap: Dallas leads 20-14

Third Quarter

As the Chiefs deferred to start the game they began the second half with the ball.

It was more of the same though, amazingly. The Cowboys defense stood tall yet again and forced a Kansas City punt. Unfortunately it was downed very deep in Dallas territory which made matters treacherous for the offense. The first two plays looked promising, but George Pickens couldn’t wrap up a third down pass and the Cowboys punted it right back.

Amazingly, the Cowboys defense did it again. They forced a fourth straight punt from the Chiefs offense. Imagine hearing those words in the middle of October. They would sound absurd.

Dallas took over with some serious aggression. KaVontae Turpin was involved out of the backfield, Javonte Williams ran hard, CeeDee Lamb drew a big interference call, and Jake Ferguson caught a touchdown… or so we thought.

Ferguson got his left foot down on two separate occasions, but he did not get multiple feet down which rendered his amazing catch moot. It forced the Cowboys to attempt another play on third down with a few minutes remaining in the third quarter and Dak Prescott was unable to connect with CeeDee Lamb. Given that there were three yards to go… Brian Schottenheimer decided to roll the dice once more.

Just kidding. Dak and the offense were trying to bait the Chiefs defense for a free first down and ultimately took a delay of game to send Brandon Aubrey out for a 36-yard attempt. It was good.

SCORE: COWBOYS 20, CHIEFS 14 (Brandon Aubrey 36-yard field goal)

It appeared as if Kansas City was about to draw points as the quarter came to a close.

Second Quarter

The Cowboys were able to grind out another impressive drive and this one was a bit more dramatic than the previous.

Part of the theatrics involved a fourth and short that Brian Schottenheimer went for around midfield. Dak Prescott converted by finding Jake Ferguson which kept the waters cool for a bit.

Shortly after that Prescott fired one off to George Pickens and it looked to be an easy conversion… except Pickens seemed to lose the ball in the infamous glare from the sun peeking into AT&T Stadium. Sigh.

The Cowboys ultimately had to settle for a field goal which was nice, but given the sun of it all it was a bit disappointing.

SCORE: COWBOYS 10, CHIEFS 14 (Brandon Aubrey 49-yard field goal)

Thankfully the Cowboys defense was able to rise to the occasion on the next drive. A big reason for this was a huge coverage sack against Patrick Mahomes that Jadeveon Clowney was the one to receive credit for. Whatever the case the Cowboys took over possession with a chance to go take the lead for the first time on the afternoon.

Dak Prescott was in quite a zone on this possession and was very smooth with moving the ball and offense down the field.

It was Malik Davis who capped it off, though. As Jim Nantz put it on the broadcast… number 43 took it 43 yards to the house for the first Cowboys lead of the game!

SCORE: COWBOYS 17, CHIEFS 14 (Malik Davis touchdown)

It looked as if Kansas City was going to find a way to score, but then the Cowboys defense stepped up. They delivered a stop for the second straight possession and forced a punt with about 20 seconds left in the half.

The Cowboys decided that was enough though and handed the ball off to Javonte Williams to send Post Malone to the stage for the Thanksgiving Day halftime show.

First Quarter

The Chiefs won the toss and deferred which put the Cowboys on offense first.

Like last week this turned out to be a not-so-great thing. Under pressure on the third play of the game, Dak Prescott was intercepted and the Chiefs were already in striking distance after the return.

It took 3 plays for the Chiefs to take the ball away and it took fewer for them to score. On their second offensive play of the day Kansas City saw Patrick Mahomes hook up with Rashee Rice for the easy touchdown.

SCORE: COWBOYS 0, CHIEFS 7 (Patrick Mahomes to Rashee Rice touchdown)

The Cowboys did a great job of not letting the previous drive get to them as they appeared very comfortable when back on offense. Notably CeeDee Lamb looked particularly great which was awesome to see given last week’s struggles.

Lamb was indeed very consistent on the drive, so much so that he put an end to it with a touchdown to equalize things for the Cowboys.

SCORE: COWBOYS 7, CHIEFS 7 (Dak Prescott to CeeDee Lamb touchdown)

In the blink of an eye the Chiefs were back within striking distance. We knew all along this game would be like this in certain stretches.

The defense got Kansas City into a third down, but unfortunately Patrick Mahomes was able to scramble and move the chains. A few plays later the Chiefs were in a 4th and Goal situation and rolled the dice. They hit.

SCORE: COWBOYS 7, CHIEFS 14 (Patrick Mahomes to Travis Kelce touchdown)

That was it for the first quarter.