FRISCO, Texas – At the beginning of the year, there was a lot of noise made about the Cowboys' schedule following the bye week, namely the three-week stretch where they had to face the Eagles, Chiefs and Lions in a span of 12 days.
Head coach Brian Schottenheimer and the Cowboys heard the talk and have won two of those games and now three in a row heading into an important road game against the Lions with their most recent win being 31-28 over the Chiefs on Thanksgiving.
Things don't get any easier from here on out, as Dallas still has their road test against the Lions coming up on Thursday night before heading into the closing four games of the season with little margin for error if they want to reach the postseason.
For now, we'll take a look back at some plays that stood out on film from their win over Kansas City:
Relentless pursuit from Jadeveon Clowney
What makes Patrick Mahomes so frustrating for opposing defenses to handle is his ability to extend plays. He did so multiple times on Thursday, including late in the fourth quarter to evade a sack from Quinnen Williams, roll out and fire across his body into the middle of the field to a wide-open Xavier Worthy to set up a touchdown a few plays later.
If you want to beat Mahomes, you need to take those plays away. Dallas didn't do that completely, but this play in the second quarter is an instance of when they did. Mahomes' first read, Xavier Worthy, is taken away by rookie CB Shavon Revel, who has excelled in man coverage when he's played this season. On the opposite side, Mahomes' other two options are covered as well.
In order for there to be a coverage sack, someone actually needs to sack the quarterback. This play went on for 11.3 seconds, as Mahomes did all he could to buy time. Remember in last week's Tape Talk when we said Alijah Clark's effort on the forced fumble against the Eagles' punt returner would be played by high school and college football coaches for years to come? Jadeveon Clowney exudes the same effort here, making a diving effort to trip up Mahomes, missing and falling to the ground, then getting back up and finally bringing him down. Clowney gave Dallas his all on Thanksgiving, finishing with two sacks.
Makings of Malik Davis' 43-yard touchdown
All season, Dallas' run game concepts have popped off the film as Brian Schottenheimer, Klayton Adams, Conor Riley and Derrick Foster have their respective units meshing together really well. On Malik Davis' 43-yard touchdown, those pieces all came together again.
Everybody gets involved in blocking, and it starts with TE Brevyn-Spann Ford coming in motion and taking out the defensive end so he can't ruin this play. All-Pro DT Chris Jones gets into the backfield but ultimately can't get the right angle to bring Davis down. After that, Davis just has to follow his lead blocker, Hunter Luepke.
Sure enough, Luepke gets his hat on the linebacker and Davis is left one-on-one with the safety. Davis puts his foot in the ground, evades the ankle tackle and goes home free for the Cowboys' longest rushing touchdown not just of the season, but since 2022.
Quinnen Williams' strength on display
If you ever wonder why Quinnen Williams is double teamed at such a high rate, plays like these are why. When he's left one-on-one, the offense is betting on their lineman being stronger than Williams. That's a difficult matchup even for the best in the league, and Williams makes the Chiefs pay here on third down and short.
At the jump, rookie LT Josh Simmons gets square with Williams but that doesn't last long. Williams stands him up, uses his left arm to force his way inside and swims with his right arm over Simmons' shoulder to plug up the middle. He gets an arm around Kareem Hunt, which slows him down just enough for Sam Williams, who had one of his best games of the season against Kansas City, and brings him down for no gain.
Kansas City had 119 rushing yards and 5.2 yards per carry, but overall, Williams' making plays like this has been a big reason why Dallas' run defense has improved so drastically over the last three weeks since he's been acquired. Next Thursday against the Lions, the Cowboys may have the toughest test of their season with Detroit's dangerous duo of Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery going up against Dallas.
Dak Prescott's best throw of the afternoon?
Dak Prescott has been very dialed in throwing the football this season, especially on play action. On Thursday, he had arguably his best throw of the game and maybe the season off of it as well. In the fourth quarter at their own ten-yard line with a seven-point lead, typically you'd see teams run the football, drain the clock and try to march methodically downfield.
Instead, Brian Schottenheimer decides to throw deep. Before they can do that though, Dallas' offensive line slides to the left and takes most of Kansas City's defensive line out of the way. Trent McDuffie, who was lined up against CeeDee Lamb, comes on a corner blitz, but the Cowboys were ready for it and Hunter Luepke forces him well out of the way.
All of that combined allows Prescott to step into the throw, although there is pressure in his face and he gets hit just as/after he's releasing the ball, and launches to CeeDee Lamb down the field. Lamb just ran right past everyone, as by the time the safety in coverage turned his hips, he and Lamb were side by side. That'll usually play in Lamb's favor, who has to wait for the ball but still comes down with a massive 51-yard reception that flipped the field, and ultimately the end of the game.
George Pickens on slant routes: Nearly unguardable
Cowboys' wide receiver George Pickens leads the NFL in yards on slant routes, with 292 yards and a touchdown on 19 receptions from 25 targets. That's 127 more yards than the next closest player, and his 15 first down on slant routes are five more than the next closest player too.
Is it the most unguardable route in football right now? It's certainly on the conversation, as Pickens' quickness of the line, body control and length make him a prime target for those kinds of plays. Last week against the Eagles, Pickens' big gain on a slant got the Cowboys into field goal range and allowed them to walk it off.
Similarly, against the Chiefs, on third down and short late in the fourth quarter, Pickens clinched the game on a slant route too. He beats his defender to the inside, the Chiefs' linebacker slips into the flat to cover Javonte Williams, and as soon as he does so, Prescott fires the ball into a wide-open middle of the field for Pickens to put the game on ice for the second straight week.
