Pic 6: KCvsDAL

Big Day from the Vet

Jadeveon Clwoney is the second-longest tenured NFL player on the Cowboys' roster. The 12 years of experience in the league is continuing to pay dividends for Dallas' offense, none more than his performance on Thanksgiving.

Clowney had two of Dallas' three sacks on the night, including one that took him 11.3 seconds to get to Patrick Mahomes on, according to Tony Romo on the CBS broadcast of the game.

Clowney also finished tied for first as the team's leading tackler with six total, joining Shavon Revel and DeMarvion Overshown. Clowney finished second on the team in total pressures with three behind Quinnen Williams, who had six.

*A True QB Battle

Football is a team sport, but the quarterback duel of Patrick Mahomes and Dak Prescott stole the show on Thanksgiving, with Prescott coming out on top. Both QBs have now won a game against the other in thier two meetings.

Prescott finished with 320 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, completing 27 of his 39 passing attempts. The Chiefs defense sent a blitz on 48.7% of Prescott's dropbacks, generating pressure 12 times, where Prescott completed 10 of his 12 passes for 108 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.

Mahomes' stat line was just as impressive, as he threw for 261 yards and four touchdowns, completing 23 of his 34 passing attempts.

With the win, Prescott moves to 5-3 as a starting quarterback when playing Thanksgiving Day.

Defense Timely Again

It was far from a perfect day for the Cowboys on defense, allowing 362 total yards of offense, but their difference making ability the last three weeks has been the timeliness of some of their stops.

In the last two weeks, Dallas' defense has held opponents scoreless in four of the eight quarters played. On four drives in the second and third quarter against Kansas City, Dallas forced four punts, allowing their offense to score 13 points to build a lead.

Thier trade deadline acquisition of defensive tackle Quinnen Williams continues to be a big one. Williams finished the game with the lead in quarterback pressures (6), and tied for the lead in run tackles (4) and run stuffs (2).

A Clean Plate

Just like your second, third, fourth, or maybe even higher number amounts of Thanksgiving plates of food are clean, the Cowboys offensive line kept Dak Prescott upright the entire game, not giving up a sack despite facing a blitz at their highest rate of the season.

While Prescott was still hit and pressured a good bit, both Brian Schottenheimer and Prescott said following the game that the unit up front has found an identity for themselves in the last couple of games, and Prescott benefitted from that in pass protection on Thursday.

Prescott was also complimentary of how Dallas' offensive line has executed their rushing scheme in the last few games, as Dallas has rushed for over 100 yards as a team the last three weeks, finishing with 137 against Kansas City.

Next Men Up in the Secondary

The Cowboys have leaned on the next man up mentality in a lot of different position rooms over the course of the 2025 season already. One of the constant ones has been in the secondary, which was the case again on Thanksgiving.

Coming into the game, Dallas was down Caelen Carson, who suffered a hamstring injury during the week and was ruled out. Against the Chiefs, both DaRon Bland and Malik Hooker missed time with injuries, although Bland did return to the game down the stretch for Dallas.

With some guys down, rookie CB Shavon Revel got his first start on the outside, and the Cowboys leaned on another rookie corner in Trikwese Bridges down the stretch while Bland was out too. Reddy Stewart accounted for the secondary's only pass breakup of the game, as he was leaned on too in the slot.

A Lucky Charm?

The last time the Cowboys and Chiefs played each other on Thanksgiving was 1995, with Barry Switzer's Cowboys beating Marty Schottenheimer's Chiefs 24-12.

30 years later, Marty's son Brian Schottenheimer led the Cowboys against the team his father coached for 10 season, and who Brian worked for in 1998, to a 31-28 win for his first Thanksgiving victory as the Cowboys head coach.

In his postgame press conference, Schottenheimer revealed that his father has been with him, spiritually and physically. Brian showed off a framed football card of his late father, in a Boston Patriots uniform, which he's kept with him while he's coaching since the Cowboys played Carolina. The Cowboys are 4-3 while Schottenheimer has carried the card with him.