The 2025 season has been a year of one step forward, one step back for the Kansas City Chiefs. It was the latter against the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving.
Behind a 320-yard passing day from Dak Prescott, the Cowboys outlasted the defending AFC champions in a 31-28 win at AT&T Stadium on Thursday. It was their third straight victory, and it moves them to 6-5-1 to keep their NFC playoffs hopes alive. The 6-6 Chiefs, meanwhile, are again .500 and need to win out to reach 11-6 and have any realistic shot at the playoffs, given the tiebreakers they don’t have with teams ahead of them.
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This was pretty much a must-win game for both teams, and the Dallas offense was the difference.
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Prescott went 27 of 39 for 329 yards, 2 touchdowns and an interception, with his wide receiver tandem of CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens overwhelming a short-handed Chiefs secondary. Lamb had 112 yards and a touchdown, while Pickens had 88 yards.
They made it a particularly rough day at the office for Chiefs All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie, who allowed his most yardage to a single receiver all season when Lamb hit 44 yards… in the first quarter.
The Chiefs started out looking like the better team, carrying over the momentum from their comeback win over the Indianapolis Colts last week, with 14 quick points. Prescott, meanwhile, started slow with an interception under pressure.
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Kansas City’s offense disappeared for nearly two full quarters after that, however, as the Cowboys’ revamped defense prevented any big plays. Like last time, the Chiefs woke up again in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough this week.
Trailing 21-20 to start the fourth quarter, Prescott led the Cowboys on an 11-play, 68-yard touchdown drive with Pickens gaining 39 yards on a catch-and-run that included an impressive hurdle over McDuffie:
Prescott threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to running back Javonte Williams, extending the play with his legs and keeping his eyes past the line of scrimmage. Pickens then converted the 2-point conversion.
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After the Dallas defense forced a punt, Prescott found Lamb for a 51-yard gain to set up a field goal, putting the Cowboys up by two scores with a little more than five minutes left.
It was still a four-touchdown day for Patrick Mahomes, with Rashee Rice catching two of them while posting 92 receiving yards. It’s just hard to pull out the win an offense like Dallas gets as many chances to put the game away as it did.
Here’s how Chiefs-Cowboys went down on Thanksgiving at Yahoo Sports:
Live coverage is over73 updates
- Thu, November 27, 2025 at 1:50 PM PST
Jack Baer
- Thu, November 27, 2025 at 5:00 PM PST
Yahoo Sports Staff
What a huge victory for Dallas, which has now beaten both Super Bowl LIX participants in the past four days and sits at 6-5-1, with a shot at the NFC playoffs.
The Chiefs, meanwhile, fall to 6-6 and are in real danger of missing the playoffs for the first time in the Patrick Mahomes era.
Wow
George Pickens (3) and the Cowboys beat the Chiefs 31-28 in a Thanksgiving thriller. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
- Thu, November 27, 2025 at 4:56 PM PST
Yahoo Sports Staff
No more timeouts for the Chiefs, who just gave up a third-and-2 conversion to Dak Prescott and George Pickens on a slant route.
Two-minute warning is here, and Kansas City’s chances of getting the ball back are miniscule
- Thu, November 27, 2025 at 4:54 PM PST
Yahoo Sports Staff
Dallas has two first downs this drive, the first coming on a Jaylen Watson defensive pass interference, and the next on a Dak Prescott to CeeDee Lamb completion, which also featured a pass interference penalty on the Chiefs
- Thu, November 27, 2025 at 4:49 PM PST
Yahoo Sports Staff
Patrick Mahomes willed Kansas City to a touchdown in response to falling behind 10, and what a catch by Hollywood Brown in the back of the end zone.
31-28 Cowboys, 3:21 left
- Thu, November 27, 2025 at 4:44 PM PST
Yahoo Sports Staff
What an incredible play by Mahomes to elude Quinnen Williams and find Xavier Worthy deep downfield on third down to keep the Chiefs’ drive alive
Thu, November 27, 2025 at 4:40 PM PST
Jack Baer
Brandon Aubrey makes the 26-yard field goal to put Dallas up two scores with a little over five minutes left. Patrick Mahomes is going to need to do something special to pull this one out.
Jack Baer
Near disaster for the Cowboys. George Pickens fumbles in the red zone, but Kevontae Turpin swoops in to recover the ball before two Chiefs defenders got there.
Jack Baer
Jack Baer
WOW. On the first play of the drive, Dak Prescott goes deep and hits CeeDee Lamb for a 51-yard gain. The ball was a little underthrown, but Lamb hauls it in through coverage. This just got a lot harder for Kansas City.
Jack Baer
On 3rd-and-8, Rashee Rice commits a brutal drop to end the drive. Cowboys get the ball back up a touchdown with 9:26 left.
Jack Baer
Jack Baer
Dak Prescott scrambles then finds a wide-open Javonte Williams for a 3-yard touchdown. Then he scrambles and finds George Pickens on the 2-point conversion. A huge drive for him, putting Dallas up by a touchdown.
Jack Baer
Jack Baer
There’s George Pickens. After only 22 yards in the first three quarters, the wideout breaks multiple tackles on a 39-yard catch-and-run, culminating with a hurdle in the red zone. 1st-and-goal for Dallas.
Jack Baer
A second DPI flag for Trent McDuffie while trying to keep CeeDee Lamb under control. This one gives Dallas a first down near midfield.
Jack Baer
Jack Baer
Rashee Rice makes an incredible catch on an off-target ball from Mahomes and the Chiefs, after a brutal third quarter, have the lead.
Jack Baer
Patrick Mahomes misses high to Rashee Rice on 3rd-and-goal and the Chiefs are going for it.
Jack Baer
Rashee Rice catches the ball at the 3-yard line, but the ball gets ripped out. The officials (correctly) rule that his knee was down, to the displeasure of the Dallas crowd.
Jack Baer