The Cowboys may still be a longshot to make the NFL playoffs, but if they do — watch out.
Dallas made it back-to-back wins against last season’s Super Bowl teams on Friday, defeating the Kansas City Chiefs 31-28 after running down the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday.
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With the win, the Cowboys now have a 22 per cent chance to make the playoffs according to The Athletic, while Kansas City is now just a 47 per cent chance of qualifying for the postseason and six per cent chance of winning the AFC West.
It is the lowest percentage odds the Chiefs have had of making the playoffs all season, and puts Kansas City in a precarious position with tough games against the Texans, Chargers and Broncos to come in the next month along with lay-up games against the Titans and Raiders.
The Chiefs may need to win all five games to make the playoffs given they would lose any tiebreak with the Jaguars and Bills if they finish on the same record.
The Chiefs last missed the playoffs in 2014.
The Cowboys, meanwhile, must keep the good times rolling next week when they travel to Ford Field to take on a Detroit Lions team desperate to bounce back after a loss earlier on Friday to the Packers.
The Vikings, Chargers, Commanders and Giants follow for Dallas.
Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott was shaky to open Friday’s game, throwing an interception on the first drive to gift Kansas City prime field position and it didn’t take long for the Chiefs to jump ahead courtesy of a Rashee Rice touchdown.
Prescott steadied from that point, however, finishing the day with 27 passes for 320 yards and two touchdowns while CeeDee Lamb put a drop-filled performance against the Eagles last week behind him with seven catches for 112 yards and one touchdown.
Dallas Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb celebrates. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)Source: AP
Standout Cowboys offseason addition George Pickens was kept relatively quiet before coming up with some big catches late, including the one that sealed the win, and had six receptions for 88 yards.
Mid-season trade acquisition Quinnen Williams, meanwhile, continues to add much-needed venom to Dallas’ defensvie front and now has five-plus quarterback pressures in each of his three games with the Cowboys, according to Next Gen Stats.
He didn’t have five pressures in any of his eight games with the Jets before being traded.
Patrick Mahomes did everything he could for the Chiefs, throwing four touchdowns in the loss, but was under constant pressure without guard Trey Smith while Kansas City also lost right tackle Jawaan Taylor (elbow) and Josh Simmons (wrist) to injury during Friday’s game.
‘FURIOUS’: WINK SAYS IT ALL AFTER CONTROVERSY BEFORE TD
Green Bay quarterback Jordan Love threw four touchdown passes — including two on fourth down — to lead the Packers to a 31-24 NFL victory over the Detroit Lions.
Love tied his career-high for TD tosses and added in a game-sealing fourth-down pass to Dontayvion Wicks with 1:55 remaining to give the Packers the Thanksgiving holiday triumph.
Love had connected with Wicks for the Packers’ first TD on a fourth down early in the second quarter.
Love found Romeo Doubs for a fourth-down touchdown before halftime and after the break hit Christian Watson with a 51-yard scoring pass before finding Wicks with a one-yarder.
He completed 18 of 30 passes for 234 yards without an interception and the Packers improved to 8-3-1, second in the NFC North division behind the 8-3 Chicago Bears, who play the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles on Saturday.
There was controversy surrounding the Doubs touchdown, which came after a controversial call moments earlier when the Packers were flagged for a false start on fourth down, only for the flag to be picked up as the referees ruled that Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur had called a timeout.
Replays, however, later showed that not to be the case.
Winston wonders with trick play TD | 00:20
LaFleur was shown desperately signalling for a timeout, but not before the false start actually occurred, much to the frustration of Lions coach Dan Campbell.
If the penalty stood, the Packers likely would have settled for the field goal. Instead, Love was able to find Doubs for the touchdown.
FOX sideline reporter Tom Rinaldi said LaFleur was yelling for the timeout but that officials could not hear him, prompting the Green Bay coach to race down the sideline and signal one.
“That’s the only thing,” said FOX’s rules analyst Dean Blandino.
“He may be yelling ‘timeout’ and signalling. The official obviously acknowledged it before the false start. But on the video, it looks a little bit shaky.”
In the pool report with The Athletic’s Lions reporter Colton Pouncy after the game, NFL Vice President of Instant Replay Mark Butterworth insisted the timeout came before the flag was thrown despite replays seeming to suggest otherwise.
As for what LaFleur himself thought, well the wink said it all.
Regardless, while Green Bay may have got a lucky break on that play Detroit was not without plenty of chances to win Friday’s game.
The Lions twice went for it on fourth down but failed to convert both times. They had to settle for a field goal on their final possession after Green Bay’s Micah Parsons sacked quarterback Jared Goff on third down.
Goff connected on 20 of 26 passes for 256 yards and two touchdowns and David Montgomery ran for a TD, but the Lions — winners of the NFC North the past two seasons — fell to 7-5.
They are third in the division and struggling to get back into the playoff picture.
Already missing three starters, the Lions also saw star receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown exit in the first quarter with an ankle injury while the Packers lost key defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt to what could be a season-ending ankle injury.
In other games on the Thanksgiving slate, the Dallas Cowboys host the Kansas City Chiefs and the AFC North leading Baltimore Ravens host division rivals Cincinnati Bengals.
