Week 9 Tweetcap: Cowboys get huge win over Chiefs 28-17

In our fearless leader Dave Halprin’s prediction post, most of us thought this would be a battle of high-powered offenses. Well, except for Dave, who predicted 47 overall points, and the two teams combined for 45. The Cowboys’ offense showed up but it was their defense that made it tough on the Chiefs from the first blow of the whistle. This win feels big because it reminds you of the 2014 game with the Seahawks. The Chiefs were one of the the best teams in football over the past nine weeks but the Cowboys’ were up to the task.

Before we get into the tweets from the game, we have to throw some love to our former four-time Pro Bowler, Tony Romo. Number 9 made his return with Jim Nantz to call his first Cowboys’ game. Beforehand, there was a touching tribute that played for all of AT&T Stadium, voiced by the G.O.A.T., Jason Witten:

Tony Romo also added to the thrilling victory with his commentary but his best line was a dig in the direction of Chiefs’ cornerback, Marcus Peters:

The game certainly didn’t start out as anyone expected, the two teams known for offense took a bit to get going:

Finally, the Cowboys were able to start moving the ball on a struggling Chiefs defense that has been giving up 400+ yards per game. Dez Bryant was a huge kickstarter on their first scoring drive:

Though it looked as though Tyron Smith’s call for holding would stall another offensive drive, the Cowboys kept chugging along. The Dak Prescott to Terrance Williams connection was red-hot, starting with a 27-yard pass on 2nd and 15 that put Dallas at the Chiefs’ six-yard line. Cole Beasley scored on a quick-strike, his first touchdown in a month, putting the Cowboys on the board 7-0.

The Cowboys and Chiefs would trade punts again before the Chiefs finally started moving the ball. As they were knocking on the door of evening this one out, Kansas City’s offense started to backpedal. The Cowboys’ pass rush was able to force two false starts and the Chiefs settled for three points.

Later in the second quarter, with only 1:44 left until halftime, the Cowboys started to get the ball downfield in hopes to build on their lead. Dak Prescott then turned on an MVP-worthy drive with the following:

Once again, Terrance Williams was putting in work before halftime:

On third and goal, Dak Prescott did what he always does, he took it in himself and gave the Cowboys a 14-3 lead with mere seconds on the clock.

Just as it looked like the Cowboys would stroll into halftime having dominated the Chiefs’ offense, the defense completely fell apart on one play with only 13 seconds left. Byron Jones was penalized on an unnecessary roughness call and then this happened with two seconds left:

Just like that the Cowboys 11 point lead was down to four points due to a boneheaded gaff by the defense. As angry as Cowboys Nation was on Twitter, it would get worse when Alex Smith led the Chiefs on a nine-play scoring drive to open the third quarter. In a matter of the last ten plays, Kansas City took a three-point lead over the Cowboys with ease. Travis Kelce abused Byron Jones on this score and showed why he’s been the top tight end this season:

It was very tense as Cowboys’ Twitter was a dumpster fire of folks calling for their premature demise. I guess folks had seen it against the Rams and Packers but this team really answered the bell and bailed out their defense’s lapses in judgement.

The Cowboys offense countered Kansas City’s drive with a 12-play one of their own aided by Ezekiel Elliott’s punishing runs and a Chiefs’ blatant pass interference call. The Cowboys were eating up the third quarter and Elliott was eating up the defense. Elliott would take a two-yard run in to give Dallas a 21-17 lead:

The Cowboys’ defense was fresh and ready to go after the offense gave them nearly six minutes of rest. Kansas City’s offense committed untimely penalties as the home crowd was raucously cheering for the home team. On third and 11, David Irving broke through for his sixth sack in four games.

After the punt, Dallas’ offense did exactly what they were so good at doing in 2016, they controlled the pace of the game. This time, the Cowboys methodically marched through the Chiefs’ on a 13-play drive that took nearly seven minutes off the clock. What was more impressive is that the offense only faced one third-down that Elliott easily converted. One play later, Dak and Beasley hooked up again for a TD:

Down 11 points, there was still plenty of time for the Chiefs to strike but it was the Cowboys’ defense that effectively thwarted a comeback. In two plays, two of the Cowboys’ most maligned players showed up. Facing third and five at the Dallas 40, Taco Charlton finally stepped up to the plate:

As unexpected as it was to finally see the rookie first-round draft pick get that elusive first sack, it was nothing compared to the next play. On fourth and eight, Alex Smith, who hadn’t thrown a single interception all season, decided to give his first to the perfect candidate, Jeff Heath:

Dallas would effectively eat more clock and force Andy Reid to burn his timeouts before punting it back to the Chiefs just under the two-minute warning. Demarcus Lawrence’s presence on the left side would cause another false start for Mitchell Schwartz. A few short plays later, David Irving would make the final tackle on a scrambling Alex Smith to put this one on ice. The Cowboys get to 5-3 on the season, winning the last three straight.

This was by far the most impressive victory as the odds that Dallas would be able to stop such an explosive Kansas City offense were slim at best. Before we roll out, here were some interesting stats from this one.

Tony Romo laid it out there for those still feasting on false narratives: