In a friendly chat, managing editors from the Cowboys Wire and Chiefs Wire exchanged a couple of questions as a preview to Thursday’s battle in Texas. John Dillon joined KD Drummond to talk the Thanksgiving matchup.
Chiefs Wire: How has Dallas’ defense evolved after the Micah Parsons trade?
Cowboys Wire: It’s taken a long while to have any vision of a plan, but they have clearly found something with Quinnen Williams. Admittedly, facing the Raiders and Eagles’ simplistic offenses helps a lot, but Dallas has added a ton of athleticism to their front seven in adding Williams and LB DeMarvion Overshown. Williams’ disruption and forced focus has leveled up the rest of the defensive line. The young corners, Caelen Carson and Shavon Revel are much better than Kaiir Elam, who started much of the year but has now been released. The real test though will be Thursday, because Mahomes is so skilled and so inventive on the fly, Dallas needs to know what they actually are beyond taking away first reads.
Cowboys Wire: he Chiefs have struggled in close games this season? Is that much ado about nothing or is there a crunchtime issue?
Chiefs Wire: I think the truth is somewhere in the middle here. Kansas City hasn’t been winning one-score games in the way fans got used to over the last few seasons, but last week’s victory over the Colts proved that the Chiefs still have ice in their veins. The quantity of ice and whether the ice will melt against particularly stiff competition remains to be seen, but as long as Patrick Mahomes remains under center, you’d be unwise to bet against Kansas City in close matchups.
Chiefs Wire: What would a win over Kansas City mean for the 5-5-1 Cowboys?
Cowboys Wire: The Cowboys hadn’t won two games in a row all season before Sunday, so making it three would be huge. They dug such a big hole with losses to Carolina and Arizona, they probably have to win out to make the playoffs, though one AFC loss might be forgivable. But being able to say they’ve defeated both Super Bowl teams in back-to-back weeks, that’s a huge accomplishment. Being able to stick a feather in the cap for that one, especially going from Monday to Sunday to Thursday after dealing with the tragic loss of Marshawn Kneeland, that would likely galvanize the team’s belief in itself and that can do wonders heading down the stretch.
Cowboys Wire: Please talk about the Chiefs wide receiver group, it’s been pretty interesting so far this year.
With the full crew playing together every week Mahomes has been able to find a bit more consistency in the passing game. Things got a bit hairy while Rashee Rice was serving his suspension, especially when Xavier Worthy suffered a shoulder injury and had to miss time as well. But even with their top two options briefly sidelined, the Chiefs still had speed-demons Marquise ‘Hollywood’ Brown and Tyquan Thornton on the field, and the veteran presence of JuJu Smith-Schuster. If this group can stay healthy over the next few weeks, Kansas City may be able to fight its way back into playoff contention.
Final Score Predictions
Cowboys Wire: It feels a bit homer to predict this defense suddenly being good enough to slow down Mahomes, because it legitimately was one of the worst ever through 10 weeks of the season. As much as I’d love to predict a Dallas win… I’m going to predict a Dallas win. Cowboys 30, Chiefs 28; Brandon Aubrey nails a 63 yarder as time expires.
Chiefs Wire: The Chiefs will have no margin for error in this primetime matchup, and after their win over the Indianapolis Colts last week, I’m cautiously optimistic that Kansas City can secure a gritty road victory in this game. Mahomes always seems to bring an extra edge to the field when he plays on a national stage, and the Chiefs are relatively healthy despite Sunday’s slugmatch against Indianapolis. I think the final score will be close, but expect Kansas City to earn its seventh victory of the season. Final score: Chiefs 27, Cowboys 22
This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Enemy Intel: Cowboys-Chiefs Q&A session, Week 13 predictions
Reporting by K.D. Drummond, Cowboys Wire / Cowboys Wire
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