Dallas

The Kansas City Chiefs’ play-off hopes are hanging by a thread after losing 31-28 at the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving.

The Cowboys have traditionally hosted games on the American holiday since 1966 and ‘America’s Team’ produced a superb performance to overcome the Chiefs despite Patrick Mahomes throwing four touchdown passes as he returned to his native Texas.

Mahomes has led the Chiefs to five of the past six Super Bowls, winning three, but they now have a 6-6 record and are in danger of missing out on the play-offs for the first time since the 2014 season.

The Cowboys came from behind to lead 17-14 at half-time, but a tense finish began with the Chiefs taking a 21-20 lead at the start of the fourth quarter.

Quarterback Dak Prescott then held his nerve as Dallas scored 11 points on their next two possessions to keep them clear, despite a late Chiefs reply.

The Cowboys have now claimed back-to-back wins over both of last season’s Super Bowl teams in just five days after beating the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.

After a stirring 21-point comeback against the Eagles – who denied the Chiefs a three-peat in February – the win over Kansas City is a third in a row for Dallas, to improve to 6-5-1 and keep alive their own hopes of sneaking into the post-season.

With five games left, Dallas are second to the Eagles (8-3) in the NFC East while the Chiefs trail both the Denver Broncos (9-2) and Los Angeles Chargers (7-4) in the AFC West.

For as long as most of us can remember, the Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions have played games on Thanksgiving Day. But why?

Let’s start with the Lions. They have played every Thanksgiving since 1934, with the exception of 1939-44, despite the fact they haven’t been a good team most of those years. The Lions played their first season in Detroit in 1934 (before that, they were the Portsmouth Spartans). They struggled their first year in Detroit, as most sports fans there loved baseball’s Detroit Tigers and didn’t come out in droves to watch the Lions. So Lions owner George A. Richards had an idea: Why not play on Thanksgiving?

Richards also owned radio station WJR, which was one of the biggest stations in the country at that time. Richards had a lot of clout in the broadcasting world, and convinced NBC to air the game nationwide. The NFL champion Chicago Bears came to town, and the Lions sold out the 26,000-seat University of Detroit field for the first time. Richards kept the tradition going the next two years, and the NFL kept scheduling them on Thanksgiving when they resumed playing on that date after World War II ended. Richards sold the team in 1940 and died in 1951, but the tradition he started continues today when the Lions play the Green Bay Packers.

The Cowboys first played on Thanksgiving in 1966. They came into the league in 1960 and, as hard as it is to believe now, struggled to draw fans because they were pretty bad those first few years. General manager Tex Schramm basically begged the NFL to schedule them for a Thanksgiving game in 1966, thinking it might get them a popularity boost in Dallas and also nationwide since the game would be televised.

It worked. A Dallas-record 80,259 tickets were sold as the Cowboys defeated the Cleveland Browns 26-14. Some Cowboys fans point to that game as the beginning of Dallas becoming “America’s team.” They have missed playing on Thanksgiving only in 1975 and 1977, when NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle opted for the St. Louis Cardinals instead.

The games with the Cardinals proved to be losers in the ratings, so Rozelle asked the Cowboys if they would play again in 1978.

“It was a dud in St. Louis,” Schramm told the Chicago Tribune in 1998. “Pete asked if we’d take it back. I said only if we get it permanently. It’s something you have to build as a tradition. He said, ‘It’s yours forever.’ ”

Dallas takes on the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday.

Dallas Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer says he and his squad are “hurting” after the death of Marshawn Kneeland, adding they’ will do everything they can to “honour” him after the defensive end passed away aged 24.

READ MORE: Cowboys ‘hurting’ after Kneeland death – Prescott

Warning: This story contains information some readers may find distressing

Quarterback Dak Prescott says the Dallas Cowboys’ players are “hurting” following the death of team-mate Marshawn Kneeland.

Defensive lineman Kneeland, drafted by the Cowboys in the second round in 2024, died aged 24 on Thursday.

Frisco Police Department in Texas said Kneeland appeared to have taken his own life after a vehicle pursuit and multi-agency search on Wednesday night.

Kneeland, in his second season with the Cowboys, scored his first NFL touchdown by recovering a blocked punt on Monday in a loss to Arizona.

Prescott and his team-mates had a team video call in the wake of Kneeland’s death which the 32-year-old said had been “very tough” following a “tragic loss”.

“I hurt for Marshawn, I hurt for his family, I hurt for his girlfriend, I hurt for every single one of my team-mates,” Prescott told CBS Texas.

Prescott’s own brother Jace died by suicide, external in 2020 and he has worked with mental health initiatives in the past few years.

He acknowledged Kneeland’s death had been “triggering” and it was “hard to balance” his emotions.

“This is a pain that you don’t wish upon anybody,” he said.

“You wish none of us had to go through this. You wish Marshawn didn’t have to go through what he went through.

“Tough moment for this team. I feel and hurt for everybody that’s involved in this and Marshawn’s family and loved ones.”

The Cowboys have a bye this week on the NFL schedule before they return to competition on 17 November at Las Vegas.

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