The Chiefs walked out of Dallas with a 31–28 loss and a .500 record slipping away from them, and it was hard not to think back to another Thanksgiving in the same building. If Kansas City needed a reminder of how to handle that environment, Derek Carr left behind a pretty good one four years ago.

Carr still remembers every bit of that 36–33 overtime win the Raiders pulled off in 2021. And for him, the stage mattered as much as the score.

“Being able to play the Cowboys on Thanksgiving was cooler than being able to play just a game. I grew up watching this game. And now I’m coming in here. Both sides of the family, just colliding. And in one moment, in Jerry’s world. I never lost in Jerry’s world. So, on Thanksgiving Day, the Raiders were victorious,” Carr added.

He laughed, remembering the Cowboys kid who was crying after the loss, saying it made him so happy. And the game was a classic: overtime, back-and-forth, and the Raiders finding a way with Carr throwing for 373 yards, a touchdown, and a 101.5 rating.

Going into Week 12 that season, he owned the second-best passer rating in the league on deep throws. Against Dallas, he averaged 9.6 yards per attempt, didn’t turn the ball over, and beat a defense that ranked fourth in DVOA at the time.

He was phenomenal. On a night like this, when the entire country was watching, he put on a masterclass. The Raiders were having a tough season, and they made a statement by pulling out a win against one of the contending teams. They walked into that Thanksgiving game against Dallas with everything stacked against them.

It was the Cowboys’ big national stage, the Raiders were on a three-game losing streak, and they were missing key guys like Darren Waller, Carl Nassib, and Roderic Teamer for a huge chunk of the game. They had every reason to fall apart, and yet they didn’t. That was the whole theme: this team was hanging on by a thread, but they still pushed through pressure and noise and found a way to win.

Even Dallas wasn’t at full strength. They didn’t have Amari Cooper or CeeDee Lamb, and the Raiders’ defense took advantage of that. They kept getting stops and making sure Carr and the offense had time to work. And they made that time count. The Chiefs probably should’ve taken notes from that one before walking into Dallas.

If Patrick Mahomes wanted a blueprint for how to move the ball on the Cowboys’ defense, Derek Carr left him one four years ago. But Mahomes wasn’t the issue tonight; it was everything else.

Patrick Mahomes was let down tonight

Kansas City’s defense did some things right early, getting off the field on first and second down, but the problems showed up where they’ve shown up all year: the third down. Dak Prescott kept bailing Dallas out in long-yardage spots, and the Chiefs never really found an answer for it.

Down a touchdown in the fourth quarter, they had a chance to get the ball back and flip the game, but the moment slipped away when Rashee Rice couldn’t hang onto a third-and-8 throw that hit him square in both hands. It felt like the kind of play that summed up their night.

The run defense, which had been holding up reasonably well lately, sprang leaks, too. Dallas finished with 137 rushing yards, and Malik Davis’ 43-yard burst right up the gut pushed the Cowboys into their first lead. From there, the Chiefs were chasing.

And the pass rush, which has struggled to finish all season, never got close enough to bother Prescott. When they didn’t bring pressure, he had clean pockets and time to let CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens work their routes. Mahomes gave them everything: 4 TDs and a late push, but it wasn’t enough.

Kansas City now heads into a pair of home games that suddenly feel enormous. First up is Houston, one of the stingiest defenses in the league. After that, the Chargers come to Arrowhead, a team that already clipped the Chiefs back in Week 1. The playoffs are starting to look like a pipe dream.