KC Chiefs vs. Dallas Cowboys: Lessons learned from Week 11

Big-play Byron

For a guy who is quite a bit lower on the depth chart, Chiefs wide receiver Byron Pringle still finds a way to make a big play here and there almost every week. In the team’s game against the Cowboys on Sunday, Pringle came up with multiple ways to impact the outcome, even as opportunities come intermittently.

On offense, Pringle had an incredible 37-yard catch on the team’s opening touchdown drive that helped to set the tone for the game. In addition, he had two big returns  to help the Chiefs start second half drives at midfield—each of which started a few yards into the end zone.

If the Chiefs can get these sorts of occasional big play, especially on special teams, from under-the-radar contributors like Pringle, it’s going to go a long way toward helping them reach their postseason goals. Speaking of…

Special teams looks good once again

Dave Toub’s units have been playing very, very good football lately, coming together at the same time as the team’s defensive resurgence. Together, they have helped the Chiefs win games even when the offense has stalled in recent weeks.

On Sunday against the Cowboys, not only did Pringle come up big (as we mentioned above) but the specialists also came through in major ways. Tommy Townsend continues to boot punts tremendous distances, and a couple of his kicks on Sunday even came with tremendous closing pressure from the Cowboys. Meanwhile the team’s coverage units kept Dallas from breaking off any big runs and blocked well for Pringle.

Then there’s Harrison Butker, who has earned his Buttkicker nickname and then some over the years for the Chiefs. He’s just about as accurate as a kicker can be with a strong leg to boot (pun intended), and he showed that with a 53-yard make to bail out an otherwise stalled drive late in the third quarter to put the Cowboys at arm’s length. On one of the last plays of the game, Butker even faked a long field goal attempt to boot a short unexpected punt which pinned the Cowboys against their own end zone with no timeouts—a brilliant call by Dave Toub.