Dallas Cowboys, Kansas City Chiefs rivalry: An amazing stat!
The Dallas Cowboys host the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday at AT&T Stadium, which sits in the wrong location for the tomato-red and yellow to expect a victory.
In preparing for the Dallas Cowboys and Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, an amazing stat jumped out at me. You have any idea when the team formerly known as the Dallas Texans last won a football game against the Cowboys in Texas?
Having spent many years as a radio air talent, I often look to music – and football – as a bit of a time machine. I had to go all the way back to the song ‘Island Girl’ by Elton John to find the last time Kansas City beat the Cowboys on the road, that being on a Monday night back on November 10, 1975.
1975?
That’s almost exactly 42 years ago to the day.
Man, I didn’t even know what football was back then. There was no Star Wars, no understanding of baseball, which I played for a decade beginning in 1980. I do remember that catchy guitar riff played by Davey Johnstone in ‘Island Girl,’ which was released on my birthday that same year.
But football?
There’s a great chance that you don’t remember this game either – there’s also a good chance that you weren’t even born yet when it was played.
No, history means nothing when trying to figure out NFL trends in today’s mediocre version of the greatest spectator sport this country has ever seen. The reality is that the Dallas Cowboys seldom play their former cross-town AFL rivals and they’ve only done so 10 times to date, with Sunday’s game being the 11th meeting.
Dallas leads this series, if we can call it that, 6-4, although the Chiefs did hang on for a one-point win in the last meeting in 2013. Regardless of who takes possession of the Preston Road Trophy after Sunday’s game, the Cowboys will still hold the advantage in the series.
There’s some who think that NFL rushing leader Kareem Hunt is too much for the Dallas Cowboys front seven to handle. There’s an idea floating in some circles that Alex Smith will have no problems lighting up the scoreboard against a rapidly improving Dallas defense.
But the name that – dare I say it – might be overlooked here is last year’s league rushing champ.
In case you haven’t heard, Ezekiel Elliott will be playing afterall, his back-and-forth six-game suspension again vacated in a last minute decision announced on Friday.
The truth is that the Chiefs defense stinks, as does their AFC West division that was thought to be much better than it is in early September. Last season’s dominant Oakland Raiders don’t look the same at all, yet they beat the Chiefs in Northern California a couple of weeks ago. KC beat the Denver Broncos, who have absolutely wilted since that ‘September Super Bowl’ win over the Cowboys on Week 2.
Things are so bad for Denver that Brock Osweiler is starting at quarterback now that previous starter Trevor Siemien has completely melted down. The Chiefs beat the nomadic Los Angeles Chargers before that team had even won a game and they also beat the Houston Texans, who once again demonstrated last week against the Seattle Seahawks that defense is not in that franchise’s vocabulary.
Put more simply, the Chiefs are the only team above .500 in their division.
Say what you want about that ‘vaunted’ Chiefs offense, but that defense is beyond suspect.
Yes, I get that outside linebacker Justin Houston and cornerback Marcus Peters are problems.
But why do the Chiefs give up 131.1 yards per game on the ground and a slightly more respectable 261 yards in the air? The Kansas City defense ranks just 30th in the league overall, which should be a huge concern for head coach Andy Reid and his staff.
Next: Dallas Cowboys - Pass rush is key to beating the Chiefs
Sorry, but I’m not buying a Chiefs victory against a ramped up Dallas Cowboys team that’s playing it’s best football right now on both sides of the ball. I’m betting that Elton John doesn’t, either.
Prediction:
Dallas Cowboys 34
Kansas City Chiefs 24