Cowboys vs Chiefs Week 11: History, players to watch, gut prediction

Dallas Cowboys vs Kansas City Chiefs “Under the Radar” Players

Dallas Cowboys: Michael Gallup, WR

Kansas City Chiefs: Mecole Hardman, WR

Michael Gallup stepped up for the Cowboys last week early in the game with a crucial toe-tap catch on fourth down to extend the drive that lead to a touchdown. The Cowboys receiver keeps things going this week in a matchup that should be favorable to him.

The Chiefs have given up the third-most passing yards in the league. In a game where the Cowboys have an advantage over the Chiefs in the passing game, I think we see Michael Gallup get some big chunk plays. The Chiefs have Tyrann Mathieu as their strong safety but I think Kellen Moore will scheme up his best gameplan yet in an effort to get at least one one-on-one matchup each passing play.

The Chiefs tout only the 18th-best rushing defense as well. The Cowboys would be well suited to come out in run tendency sets often to set up Gallup on one-on-one end zone shots. Gallup got back into the swing of things last week and has his legs underneath him.

I like Gallup going for a line of 5-94-1TD in a game that will almost certainly feature points. The Chiefs allow 24 points per game and the Cowboys should be able to move the ball as long as they don’t stop themselves with penalties and turnovers.

On the flip side, the Chiefs are no slouches on offense either. They lead the league in total passing yards and average 26 points per game behind the right arm of Patrick Mahomes. They have their key weapons in speedster receiver Tyreek Hill and the best tight end in the league in Travis Kelce.

Those two alone count for 48% of the receptions and nearly 44% of the yards Mahomes has thrown for. What comes after them is where the Cowboys need to step up. Mecole Hardman is similar to Kadarius Toney who lit up the Cowboys earlier this year.

Hardman is a speedster that is very twitchy and slippery in open space, just the same way that Toney hurt the Cowboys earlier this year. Trevon Diggs will be following Tyreek Hill and the combination of Jayron Kearse and Jourdan Lewis will be tasked with slowing down Kelce. Lewis shined last week in his coverage on Kyle Pitts so I would lean towards him manning Kelce. Hardman should spend most of his day against Anthony Brown.

All the cornerbacks recorded an interception last week and will need to be ready for deep shots to Hardman if the Chiefs see any issue getting the ball to their main targets. I think the secondary weapons for the Chiefs come into play as the Cowboys may actually want to force the Chiefs to pass. I’ll explain why on the next slide…