Miles Austin had career day in his first
NFL start, catching 10 passes for 250 yards and two touchdowns, including the
game-winning, 60-yard TD catch in overtime, as the Dallas Cowboys outlasted
the lowly Kansas City Chiefs, 26-20, in Week 5 at Arrowhead Stadium.
Miles, who was filling in for an injured Roy Williams (rib), hauled in a pass
from Tony Romo at about the 50-yard-line and broke a tackle before sprinting
down the right sideline and into the end zone with 8:22 left in OT for the
thrilling victory.
The 250 receiving yards by Austin broke a franchise single-game record. Hall
of Fame wide receiver Bob Hayes had the previous record with 246 yards
receiving on November 13, 1966.
"Miles is a guy who was in Dallas when I was and he was acquired, and I've got
to take my hat off to him. He's been working, trying to find his way. He made
a couple of huge plays, probably the biggest of his career. We've got to cover
better and we've got to tackle better. Period," Chiefs rookie head coach Todd
Haley said of Austin.
Romo completed 20-of-34 passes for 351 yards and two touchdowns for Dallas
(3-2), which bounced back from a 17-10 loss to the Broncos last week.
Tashard Choice rushed for 92 yards and a score on eight carries for the
victors.
"I'm really proud of the guys to keep battling out there. I don't know what
it's going to look like or how many penalties we had, but I don't if there's
ever been a team to overcome the things we had to overcome in one single
game," Romo said.
Matt Cassel connected on 23-of-41 passes for 253 yards and two touchdowns for
the Chiefs (0-5), who have lost 28 of their last 30 games. Dwayne Bowe had
five catches for 74 yards and a score in defeat.
"We battled throughout the course of the day and we put ourselves in a
position against a very good football team, the Dallas Cowboys, to win.
That's what we're looking for. In the prior games that we've had, we hadn't
been in a game late and that's what we wanted to do. We wanted to show
everybody that we can be in these games, especially against good football
teams," Cassel said.
With the score tied at 13-13 early in the fourth, the Chiefs went marching
down the field and into Dallas territory to set up a field goal. But Ryan
Succop's 53-yard attempt was blocked by Jay Ratliff.
Dallas took over and on a 3rd-and-5 from its own 41, Romo hit Austin with a
pass at about the 50-yard-line. Austin broke a tackle before sprinting into
the end zone for a 20-13 lead with 2:16 remaining.
The Kansas City offense, which showed little signs of life all game, came up
huge during its final drive of regulation with a 10-play, 74-yard march.
Facing a 4th-and-7 at the Cowboys 16, Cassel connected with Bowe in the middle
of the end zone to deadlock the tilt with just 24 ticks remaining.
The Dallas defense forced two KC punts in OT before the Cowboys offense scored
on their second possession of the extra session for the come-from-behind win.
Down 13-3, the Cowboys put together a long scoring drive near the end of the
third. Faced with a 3rd-and-1 at the KC 45, Romo hit Patrick Crayton with a
nine-yard pass for a fresh set of downs. On the next play, Choice found a gap
on the left side of the line and scampered 36 yards into the end zone to cap a
72-yard drive that lasted over 4 1/2 minutes. The play was reviewed to see if
Choice stepped out before he crossing the goal line, but the TD was upheld for
a 13-10 game with 1:55 to go.
After Kansas City sputtered on offense, Dallas took over on its own 24
following a punt. On the third play of the drive, Romo connected with Austin
on a 34-yard pass play to get Dallas to the KC 26. The Cowboys, though, were
forced to settle for a 28-yard field goal from Nick Folk that tied the tilt
at 13-13 with 11:10 left in the fourth quarter.
After a scoreless first quarter, which saw Folk miss a 40-yard field goal,
the Chiefs got on the board early in the second thanks to a fumble by Dallas
at the end of the initial period. Crayton muffed the catch on a punt and
Kansas City's Maurice Leggett quickly jumped on the ball at the Dallas 23.
Kansas City couldn't do much with the ball, but was able to settle for a 47-
yard Succop field goal for a 3-0 edge. On the ensuing Cowboys possession,
Romo fumbled the snap on the second play and Mike Brown recovered for the
Chiefs at the Dallas 16.
This time, KC was able to capitalize on the turnover with a touchdown. On a
3rd-and-goal from the one-yard-line, Cassel threw a play-action pass to Mike
Vrabel in the end zone for a 10-0 lead with 11 minutes remaining until half.
Dallas put together an 11-play, 83-yard scoring drive near the end of the half
to cut the deficit to 10-3 heading into the locker room. Austin's 37-yard
reception highlighted the march, which Folk capped off with a 22-yard field
goal with 1:49 left.
The Chiefs took advantage of a short field on their second possession of the
third frame. Kansas City took over at its own 44 after a punt from Dallas. The
Chiefs used three defensive offsides penalties to set up a 1st-and-5 at the
Cowboys 22. However, KC had to settle for a 38-yarder from Succop for a 13-3
margin with 6:30 to go in the third.
Game Notes
KC running back Larry Johnson had 37 yards on 21 carries...Vrabel now has 11
receptions for 11 touchdowns in his 13-year career...The Chiefs have yet to
win under Haley...KC's last win was against Oakland on November 30,
2008...The Cowboys were also without running back Felix Jones (knee) on
Sunday...Dallas has a bye week next week before hosting Atlanta on
October 25. The Chiefs travel to Washington next Sunday.
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