McDuffie & fellow Chiefs seek reset vs. Texans following flag-filled Thanksgiving
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- McDuffie drew multiple pass interference flags, costing Chiefs field position.
- Chiefs generated no sacks, allowed season highs in total and passing yards.
- McDuffie faces Texans' Nico Collins Sunday; Chiefs must reset and refine coverage.
Trent McDuffie wasn’t the only member of the Chiefs’ defense who struggled in KC’s Thanksgiving Day road loss to the Dallas Cowboys.
But as one of the NFL’s top cornerbacks, McDuffie’s rough days at the office stand out.
The multiple penalties bothered McDuffie most. He committed three of the team’s four accepted defensive pass-interference infractions — three in the second half, including two in the fourth quarter.
“Definitely cleaning up the PIs (pass-interference penalties),” McDuffie said of his takeaways from last week’s performance. “When I looked at it, I was really hard on myself and hard on the defense.”
It wasn’t the Chiefs’ finest hour on the defensive side. Their lack of a pass rush — no sacks for the second straight game — allowed Dallas QB Dak Prescott and his talented wide receivers to carve up Kansas City’s secondary.
The Chiefs surrendered season highs in total yards (457) and passing yards (320).
The Cowboys attacked all the Chiefs’ defenders, but McDuffie took the brunt of their efforts because he was often lined up against top receiver CeeDee Lamb. Each of McDuffie’s penalties came while he was defending Lamb.
McDuffie often draws the most difficult pass-coverage assignments and typically comes out on the winning side. In his four NFL seasons, including a first-team All-Pro campaign in 2023 and second-team nod in 2024, he had drawn eight accepted defensive pass-interference penalties, and never more than one in a given game.
He didn’t criticize Johh Hussey’s officiating crew, which flagged the Chiefs 10 times for a season-high 119 yards.
“You want calls to go you way, and sometimes they don’t go your way,” McDuffie said. “You don’t want to get out of your game. You don’t want to let calls factor in what you do on the field ...
“If they throw a flag, they throw a flag, and you have to wash it away and get ready for the next play.”
Lost in the loss was a play McDuffie made late in the game that could have shifted the tide. With Dallas leading by a touchdown in the fourth quarter, he punched the ball from the grasp of Cowboys receiver George Pickens after a reception. But KaVontae Turpin beat the Chiefs to the ball, and the Cowboys ended the drive with a game-clinching field goal.
Now the Chiefs’ focus shifts to applying the lessons learned from last week’s defeat to their next test: a “Sunday Night Football” contest at home against the Texans. Houston may not possess the passing prowess of Dallas, which leads the NFL in yards and ranks second in touchdowns.
But the Texans, like the Cowboys, are currently playing their best football. They have won four straight and starting quarterback C.J. Stroud has returned after missing three games in concussion protocol. A few days after the Chiefs lost at Dallas, Houston went to AFC-leading Indianapolis and beat the Colts.
On Sunday evening, McDuffie likely will find himself tasked with covering talented Texans receiver Nico Collins, a big-bodied target averaging 14 yards per reception. Collins had 12 in two KC victories over Houston last season.
“They’re a confident group,” McDuffie said. “Even when C.J. was out their offense was still rolling, still doing a lot of good things.”