The Cowboys began the fourth quarter trailing 13-10, but the team was gaining momentum. The Cowboys moved into Kansas City territory thanks to a 34-yard reception by Austin (his second of the drive) and a 17-yard run by Marion Barber.

Can you imagine how anyone on the Cowboys would help to stall the drive? False start, #76, offense.

With 1st-and-goal from the 14, Dallas could only move the ball to the 10 before settling for a game-tying field goal.

That’s fine, assuming the defense might hold on the next drive. Instead, Kansas City went on a 13-play, 39-yard drive that took 8:01 off the clock. The drive was “highlighted” by an unnecessary roughness call on Alan Ball, who hit Bobby Wade after Wade was unable to haul in a pass. The Dallas coaching staff was ticked off because Ball appeared to lead with his shoulder and not his helmet. This comes during a season where these types of calls have become rather common, and the play came on a 3rd-and-26 play. Wade was not close to picking up the first down even if he had caught the ball. There was simply no need to hit him.

After that, the Chiefs moved the ball all the way to the Dallas 32 before the defense held. Kansas City lined up for a field goal, but Ratliff leaped over the center to block the kick. Three plays later, Romo hit Austin on a slant, and when Austin broke a tackle, he was gone for 59 yards and a go-ahead touchdown.

2:16 left, with Dallas leading 20-13 against a winless team that had no momentum on its side. That’s when Wade’s (the coach, not Bobby) late-game defense really showed up.

Facing a 3rd-and-14 from the Kansas City 39, Matt Cassel found Wade (Bobby, not the maligned Dallas coach) over the middle for 25 yards. After the Chiefs moved to the Dallas 16, Kansas City faced a 4th-and-7. On a play that could have won the game for Dallas, Dwayne Bowe split Mike Jenkins and Pat Watkins in the end zone, and the Chiefs managed to tie the game.

Hard to imagine that Dallas would have won in overtime against too many other teams. Thankfully, this was Kansas City.

The Cowboys’ first offensive series of overtime yielded one yard and two incomplete passes. Dallas had to punt from its own 17 (reminder of last year’s loss at Arizona), and Mat McBriar did not get off a great punt. Kansas City took the ball over at its own 49.

From there, the Dallas defense made a good stop, forcing the Chiefs to go three-and-out. Dallas got the ball back at its own 21. After two runs by Choice moved the ball to midfield, the Cowboys had some momentum. And then: Holding, #76, offense.

The play after that was a bit better, as Romo hit Austin on a sideline route. Austin broke a tackle and raced the rest of the way for a 60-yard, game-winning touchdown.

As for the first three quarters, Dallas did everything it could to give the game to Kansas City.  Dallas moved the ball but managed only one field goal in the first half. Meanwhile, fumbles by Patrick Crayton and Romo led to 10 Kansas City points in the first four minutes of the second quarter. Receivers, including Austin, dropped passes. Romo missed other passes. The defense did not look terrible but also could not manage a turnover or sack.

Although DeMarcus Ware finally recorded a sack in the second half, he was also one of the culprits on one of the worst defensive drives of the season. The Cowboys were called offsides four different times on Kansas City’s second drive of the third quarter, helping the Chiefs to get into field goal range. The kick gave Kansas City a 13-3 lead.

From there, Dallas finally got a spark when Choice burst off left tackle for a 36-yard touchdown run to cut the Kansas City lead to 13-10.

Austin broke Bob Hayes’ previous record of 246 receiving yards in a game, which was set on November 13, 1966 in a 31-30 Dallas win against the Redskins. The last time a Dallas receiver had more than 200 receiving yards in a game was last year, when Terrell Owens had 213 yards against the 49ers.