scored the winning touchdown in overtime on a 60-yard catch-and-run to
cap a record-breaking game in place of the injured Roy Williams, and
the Dallas Cowboys escaped with a 26-20 victory Sunday over Kansas
City.
Austin had 250 yards receiving on 10
catches to break the 43-year-old single-game franchise record and help
the Cowboys survive numerous mistakes against the winless Chiefs. Hall
of Famer Bob Hayes had 246 yards in 1966 against Washington.
Austin also had a tackle-breaking
59-yard touchdown catch to give the Cowboys (3-2) a 20-13 lead with
2:16 left in the fourth quarter. On both plays, he slipped the grasp of
cornerback Maurice Leggett and then made safety Mike Brown miss.
The loss dropped the Chiefs (0-5) to
2-28 in their last 30 games. Kansas City, winless for 315 days, tied it
20-20 on Matt Cassel's 16-yard touchdown pass to Dwayne Bowe with 24
seconds left.
Austin is the third Cowboys receiver
when Williams is healthy. He was unstoppable against the Chiefs, who
led most of the game but couldn't take advantage of all the
opportunities the Cowboys kept handing them. Dallas was penalized 13
times for 90 yards and Tony Romo overthrew several open receivers.
But he and Miles connected when it
mattered most. Late in the fourth quarter, Austin caught Romo's pass,
broke loose from tackles by Leggett and Brown, and gave the Cowboys
their first lead of the day.
Then Cassel swept the Chiefs down the
field, hitting Bowe in the end zone on fourth-and-7. Ryan Succop, who
had a 53-yard field goal attempt blocked by Jay Ratliff right before
Dallas' last TD in regulation, kicked the extra point for the tie.
Romo was 20 for 34 for 351 yards and
two TDs. Cassel, still winless since being traded from New England, was
23 for 41 for 263 yards. Neither quarterback threw an interception.
Chiefs linebacker Mike Vrabel made
his 11th career touchdown catch to give Kansas City a 10-0 lead. After
Romo's fumble was recovered on the Dallas 16 by Brown, the Chiefs had
faced third-and-goal from the 1. Vrabel, a 13-year veteran, lined up on
the left side and was ignored by the defense as he drifted into the end
zone and caught Cassel's soft toss, giving him 11 touchdowns on 11
career catches.
The Chiefs won the coin toss and received in the overtime but failed to get close enough for a field goal attempt.