Philadelphia Stumble in Texas & Patrick Saves Kansas City – Best Moments from NFL Week 12
The twelfth week delivered an epic Dallas Cowboys comeback, or was it an epic Eagles implosion?
Playoff Mahomes arrived to rescue the Chiefs' campaign as the Chicago Bears keep to surprise as they continue their victorious run.
And did Sanders perform enough on his debut NFL start to secure the starting role in Cleveland?
Let's take a look at the pick of the action in the league.
Analysis – Cowboys Comeback or Philly Fail?
The Cowboys were down and out at 21-0 down against the defending Super Bowl winners, so how on earth did they engineer their equal-largest comeback ever?
The emotions of a first home fixture since a teammate’s untimely death could have been a factor, but technically it was a combination of Prescott’s resolve and a defence that pounced on rare mistakes by the Eagles.
Dak eclipsed Romo’s marks for passing yards (now 34,378) and clutch possessions (twenty-five) with an dynamic performance – his plunging touchdown personifying his energetic showing.
Philadelphia squandered a lead of 21 points or more for the initial time since nineteen ninety-nine, with only their second game with several turnovers this season – the previous being another disappointing division defeat at the Giants.
Along with fourteen infractions for ninety-six yards, the attacking struggles that hit Hurts after what – for him – was an explosive start was significant. He'd only passed for 200-plus yards in 4 games before Sunday, he had over one hundred fifty in the first half alone in Dallas.
Yet from the time the Eagles went twenty-one to zero up their offense fell apart spectacularly – with four consecutive kicks, a failed three-point attempt and then a turnover giving opportunity after chance to the Dallas.
The Eagles defense is brilliant, it really is, but an offense that's not surpassed twenty-one points in 5 of seven games (three losses) is now a major worry, as the components are all there but it's just not clicking.
Nick Sirianni approach is all about securing the big situations, the defence keeps them in it and what offense there is manages barely sufficient – if it cannot even do that and now the discipline and possession security is failing, there may be problems ahead.
Spotlight – Playoff Patrick Appears Early to Rescue Kansas City
It wasn’t as extreme, but the Chiefs’ 11-point recovery in the final period against a powerful Indianapolis squad was very notable – and may have just rescued their campaign.
How big was it? Indeed, the NFL's advanced analytics now give the Chiefs a 58% probability of making the postseason, when a loss on Sunday would have dropped that figure to 28%.
No wonder the playoff version of Patrick Mahomes arrived, passing for 235 yards in the latter half by itself and guiding three scoring possessions in their last 4 possessions to win it in overtime.
Some huge throws and daring scrambles are typical for Mahomes in the postseason, but currently the Chiefs are in playoff mode – at 6-5 and just 10th in the conference rankings.
That was more like the old Chiefs however, with a first one-score win of the year after dropping 5 previously – they won eleven of them last year so, if that confidence comes back, this Chiefs Kingdom may not be done so soon.
Talking Point – Can Bears Be Kings of the North?
You can no longer ignore the Bears now. A victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers, minus Rodgers, kept them top of the division and at 8-3 – sharing the identical standing as the Philadelphia.
They appear threatening on each side of the ball, with a defence that tops the NFL in interceptions and total takeaways and, in Caleb Williams, a emerging quarterback now accustomed to securing close games.
He can still be shaky, giving away a touchdown after a fumble in his own end zone – but he also passed for 3 scores and, with already five fourth-quarter rallies this year, he understands how to finish the game.
The Green Bay Packers are in close chase in the division after dominating the Vikings and Detroit are right there after overcoming the Giants in overtime with a monster game from Gibbs.
The Bears are interestingly the most consistent with 8 victories in nine, but as they visit the Super Bowl champs on Thanksgiving we'll see exactly how strong they really are.
Preview – Thrilling Holiday in Prospect
This looks among the best Thanksgiving line-ups for a long time, with every game loaded with postseason consequences.
The Lions host the Packers in the classic opener in Detroit, before a rare trip return to Texas for the Chiefs, who began life as the Dallas Texans way back in the sixties before moving to Kansas City.
The weekend’s comeback teams are each clinging to playoff hopes but have very little margin for error – so this will have a post-season atmosphere.
What about the Baltimore Ravens? An ugly win over the New York in fact has them leading of the AFC North after beginning 1-5 and looking dead and buried.
Holiday and Shopping Day Fixtures (all times GMT)
- Thursday, twenty-seven November: Packers @ Detroit Lions (18:00)
- Thursday, 27 November: Chiefs @ Dallas Cowboys (21:30)
- Friday, twenty-eight November: Bengals @ Ravens (1:20 AM)
- Friday, 28 November: Bears @ Eagles (20:00)
Can Sanders Retain His Starting Role?
Browns head coach Stefanski dismissed questions on whether Shedeur Sanders had done enough in his debut professional outing to maintain the first-team position when Gabriel comes back.
But the question will continue to be asked as Shedeur became the first Cleveland quarterback to win his debut league game since Zeier in 1999 – with seventeen additional rookie quarterbacks unsuccessful to do so afterward.
It was just the Las Vegas, and with the assistance of an nearly aggressive Browns defence recording 10 sacks, but the Browns’ offense needs a director, a presence to inspire confidence.
Moreover self-belief is one thing not lacking in Shedeur, who informed a network {