Philadelphia Stumble in Dallas & Mahomes Rescues Kansas City – Top Moments from NFL the Twelfth Week
Week 12 provided an incredible Dallas Cowboys rally, or perhaps an massive Philadelphia Eagles implosion?
Playoff Patrick Mahomes showed up to salvage the Chiefs' season while the Chicago Bears keep to surprise as they continue their winning run.
Did Sanders do sufficiently on his first professional start to earn the starting role in Cleveland?
We’ll examine at the best of the week in the league.
Analysis – Cowboys Comeback or Eagles Collapse?
Dallas were trailing badly at 21-0 behind against the reigning Super Bowl champions, so how on earth did they engineer their equal-largest comeback in history?
The emotions of a first home game since a teammate’s tragic death could have played a part, however it was a combination of Dak Prescott resolve and a defence that pounced on uncommon errors by the Philadelphia.
Prescott surpassed Tony Romo records for yards thrown (now 34,378) and game-winning drives (25) with an all-action performance – his plunging score personifying his all-action display.
Philadelphia wasted a lead of 21 points or more for the first time since 1999, with only their second game with several giveaways this season – the previous being a bad NFC East loss at the Giants.
In addition to fourteen penalties for ninety-six yards, the offensive struggles that hit Hurts after what – for him – was an fast start was huge. He had only thrown for over two hundred yards in 4 games before Sunday, he had more than one hundred fifty in the first half by himself in Dallas.
Yet from the time the Eagles went twenty-one to zero up their offense derailed dramatically – with four consecutive kicks, a missed three-point attempt and then a turnover giving chance after opportunity to the Dallas.
Philadelphia’s defence is brilliant, it truly is, but an offense that's not surpassed 21 points in 5 of seven games (three losses) is now a major concern, because the components are all there but it's just not clicking.
Nick Sirianni approach is all about securing the key moments, the defence maintains them in it and what offence there is does just about sufficient – if it can't even do that and now the discipline and ball protection is failing, there may be problems in the future.
In Focus – Playoff Patrick Shows Up Early to Rescue Chiefs
It wasn’t quite as dramatic, but Kansas City's eleven-point comeback in the final period against a strong Indianapolis squad was very notable – and could have just saved their season.
How big was it? Well, the NFL's Next Gen Stats now give the Kansas City a 58% chance of making the playoffs, when a defeat on the weekend would have dropped that number to twenty-eight percent.
No wonder the postseason version of Patrick Mahomes turned up, throwing for two hundred thirty-five yards in the second half by itself and guiding three scoring possessions in their last four series to seal it in overtime.
Some big throws and daring scrambles are typical for Patrick in the postseason, but right now the Chiefs are in playoff form – at 6-5 and only 10th in the AFC standings.
That was closer to the former Kansas City though, with a first one-score win of the season after dropping 5 previously – they secured 11 of them the previous season so, if that belief comes back, this Chiefs Kingdom might not be done so soon.
Talking Point – Can Bears Be Kings of the Division?
You just can't ignore the Bears any longer. A win over the Steelers, without Rodgers, maintained them top of the division and at 8-3 – sharing the same standing as the Eagles.
They appear dangerous on both sides of the field, with a defense that tops the league in picks and total turnovers and, in Caleb Williams, a emerging player now accustomed to winning tight games.
He can still be inconsistent, surrendering a score after a fumble in his team’s end zone – but he also threw 3 scores and, with already 5 final period rallies this year, he understands how to finish the game.
The Green Bay Packers are in hot chase in the NFC North after overpowering the Minnesota and Detroit are right there after beating the New York in extra time with a huge game from Gibbs.
Chicago are strangely the most consistent with eight victories in nine, but as they visit the Super Bowl winners on the holiday we'll discover just how strong they really are.
Preview – Thrilling Thanksgiving in Store
It appears among the best Thanksgiving line-ups for a long time, with every game loaded with playoff implications.
Detroit host the Green Bay in the classic curtain-raiser in Detroit, before a rare visit back to Dallas for the Chiefs, who started out existence as the Dallas Texans long ago in the sixties before moving to Missouri.
The weekend’s rally teams are each holding on to playoff hopes but have very little room for mistakes – so this will have a post-season feel.
And how about the Ravens? An unattractive victory over the New York actually has them leading of the AFC North after starting 1-5 and appearing dead and buried.
Holiday and Black Friday Fixtures (all times GMT)
- Thursday, twenty-seven November: Green Bay Packers @ Lions (6:00 PM)
- Thursday, 27 November: Kansas City Chiefs @ Dallas Cowboys (9:30 PM)
- Friday, 28 November: Bengals @ Baltimore Ravens (01:20)
- Friday, 28 November: Chicago Bears @ Philadelphia Eagles (8:00 PM)
Will Shedeur Sanders Keep His Starting Role?
Browns coach Kevin Stefanski dismissed questions on whether Sanders had done enough in his debut NFL start to keep the starting position when Dillon Gabriel comes back.
But the issue will continue to be asked as Shedeur became the first Cleveland signal-caller to secure his first NFL start since Zeier in nineteen ninety-nine – with 17 other first-year signal callers failing to do so since.
It came just the Las Vegas, and with the help of an nearly aggressive Cleveland defense getting 10 tackles, but the Browns’ offence requires a leader, a presence to build belief.
Moreover self-belief is one thing not missing in Shedeur, who told a CBS {