Philly Stumble in Dallas & Patrick Saves Kansas City – Best Highlights from National Football League Week 12
Week 12 provided an incredible Dallas Cowboys rally, or perhaps an massive Eagles collapse?
Playoff Patrick Mahomes arrived to rescue the Chiefs' season while the Chicago Bears continue to impress as they extend their winning streak.
Did Shedeur Sanders do sufficiently on his debut NFL start to earn the starting role in Ohio?
We’ll examine at the pick of the week in the league.
Analysis – Dallas Rally or Philly Fail?
The Cowboys found themselves down and out at twenty-one to zero down against the reigning championship champions, so how on earth did they produce their joint-best comeback ever?
The emotions of a initial home game after a teammate’s tragic passing could have played a part, however it was a mixture of Dak Prescott resolve and a defensive unit that pounced on uncommon mistakes by the Eagles.
Prescott surpassed Tony Romo marks for yards thrown (now 34,378) and clutch drives (25) with an all-action display – his plunging score embodying his energetic display.
Philly squandered a lead of twenty-one points or more for the initial time after nineteen ninety-nine, with only their second game with multiple giveaways this season – the other being another disappointing division loss at the Giants.
In addition to 14 infractions for ninety-six yards, the offensive malaise that affected Hurts after what – for him – was an explosive start was huge. He had only passed for over two hundred yards in 4 games before the weekend, he had more than one hundred fifty in the first half by himself in Dallas.
However from the time the Eagles went 21-0 up their offense fell apart spectacularly – with four consecutive kicks, a failed field goal and then a fumble giving chance after chance to the Dallas.
The Eagles defense is excellent, it truly is, but an offense that's not surpassed 21 points in five of 7 games (three losses) is now a major concern, as the components are all there but it's just not clicking.
Sirianni’s approach is all about winning the big moments, the defence maintains them in it and what offence there is manages just about enough – if it can't even do that and now the composure and ball protection is failing, there may be trouble in the future.
Spotlight – Playoff Patrick Shows Up Prematurely to Rescue Kansas City
It wasn't as extreme, but Kansas City's 11-point recovery in the fourth quarter against a powerful Colts squad was very notable – and may have only saved their campaign.
How big was it? Indeed, the NFL's advanced analytics now assign the Kansas City a 58% chance of making the postseason, whereas a loss on Sunday would have dropped that figure to twenty-eight percent.
No wonder the playoff form of Mahomes turned up, passing for two hundred thirty-five yards in the second half by itself and guiding three point-scoring drives in their last 4 series to seal it in overtime.
A few big throws and daring scrambles are commonplace for Mahomes in the postseason, but currently the Chiefs are in playoff mode – at six and five and just tenth in the AFC standings.
That was more like the former Chiefs however, with a initial close victory of the season after losing 5 already – they secured eleven of them last year so, if that confidence returns, this Chiefs Kingdom might not be finished so soon.
Discussion – Can Bears Be Rulers of the Division?
You can no longer overlook the Chicago Bears now. A victory over the Steelers, without Aaron Rodgers, maintained them top of the division and at 8-3 – sharing the same record as the Eagles.
They appear dangerous on both sides of the field, with a defence that leads the league in picks and overall takeaways and, in Caleb Williams, a emerging player now used to winning close games.
He may still be shaky, surrendering a touchdown after a turnover in his team’s goal area – but he also passed for three touchdowns and, with already five final period rallies this year, he knows how to finish the game.
Green Bay are in close chase in the NFC North after overpowering the Vikings and the Lions are right there after beating the New York in extra time with a huge game from Jahmyr Gibbs.
Chicago are strangely the most reliable with 8 wins in nine, but as they visit the Super Bowl champs on Thanksgiving we'll see just how strong they really are.
Preview – Exciting Holiday in Store
This looks among the best Thanksgiving line-ups for a long time, with each game packed with playoff implications.
The Lions host the Green Bay in the traditional curtain-raiser in Michigan, before a rare visit back to Texas for the Chiefs, who started out life as the Dallas Texans way back in the 1960s before relocating to Kansas City.
The weekend’s rally kings are both holding on to postseason hopes but have very little margin for error – so this will have a playoff feel.
What about the Ravens? An ugly victory over the New York in fact has them leading of the AFC North after beginning one and five and appearing dead and buried.
Holiday and Shopping Day Games (all times GMT)
- Thursday, 27 November: Green Bay Packers @ Detroit Lions (18:00)
- Thursday, 27 November: Chiefs @ Dallas Cowboys (21:30)
- Friday, 28 November: Bengals @ Ravens (1:20 AM)
- Friday, 28 November: Chicago Bears @ Eagles (8:00 PM)
Can Sanders Keep His Job?
Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski batted away questions on whether Shedeur Sanders had performed sufficiently in his first professional start to maintain the starting job when Dillon Gabriel comes back.
Yet the question will keep being asked as Sanders became the first Browns signal-caller to win his debut league start since Eric Zeier in 1999 – with seventeen other rookie signal callers unsuccessful to do so since.
It came just the Raiders, and with the help of an nearly feral Cleveland defence recording 10 sacks, but the Browns’ offense requires a leader, a figurehead to build confidence.
And confidence is something not missing in Shedeur, who told a CBS {