Philadelphia Falter in Texas & Mahomes Saves Kansas City – Top Highlights from NFL Week 12
The twelfth week provided an epic Dallas Cowboys comeback, or was it an massive Philadelphia Eagles collapse?
Postseason Patrick Mahomes arrived to rescue the Kansas City's campaign while the Bears keep to impress as they extend their winning streak.
And did Shedeur Sanders perform enough on his debut NFL start to secure the full-time role in Cleveland?
Let's take a look at the best of the week in the league.
Analysis – Dallas Rally or Philly Fail?
The Cowboys were trailing badly at 21-0 behind against the reigning Super Bowl winners, how exactly did they engineer their equal-largest recovery ever?
The emotions of a initial home fixture after a teammate’s untimely death could have been a factor, however it was a mixture of Dak Prescott determination and a defence that pounced on rare mistakes by the Eagles.
Prescott surpassed Tony Romo records for yards thrown (now 34,378) and clutch possessions (25) with an dynamic performance – his plunging score embodying his all-action showing.
Philly wasted a advantage of twenty-one points or more for the initial time since 1999, with just their second game with multiple turnovers this year – the other being a disappointing NFC East loss at the New York.
Along with fourteen penalties for ninety-six yards, the offensive malaise that hit Hurts after what – for him – was an fast start was huge. He'd only passed for over two hundred yards in 4 games prior to Sunday, he had more than one hundred fifty in the opening two quarters by himself in Dallas.
However from the time Philadelphia went twenty-one to zero up their offense derailed spectacularly – with four straight kicks, a missed field goal and then a fumble handing opportunity after opportunity to the Dallas.
The Eagles defence is brilliant, it truly is, but an offense that's not surpassed 21 points in 5 of 7 games (3 losses) is now a major worry, because the components are all there but it's just not clicking.
Nick Sirianni approach is all about winning the key moments, the defence maintains them in it and what offence there is manages barely enough – if it cannot even do that and now the composure and ball protection is breaking down, there could be trouble in the future.
In Focus – Playoff Patrick Appears Early to Rescue Kansas City
It wasn't as dramatic, but Kansas City's eleven-point comeback in the fourth quarter against a strong Colts team was hugely impressive – and could have only saved their campaign.
How significant was it? Indeed, the league’s Next Gen Stats now give the Kansas City a 58% probability of reaching the playoffs, when a defeat on Sunday would have dropped that figure to twenty-eight percent.
No wonder the playoff version of Patrick Mahomes turned up, throwing for two hundred thirty-five yards in the second half alone and guiding three point-scoring drives in their last four series to seal it in overtime.
A few big throws and daring runs are typical for Mahomes in the playoffs, but right now the Kansas City are in post-season mode – at six and five and just tenth in the conference standings.
That was more like the former Chiefs however, with a initial one-score victory of the year after dropping five already – they won 11 of them the previous season so, if that confidence returns, this Kansas City faithful might not be finished just yet.
Discussion – Can Bears Become Rulers of the Division?
You just can't ignore the Chicago Bears now. A victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers, without Aaron Rodgers, kept them first of the NFC North and at 8-3 – sharing the same standing as the Philadelphia.
They look threatening on each side of the field, with a defence that leads the NFL in picks and overall takeaways and, in Caleb Williams, a emerging quarterback now accustomed to winning close games.
He may at times be shaky, giving away a score after a fumble in his own end zone – but he also threw three touchdowns and, with already 5 fourth-quarter comebacks this year, he understands how to finish the game.
The Green Bay Packers are in hot pursuit in the division after overpowering the Minnesota and the Lions are in contention after overcoming the Giants in overtime with a huge game from Jahmyr Gibbs.
The Bears are interestingly the most reliable with 8 wins in nine, but as they travel to the championship winners on the holiday we'll discover just how strong they truly are.
Look Ahead – Thrilling Thanksgiving in Store
This looks one of the best Thanksgiving schedules for a long time, with each game loaded with playoff implications.
Detroit host the Green Bay in the classic opener in Detroit, before a unusual visit back to Dallas for the Kansas City, who started out existence as the Dallas Texans long ago in the sixties before relocating to Missouri.
The weekend’s rally kings are each holding on to playoff aspirations but have very little margin for error – so this will have a playoff atmosphere.
And how about the Baltimore Ravens? An ugly win over the New York in fact has them top of the AFC North after beginning one and five and appearing dead and buried.
Thanksgiving and Shopping Day Fixtures (all times GMT)
- Thursday, 27 November: Packers @ Detroit Lions (18:00)
- Thursday, 27 November: Chiefs @ Cowboys (21:30)
- Friday, 28 November: Bengals @ Baltimore Ravens (01:20)
- Friday, 28 November: Chicago Bears @ Philadelphia Eagles (20:00)
Can Sanders Retain His Starting Role?
Cleveland Browns coach Stefanski batted away questions on whether Sanders had performed enough in his debut NFL outing to keep the first-team job when Dillon Gabriel comes back.
But the issue will continue to be raised as Shedeur became the first Browns quarterback to secure his debut league game after Eric Zeier in nineteen ninety-nine – with 17 other first-year quarterbacks failing to do so since.
It was just the Las Vegas, and with the assistance of an almost feral Browns defense recording 10 tackles, but Cleveland's offense requires a leader, a figurehead to inspire belief.
Moreover self-belief is something not missing in Shedeur, who informed a network {