Philadelphia Falter in Texas & Mahomes Saves Chiefs – Top Moments from National Football League the Twelfth Week
Week 12 delivered an epic Cowboys comeback, or was it an epic Eagles implosion?
Playoff Patrick Mahomes arrived to salvage the Chiefs' season as the Bears keep to impress as they continue their winning run.
Did Sanders perform sufficiently on his first professional outing to earn the full-time job in Cleveland?
Let's take a look at the best of the week in the NFL.
Analysis – Dallas Rally or Philly Fail?
The Cowboys were down and out at twenty-one to zero behind against the reigning Super Bowl champions, so how on earth did they engineer their equal-largest comeback in history?
The emotions of a initial home fixture since a teammate’s tragic passing may have played a part, but technically it was a mixture of Dak Prescott resolve and a defence that pounced on uncommon mistakes by the Eagles.
Prescott surpassed Romo’s marks for passing yards (now thirty-four thousand three hundred seventy-eight) and clutch drives (twenty-five) with an dynamic performance – his plunging touchdown embodying his all-action display.
Philly squandered a lead of 21 points or more for the first time since nineteen ninety-nine, with just their second game with multiple turnovers this year – the other being another bad division loss at the New York.
Along with 14 penalties for ninety-six yards, the attacking malaise that affected Jalen Hurts after what – for him – was an explosive start was significant. He had only thrown for 200-plus yards in four games prior to the weekend, he had more than one hundred fifty in the first half by himself in Dallas.
However from the time Philadelphia went twenty-one to zero up their offense derailed dramatically – with four straight kicks, a failed field goal and then a fumble giving opportunity after opportunity to the Cowboys.
The Eagles defence is brilliant, it truly is, but an offence that's not surpassed 21 points in five of 7 games (3 losses) is now a huge concern, as the pieces are all there but it's simply not clicking.
Nick Sirianni game is all about winning the key situations, the defence keeps them in it and what offense there is does barely enough – if it can't even do that and now the discipline and ball protection is breaking down, there could be trouble in the future.
Spotlight – Postseason Mahomes Appears Early to Save Kansas City
It wasn’t as extreme, but Kansas City's 11-point comeback in the final period versus a powerful Indianapolis team was very notable – and may have only rescued their campaign.
How significant was it? Indeed, the league’s Next Gen Stats now give the Kansas City a fifty-eight percent chance of reaching the postseason, whereas a loss on the weekend would have dropped that figure to twenty-eight percent.
It’s no surprise the playoff version of Patrick Mahomes arrived, passing for 235 yards in the latter half by itself and leading 3 point-scoring possessions in their final four possessions to seal it in overtime.
Some huge throws and swashbuckling runs are commonplace for Patrick in the postseason, but right now the Kansas City are in post-season form – at 6-5 and just 10th in the conference standings.
This was closer to the old Chiefs however, with a first one-score win of the season after losing 5 previously – they won eleven of them last year so, if that belief comes back, this Kansas City faithful might not be finished so soon.
Discussion – Can Bears Become Rulers of the North?
You can no longer ignore the Chicago Bears now. A win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, minus Rodgers, maintained them top of the NFC North and at 8-3 – sharing the identical record as the Philadelphia.
They appear dangerous on each side of the ball, with a defense that leads the NFL in picks and overall turnovers and, in Williams, a emerging quarterback now accustomed to winning close games.
He can still be shaky, surrendering a score after a fumble in his team’s goal area – but he also threw three touchdowns 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 NFC North after dominating the Minnesota and the Lions are right there after beating the New York in extra time with a monster game from Jahmyr Gibbs.
The Bears are interestingly the most consistent with 8 victories in 9, but as they visit the Super Bowl champs on the holiday we'll see exactly how strong they truly are.
Look Ahead – Thrilling Thanksgiving in Store
It appears among the best holiday line-ups for years, with each game loaded with postseason implications.
The Lions host the Green Bay in the traditional opener in Detroit, before a rare visit return to Texas for the Kansas City, who started out existence as the Texans long ago in the 1960s before moving to Kansas City.
Sunday's comeback kings are both clinging to playoff aspirations but have minimal margin for error – so this will have a playoff atmosphere.
What about the Ravens? An ugly win over the Jets in fact has them leading of the division after beginning one and five and appearing finished.
Holiday and Black Friday Games (all times GMT)
- Thursday, twenty-seven November: Green Bay Packers @ Detroit Lions (18:00)
- Thursday, twenty-seven November: Chiefs @ Dallas Cowboys (9:30 PM)
- Friday, 28 November: Bengals @ Ravens (1:20 AM)
- Friday, twenty-eight November: Chicago Bears @ Philadelphia Eagles (20:00)
Can Sanders Keep His Starting Role?
Browns head coach Stefanski dismissed inquiries on whether Shedeur Sanders had done sufficiently in his debut NFL outing to maintain the first-team job when Gabriel comes back.
Yet the question will keep being raised as Shedeur became the first Browns quarterback to win his debut NFL game after Zeier in nineteen ninety-nine – with seventeen other rookie quarterbacks failing to do so since.
It came just the Raiders, and with the assistance of an almost aggressive Browns defence recording ten sacks, but the Browns’ offence requires a director, a presence to inspire belief.
Moreover confidence is something not lacking in Shedeur, who told a network {