Philly Stumble in Dallas & Mahomes Rescues Chiefs – Best Highlights from NFL Week 12
The twelfth week provided an epic Cowboys comeback, or was it an epic Philadelphia Eagles collapse?
Postseason Mahomes arrived to rescue the Kansas City's campaign as the Chicago Bears keep to impress as they continue their winning streak.
Did Shedeur Sanders perform sufficiently on his debut professional start to earn the starting job in Cleveland?
Let's take a look at the pick of the week in the NFL.
The Breakdown – Dallas Rally or Philly Fail?
The Cowboys were down and out at 21-0 down against the defending championship champions, so how on earth did they produce their joint-best comeback in history?
The emotions of a initial home fixture since a teammate’s untimely death could have played a part, but technically it was a mixture of Dak Prescott determination and a defensive unit that pounced on rare errors by the Philadelphia.
Prescott eclipsed Romo’s records for yards thrown (now thirty-four thousand three hundred seventy-eight) and clutch drives (twenty-five) with an all-action display – his diving score personifying his all-action display.
Philly squandered a lead of twenty-one points or more for the initial time after 1999, with just their second game with multiple giveaways this season – the previous being a bad NFC East loss at the New York.
Along with fourteen infractions for 96 yards, the offensive struggles that hit Hurts after what – for him – was an explosive start was significant. He had only passed for over two hundred yards in 4 games prior to Sunday, he had over one hundred fifty in the opening two quarters alone in Dallas.
However from the time Philadelphia went twenty-one to zero up their offence derailed spectacularly – with four straight punts, a failed three-point attempt and then a turnover handing chance after chance to the Dallas.
Philadelphia’s defence is excellent, it really is, but an offense that's not eclipsed 21 points in 5 of 7 games (three losses) is now a major concern, as the pieces are all there but it's just not clicking.
Nick Sirianni approach is all about securing the key situations, the defence maintains them in it and what offense there is does barely enough – if it cannot even do that and now the composure and ball protection is failing, there may be trouble ahead.
Spotlight – Postseason Mahomes Appears Early to Rescue Chiefs
It wasn’t as dramatic, but Kansas City's eleven-point recovery in the final period versus a powerful Indianapolis squad was hugely impressive – and could have only saved their campaign.
How big was it? Well, the NFL's advanced analytics now assign the Kansas City a fifty-eight percent chance of making the playoffs, whereas a loss on the weekend would have dropped that figure to twenty-eight percent.
No wonder the playoff version of Patrick Mahomes turned up, passing for two hundred thirty-five yards in the second half by itself and leading 3 point-scoring drives in their final four series to win it in extra time.
A few big passes and daring scrambles are commonplace for Patrick in the playoffs, but right now the Chiefs are in playoff mode – at six and five and only 10th in the conference rankings.
This was more like the old Chiefs though, with a first one-score win of the season after losing 5 previously – they won 11 of them the previous season so, if that belief comes back, this Kansas City faithful might not be finished just yet.
Talking Point – Are Chicago Become Rulers of the Division?
You just can't ignore the Bears now. A win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, without Rodgers, kept them top of the NFC North and at 8-3 – holding the identical standing as the Eagles.
They look threatening on each side of the ball, with a defense that leads the NFL in picks and overall turnovers and, in Williams, a young player now used to securing close games.
He may at times be shaky, surrendering a touchdown after a turnover in his team’s goal area – but he also passed for 3 scores and, with already 5 final period comebacks this season, he knows how to get the job done.
The Green Bay Packers are in close chase in the division after overpowering the Minnesota and Detroit are in contention after beating the Giants in extra time with a monster game from Jahmyr Gibbs.
The Bears are strangely the most consistent with eight wins in 9, but as they visit the Super Bowl champs on the holiday we'll see exactly how good they really are.
Preview – Exciting Holiday in Store
This looks one of the most exciting Thanksgiving line-ups for a long time, with each game packed with playoff consequences.
The Lions host the Packers in the classic opener in Detroit, prior to a rare visit back to Texas for the Kansas City, who began existence as the Dallas Texans long ago in the sixties before moving to Kansas City.
Sunday's comeback kings are each clinging to postseason hopes but have very little margin for mistakes – so this will have a playoff atmosphere.
What about the Ravens? An unattractive win over the New York actually has them top of the AFC North after beginning one and five and appearing finished.
Thanksgiving and Shopping Day Fixtures (all times GMT)
- Thursday, twenty-seven November: Green Bay Packers @ Detroit Lions (18:00)
- Thursday, twenty-seven November: Chiefs @ Cowboys (21:30)
- Friday, twenty-eight November: Cincinnati Bengals @ Ravens (1:20 AM)
- Friday, 28 November: Chicago Bears @ Philadelphia Eagles (20:00)
Will Shedeur Sanders Keep His Job?
Browns coach Stefanski dismissed questions on whether Shedeur Sanders had done enough in his first professional start to maintain the starting position when Gabriel comes back.
Yet the issue will keep being asked as Sanders became the first Cleveland signal-caller to secure his debut league start after Eric Zeier in nineteen ninety-nine – with seventeen other rookie quarterbacks unsuccessful to do so since.
It came only the Las Vegas, and with the help of an almost feral Cleveland defense recording ten sacks, but Cleveland's offence needs a director, a presence to build confidence.
And self-belief is something not lacking in Sanders, who told a CBS {