Philadelphia Falter in Dallas & Patrick Saves Chiefs – Best Moments from National Football League the Twelfth Week

Week 12 provided an incredible Cowboys comeback, or perhaps an massive Philadelphia Eagles implosion?

Playoff Mahomes showed up to salvage the Kansas City's campaign as the Bears keep to surprise as they extend their victorious run.

And did Sanders perform enough on his debut NFL start to secure the full-time job in Cleveland?

Let's take a look at the pick of the week in the league.

The Breakdown – Dallas Rally or Philly Fail?

Dallas found themselves down and out at twenty-one to zero behind versus the reigning Super Bowl champions, how exactly did they engineer their joint-best recovery ever?

The emotions of a initial home game since Marshawn Kneeland tragic death may have been a factor, however it was a mixture of Dak Prescott determination and a defence that pounced on rare errors by the Eagles.

Prescott surpassed Romo’s records for passing yards (now 34,378) and game-winning drives (25) with an dynamic performance – his diving score personifying his energetic display.

Philly wasted a advantage of twenty-one points or more for the initial time since 1999, with just their second game with several turnovers this season – the other being another bad division defeat at the New York.

Along with fourteen penalties for ninety-six yards, the attacking struggles that affected Jalen Hurts after what – for him – was an fast beginning was significant. He'd only thrown for over two hundred yards in four games prior to Sunday, he had more than one hundred fifty in the first half by himself in Dallas.

Yet from the time the Eagles went 21-0 up their offense fell apart spectacularly – with four straight kicks, a missed three-point attempt and then a fumble giving opportunity after chance to the Cowboys.

The Eagles defence is excellent, it really is, but an offense that's not surpassed twenty-one points in 5 of 7 games (three losses) is now a huge concern, because the pieces are all there but it's just not clicking.

Sirianni’s approach is all about winning the key situations, the defence maintains them in it and what offence there is manages just about enough – if it cannot even do that and now the discipline and ball protection is failing, there could be problems in the future.

Spotlight – Playoff Patrick Shows Up Early to Save Kansas City

It wasn’t quite as extreme, but the Chiefs’ 11-point recovery in the final period versus a powerful Indianapolis team was hugely impressive – and could have just rescued their campaign.

How significant was it? Indeed, the league’s advanced analytics now assign the Kansas City a 58% probability of making the playoffs, whereas a defeat on the weekend would have dropped that number to 28%.

It’s no surprise the postseason form of Patrick Mahomes turned up, throwing for two hundred thirty-five yards in the latter half alone and guiding 3 scoring possessions in their final four possessions to seal it in extra time.

Some big throws and swashbuckling scrambles are typical for Patrick in the playoffs, but currently the Kansas City are in playoff form – at 6-5 and just 10th in the conference standings.

That was more like the old Kansas City though, with a initial one-score win of the season after losing 5 previously – they won eleven of them the previous season so, if that confidence comes back, this Kansas City faithful may not be done so soon.

Discussion – Can Bears Be Kings of the Division?

You just can't overlook the Bears any longer. A win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, minus Aaron Rodgers, kept them first of the division and at 8-3 – sharing the same standing as the Eagles.

They appear threatening on both sides of the ball, with a defense that leads the NFL in interceptions and overall takeaways and, in Caleb Williams, a emerging quarterback now used to winning close games.

He may still be shaky, giving away a touchdown after a fumble in his team’s goal area – but he additionally passed for 3 scores and, with already 5 fourth-quarter comebacks this season, he knows how to get the job done.

Green Bay are in close pursuit in the NFC North after overpowering the Vikings and the Lions are in contention after beating the Giants in extra time with a monster game from Jahmyr Gibbs.

The Bears are strangely the most reliable with 8 wins in 9, but as they visit the Super Bowl winners on Thanksgiving we'll see exactly how good they really are.

Look Ahead – Exciting Holiday in Store

This looks one of the best Thanksgiving schedules for a long time, with every game loaded with playoff consequences.

The Lions welcome the Packers in the traditional curtain-raiser in Detroit, prior to a rare visit return to Dallas for the Chiefs, who began existence as the Texans long ago in the sixties before relocating to Kansas City.

Sunday's comeback teams are each holding on to playoff aspirations but have very little margin for mistakes – so this will have a post-season feel.

What about the Baltimore Ravens? An ugly win over the New York in fact has them top of the division after starting one and five and looking dead and buried.

Holiday and Black Friday Fixtures (all times GMT)

  • Thursday, twenty-seven November: Packers @ Lions (18:00)
  • Thursday, twenty-seven November: Chiefs @ Dallas Cowboys (9:30 PM)
  • Friday, 28 November: Cincinnati Bengals @ Ravens (01:20)
  • Friday, twenty-eight November: Chicago Bears @ Eagles (20:00)

Can Sanders Keep His Job?

Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski batted away questions on whether Shedeur Sanders had done sufficiently in his first NFL outing to keep the starting position when Dillon Gabriel returns.

Yet the question will keep being asked as Sanders became the first Cleveland quarterback to secure his debut NFL game after Eric Zeier in 1999 – with seventeen additional first-year signal callers failing to do so since.

It was only the Raiders, and with the help of an almost aggressive Cleveland defence recording ten tackles, but the Browns’ offense needs a director, a presence to build confidence.

Moreover confidence is one thing not lacking in Shedeur, who informed a network {

Matthew Lynn
Matthew Lynn

Urban planner and writer passionate about sustainable city design and community-focused development projects.