Philly Falter in Texas & Patrick Rescues Chiefs – Best Moments from NFL Week 12

Week 12 delivered an epic Dallas Cowboys rally, or was it an massive Eagles implosion?

Postseason Patrick Mahomes showed up to rescue the Chiefs' season as the Chicago Bears keep to impress as they extend their victorious run.

And did Shedeur Sanders perform enough on his first professional outing to secure the full-time job in Cleveland?

We’ll examine at the best of the week in the NFL.

Analysis – Dallas Rally or Philly Fail?

The Cowboys found themselves down and out at 21-0 down versus the defending championship champions, how exactly did they engineer their joint-best comeback ever?

The emotions of a first home game after Marshawn Kneeland untimely passing could have been a factor, but technically it was a combination of Dak Prescott determination and a defence that pounced on rare errors by the Philadelphia.

Prescott surpassed Romo’s records for passing yards (now 34,378) and game-winning possessions (25) with an all-action performance – his plunging score personifying his all-action display.

Philly wasted a advantage of twenty-one points or more for the initial time after nineteen ninety-nine, with only their second game with several turnovers this year – the previous being a bad NFC East defeat at the New York.

Along with 14 infractions for ninety-six yards, the attacking malaise that affected Hurts after what – for him – was an explosive start was huge. He'd only passed for over two hundred yards in 4 games prior to Sunday, he had more than 150 in the opening two quarters by himself in Texas.

Yet from the time Philadelphia went twenty-one to zero up their offense fell apart dramatically – with four consecutive kicks, a failed three-point attempt and then a fumble giving chance after opportunity to the Cowboys.

The Eagles defense is brilliant, it truly is, but an offence that's not eclipsed twenty-one points in 5 of seven games (three losses) is now a major worry, as the components are all there but it's simply not clicking.

Nick Sirianni game is all about securing the key moments, the defence keeps them in it and what offence there is does just about enough – if it cannot even do that and now the discipline and ball protection is breaking down, there may be trouble in the future.

In Focus – Postseason Mahomes Appears Early to Save Kansas City

It wasn’t as dramatic, but Kansas City's 11-point comeback in the fourth quarter against a strong Indianapolis squad was very impressive – and may have only rescued their season.

How big was it? Well, the league’s advanced analytics now assign the Chiefs a 58% chance of making the playoffs, when a defeat on Sunday would have dropped that number to twenty-eight percent.

It’s no surprise the playoff form of Mahomes turned up, passing for two hundred thirty-five yards in the latter half by itself and leading three point-scoring possessions in their final four series to win it in extra time.

A few big passes and swashbuckling scrambles are typical for Patrick in the postseason, but currently the Chiefs are in playoff mode – at 6-5 and only 10th in the conference standings.

That was closer to the old Chiefs though, with a initial one-score win of the season after losing five already – they secured eleven of them the previous season so, if that belief comes back, this Kansas City faithful might not be done so soon.

Discussion – Are Chicago Be Kings of the North?

You just can't ignore the Bears any longer. A victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers, without Rodgers, maintained them top of the NFC North and at eight and three – sharing the identical standing as the Eagles.

They appear threatening on both sides of the ball, with a defence that tops the NFL in interceptions and overall turnovers and, in Williams, a young quarterback now used to winning tight games.

He can still be inconsistent, giving away a score after a turnover in his team’s goal area – but he also threw three touchdowns and, with already five final period rallies this season, he understands how to finish the game.

Green Bay are in hot pursuit in the division after dominating the Minnesota and the Lions are right there after beating the New York in overtime with a monster game from Gibbs.

The Bears are interestingly the most reliable with eight wins in nine, but as they travel to the Super Bowl winners on the holiday we'll see just how strong they truly are.

Look Ahead – Exciting Holiday in Store

It appears among the most exciting Thanksgiving line-ups for a long time, with each game loaded with postseason consequences.

Detroit welcome the Packers in the classic opener in Michigan, prior to a unusual visit back to Dallas for the Kansas City, who started out life as the Texans way back in the 1960s before relocating to Kansas City.

Sunday's rally kings are both clinging to postseason hopes but have minimal room for error – so this will have a playoff feel.

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

Thanksgiving and Black Friday Fixtures (all times GMT)

  • Thursday, 27 November: Green Bay Packers @ Lions (6:00 PM)
  • Thursday, twenty-seven November: Chiefs @ Cowboys (9:30 PM)
  • Friday, twenty-eight November: Bengals @ Baltimore Ravens (1:20 AM)
  • Friday, twenty-eight November: Bears @ Philadelphia Eagles (8:00 PM)

Will Shedeur Sanders Keep His Job?

Browns coach Kevin Stefanski batted away inquiries on whether Sanders had done enough in his first NFL outing to maintain the first-team job when Gabriel comes back.

Yet the question will keep being raised as Sanders became the first Cleveland quarterback to secure his first NFL start after Eric Zeier in nineteen ninety-nine – with 17 additional first-year signal callers unsuccessful to do so afterward.

It came only the Raiders, and with the help of an nearly feral Cleveland defense recording ten tackles, but Cleveland's offense needs a director, a figurehead to inspire belief.

And self-belief is something not missing in Shedeur, who told a network {

Tracey Nichols
Tracey Nichols

A software engineer passionate about open-source ecosystems, with over a decade of experience in Linux administration and Python development.