Philadelphia Falter in Texas & Patrick Rescues Kansas City – Best Highlights from National Football League Week 12

Week 12 delivered an incredible Dallas Cowboys rally, or was it an massive Philadelphia Eagles collapse?

Postseason Patrick Mahomes arrived to rescue the Kansas City's season while the Chicago Bears continue to impress as they extend their winning run.

Did Shedeur Sanders do enough on his debut professional start to earn the full-time job in Ohio?

We’ll examine at the pick of the action in the NFL.

The Breakdown – Cowboys Comeback or Philly Fail?

The Cowboys were trailing badly at twenty-one to zero behind against the defending Super Bowl winners, how exactly did they produce their equal-largest comeback ever?

The emotions of a first home game since a teammate’s untimely death may have been a factor, however it was a combination of Dak Prescott resolve and a defence that pounced on rare mistakes by the Eagles.

Prescott surpassed Romo’s records for passing yards (now thirty-four thousand three hundred seventy-eight) and game-winning possessions (25) with an all-action display – his diving touchdown personifying his all-action display.

Philadelphia squandered a advantage of 21 points or more for the first time after nineteen ninety-nine, with only their second game with multiple giveaways this season – the other being a bad NFC East defeat at the New York.

Along with fourteen infractions for ninety-six yards, the attacking malaise that affected Jalen Hurts after what – for him – was an fast start was huge. He'd only thrown for 200-plus yards in four games before the weekend, he had more than one hundred fifty in the first half by himself in Texas.

Yet from the time Philadelphia went 21-0 up their offence fell apart dramatically – with four straight punts, a failed field goal and then a turnover handing chance after chance to the Dallas.

Philadelphia’s defence is brilliant, it truly is, but an offence that's not eclipsed 21 points in 5 of 7 games (3 losses) is now a huge worry, because the components are all there but it's just not clicking.

Sirianni’s approach is all about winning the big situations, the defense maintains them in it and what offence there is does barely enough – if it cannot even do that and now the composure and ball protection is breaking down, there could be problems in the future.

In Focus – Postseason Mahomes Appears Prematurely to Save Chiefs

It wasn’t as extreme, but the Chiefs’ 11-point recovery in the fourth quarter versus a powerful Indianapolis team was very impressive – and could have only rescued their campaign.

How significant was it? Well, the league’s Next Gen Stats now assign the Chiefs a 58% chance of reaching the playoffs, when a loss on the weekend would have dropped that number to twenty-eight percent.

No wonder the playoff version of Patrick Mahomes arrived, passing for two hundred thirty-five yards in the latter half by itself and leading three point-scoring possessions in their last four possessions to seal it in overtime.

A few huge passes and daring scrambles are commonplace for Mahomes in the postseason, but currently the Chiefs are in playoff mode – at 6-5 and only tenth in the conference standings.

This was closer to the former Chiefs however, with a first one-score win of the year after losing 5 previously – they won eleven of them last year so, if that belief comes back, this Chiefs Kingdom might not be finished just yet.

Talking Point – Are Chicago Become Rulers of the Division?

You just can't ignore the Bears any longer. A win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, without Aaron Rodgers, kept them first of the division and at eight and three – sharing the same record as the Eagles.

They look dangerous on both sides of the ball, with a defense that leads the NFL in picks and overall takeaways and, in Caleb Williams, a young quarterback now used to winning close games.

He may at times be inconsistent, surrendering a score after a fumble in his team’s goal area – but he also passed for three touchdowns and, with already 5 final period rallies this year, he knows how to finish the game.

The Green Bay Packers are in hot pursuit in the NFC North after dominating the Minnesota and the Lions are in contention after beating the Giants in overtime with a monster game from Jahmyr Gibbs.

The Bears are interestingly the most reliable with 8 victories in nine, but as they travel to the Super Bowl winners on the holiday we'll see just how strong they really are.

Preview – Thrilling Holiday in Prospect

This looks one of the most exciting Thanksgiving schedules for a long time, with each game packed with postseason implications.

Detroit host the Green Bay in the classic opener in Detroit, before a unusual visit back to Dallas for the Chiefs, who began existence as the Dallas Texans long ago in the sixties before moving to Missouri.

The weekend’s rally teams are both holding on to playoff hopes but have very little margin for error – so this will have a post-season atmosphere.

What about the Ravens? An ugly win over the Jets in fact has them top of the AFC North after beginning one and five and appearing finished.

Holiday and Black Friday Games (all times GMT)

  • Thursday, twenty-seven November: Green Bay Packers @ Lions (18:00)
  • Thursday, twenty-seven November: Chiefs @ Dallas Cowboys (9:30 PM)
  • Friday, 28 November: Bengals @ Baltimore Ravens (1:20 AM)
  • Friday, 28 November: Bears @ Eagles (8:00 PM)

Can Sanders Retain His Starting Role?

Cleveland Browns coach Stefanski dismissed questions on whether Shedeur Sanders had performed sufficiently 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 Sanders became the first Cleveland quarterback to secure his first NFL start since Zeier in 1999 – with seventeen other rookie signal callers unsuccessful to do so since.

It was just the Las Vegas, and with the assistance of an almost feral Cleveland defence getting 10 sacks, but the Browns’ offense requires a director, a presence to inspire confidence.

And confidence is something not missing in Shedeur, who informed a network {

Michelle Avery
Michelle Avery

A tech enthusiast and writer passionate about exploring the intersection of culture and innovation.