Philadelphia Stumble in Texas & Mahomes Rescues Kansas City – Top Highlights from NFL the Twelfth Week
The twelfth week provided an epic Cowboys rally, or was it an epic Eagles collapse?
Postseason Patrick Mahomes arrived to rescue the Chiefs' campaign while the Chicago Bears keep to surprise while they continue their winning run.
Did Sanders do enough on his debut NFL outing to secure the full-time role in Ohio?
Let's take a look at the pick of the week in the league.
Analysis – Dallas Rally or Philly Fail?
Dallas found themselves trailing badly at 21-0 down versus the defending championship winners, so how on earth did they engineer their joint-best recovery ever?
Sentiment of a initial home fixture after a teammate’s tragic passing could have been a factor, but technically it was a mixture of Prescott’s determination and a defence that pounced on rare errors by the Philadelphia.
Dak eclipsed Tony Romo marks for yards thrown (now 34,378) and clutch possessions (25) with an all-action performance – his diving touchdown personifying his all-action showing.
Philadelphia squandered a advantage of twenty-one points or more for the initial time since 1999, with just their second game with multiple giveaways this year – the previous being another bad division defeat at the Giants.
In addition to 14 penalties for 96 yards, the offensive struggles that hit Jalen Hurts after what – for him – was an fast beginning was huge. He'd only passed for over two hundred yards in 4 games before the weekend, he had over one hundred fifty in the opening two quarters alone in Dallas.
However from the time Philadelphia went 21-0 up their offense fell apart spectacularly – with four straight kicks, a failed field goal and then a fumble handing chance after chance to the Cowboys.
The Eagles defence is brilliant, it really is, but an offense that's not eclipsed twenty-one points in five of seven games (3 losses) is now a huge worry, because the pieces are all there but it's simply not clicking.
Sirianni’s approach is all about securing the key moments, the defence keeps them in it and what offense there is manages just about enough – if it can't even do that and now the composure and ball protection is breaking down, there could be trouble in the future.
In Focus – Postseason Mahomes Appears Early to Save Chiefs
It wasn't quite as dramatic, but Kansas City's 11-point recovery in the fourth quarter versus a powerful Indianapolis squad was hugely impressive – and may have only rescued their season.
How big was it? Indeed, the league’s Next Gen Stats now give the Kansas City a 58% chance of reaching the postseason, when a defeat on the weekend would have dropped that figure to 28%.
No wonder the playoff version of Mahomes arrived, passing for two hundred thirty-five yards in the latter half alone and leading three point-scoring possessions in their final 4 possessions to seal it in extra time.
Some huge throws and daring scrambles are commonplace for Mahomes in the postseason, but currently the Chiefs are in playoff form – at six and five and just 10th in the AFC standings.
This was closer to the old Kansas City though, with a initial one-score win of the season after dropping five already – they won eleven of them the previous season so, if that confidence comes back, this Kansas City faithful may not be finished so soon.
Talking Point – Can Bears Be Rulers of the North?
You just can't ignore the Bears now. A victory over the Steelers, without Aaron Rodgers, maintained them first of the NFC North and at 8-3 – sharing the identical standing as the Eagles.
They look dangerous on each side of the field, with a defense that leads the NFL in interceptions and overall takeaways and, in Williams, a emerging player now accustomed to winning tight games.
He can at times be shaky, giving away a touchdown after a turnover in his team’s end zone – but he additionally passed for 3 scores and, with already five fourth-quarter comebacks this season, he knows how to get the job done.
Green Bay are in hot pursuit in the NFC North after dominating the Minnesota and Detroit are right there after overcoming the New York in overtime with a monster game from Jahmyr Gibbs.
The Bears are interestingly the most consistent with 8 wins in 9, but as they travel to the Super Bowl winners on Thanksgiving we'll see exactly how strong they really are.
Look Ahead – Thrilling Holiday in Prospect
This looks one of the most exciting Thanksgiving line-ups for a long time, with every game loaded with postseason consequences.
The Lions welcome the Green Bay in the classic opener in Michigan, before a rare visit return to Dallas for the Kansas City, who started out life as the Texans long ago in the sixties before relocating to Kansas City.
The weekend’s rally kings are each clinging to playoff hopes but have very little margin for mistakes – so this will have a playoff feel.
And how about the Ravens? An ugly win over the New York in fact has them top of the division after starting 1-5 and looking dead and buried.
Thanksgiving and Black Friday Games (all times GMT)
- Thursday, 27 November: Packers @ Lions (18:00)
- Thursday, 27 November: Kansas City Chiefs @ Dallas Cowboys (21:30)
- Friday, 28 November: Bengals @ Baltimore Ravens (01:20)
- Friday, twenty-eight November: Chicago Bears @ Philadelphia Eagles (8:00 PM)
Will Shedeur Sanders Keep His Starting Role?
Cleveland Browns head coach Stefanski dismissed inquiries on whether Sanders had performed enough in his debut professional outing to keep the starting position when Dillon Gabriel comes back.
But the question will continue to be asked as Shedeur became the first Browns quarterback to secure his debut league game since Eric Zeier in nineteen ninety-nine – with seventeen other first-year quarterbacks failing to do so afterward.
It was just the Raiders, and with the assistance of an nearly aggressive Browns defence recording 10 tackles, but the Browns’ offense requires a director, a figurehead to build confidence.
Moreover self-belief is one thing not missing in Shedeur, who informed a CBS {