Philly Stumble in Texas & Patrick Saves Kansas City – Top Moments from National Football League the Twelfth Week
Week 12 delivered an epic Cowboys comeback, or was it an epic Eagles collapse?
Playoff Mahomes arrived to salvage the Kansas City's campaign while the Chicago Bears continue to surprise as they continue their victorious run.
Did Sanders perform sufficiently on his debut professional outing to secure the full-time role in Ohio?
Let's take a look at the pick of the week in the NFL.
Analysis – Dallas Rally or Eagles Collapse?
Dallas found themselves trailing badly at 21-0 behind versus the defending championship champions, so how on earth did they produce their equal-largest comeback ever?
Sentiment of a initial home fixture since a teammate’s tragic death could have been a factor, however it was a mixture of Prescott’s determination and a defensive unit that cashed in on uncommon mistakes by the Eagles.
Prescott surpassed Tony Romo marks for passing yards (now 34,378) and clutch possessions (twenty-five) with an all-action display – his diving score personifying his all-action showing.
Philly wasted a lead of twenty-one points or more for the initial time after 1999, with only their second game with several giveaways this year – the other being a disappointing division loss at the New York.
Along with 14 penalties for ninety-six yards, the offensive malaise that affected Hurts after what – for him – was an explosive start was huge. He had only passed for 200-plus yards in 4 games before Sunday, he had over 150 in the opening two quarters alone in Texas.
However from the time the Eagles went twenty-one to zero up their offense fell apart dramatically – with four consecutive kicks, a missed three-point attempt and then a turnover giving opportunity after opportunity to the Cowboys.
Philadelphia’s defence is excellent, it really is, but an offense that's not eclipsed 21 points in five of 7 games (3 losses) is now a major worry, because the components are all there but it's simply not clicking.
Sirianni’s game 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 discipline and ball protection is breaking down, there may be problems ahead.
Spotlight – Playoff Patrick Shows Up Early to Rescue Chiefs
It wasn’t as extreme, but the Chiefs’ 11-point comeback in the final period against a powerful Indianapolis squad was very notable – and could have just rescued their season.
How big was it? Well, the league’s Next Gen Stats now assign the Kansas City a fifty-eight percent probability of reaching the playoffs, when a defeat on Sunday would have dropped that figure to twenty-eight percent.
No wonder the playoff version of Patrick Mahomes arrived, passing for 235 yards in the latter half alone and guiding 3 point-scoring possessions in their last 4 possessions to win it in extra time.
A few big throws and swashbuckling runs are commonplace for Patrick in the postseason, but currently the Chiefs are in playoff mode – at six and five and only tenth in the AFC standings.
That was closer to the old Chiefs though, with a first one-score victory of the year after losing 5 previously – they won eleven of them last year so, if that confidence comes back, this Kansas City faithful might not be done just yet.
Discussion – Can Bears Become Kings of the Division?
You just can't ignore the Bears any longer. A victory over the 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 defence that leads the NFL in picks and overall takeaways and, in Williams, a young player now accustomed to winning close games.
He can at times be shaky, giving away a score after a turnover in his team’s end zone – but he also threw three scores and, with already five final period rallies this year, he understands how to get the job done.
The Green Bay Packers are in hot pursuit in the division after overpowering the Minnesota and Detroit are in contention after beating the Giants in overtime with a monster game from Gibbs.
The Bears are interestingly the most consistent with eight wins in nine, but as they travel to the championship champs on Thanksgiving we'll see just how good they really are.
Look Ahead – Thrilling Thanksgiving in Store
This looks among the best holiday schedules for years, with every game packed with postseason implications.
The Lions host the Packers in the traditional opener in Detroit, prior to a rare visit back to Texas for the Kansas City, who started out existence as the Texans long ago in the sixties before moving to Missouri.
The weekend’s rally teams are both clinging to playoff aspirations but have very little room for error – so this will have a post-season feel.
And how about the Baltimore Ravens? An unattractive victory over the Jets in fact has them top of the AFC North after starting one and five and looking dead and buried.
Holiday and Black Friday Games (all times GMT)
- Thursday, 27 November: Green Bay Packers @ Lions (18:00)
- Thursday, 27 November: Kansas City Chiefs @ Cowboys (21:30)
- Friday, twenty-eight November: Cincinnati Bengals @ Baltimore Ravens (01:20)
- Friday, twenty-eight November: Chicago Bears @ Philadelphia Eagles (20:00)
Can Sanders Keep His Job?
Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski dismissed inquiries on whether Sanders had done enough in his first NFL outing to maintain the starting position when Dillon Gabriel comes back.
But the issue will continue to be raised as Sanders became the first Cleveland signal-caller to secure his first NFL start after Eric Zeier in nineteen ninety-nine – with seventeen other rookie quarterbacks unsuccessful to do so since.
It came just the Raiders, and with the help of an nearly aggressive Cleveland defense getting 10 sacks, but the Browns’ offence requires a leader, a figurehead to inspire confidence.
And confidence is something not missing in Sanders, who informed a CBS {