Philadelphia Stumble in Dallas & Mahomes Rescues Chiefs – Top Highlights from NFL Week 12

The twelfth week delivered an epic Dallas Cowboys rally, or perhaps an epic Philadelphia Eagles collapse?

Postseason Mahomes arrived to salvage the Chiefs' campaign as the Chicago Bears keep to surprise while they extend their victorious streak.

And did Shedeur Sanders do enough on his first NFL outing to earn the starting role in Ohio?

We’ll examine at the best of the action in the league.

Analysis – Dallas Rally or Eagles Collapse?

Dallas found themselves trailing badly at 21-0 behind versus the reigning championship winners, so how on earth did they produce their joint-best comeback ever?

The emotions of a initial home fixture after a teammate’s tragic passing could have played a part, but technically it was a combination of Prescott’s determination and a defensive unit that cashed in on rare mistakes by the Philadelphia.

Prescott surpassed Tony Romo records for yards thrown (now 34,378) and clutch drives (twenty-five) with an all-action display – his diving touchdown personifying his all-action display.

Philadelphia squandered a lead of twenty-one points or more for the first time since 1999, with only their second game with several giveaways this year – the other being a disappointing NFC East loss at the New York.

Along with fourteen infractions for ninety-six yards, the attacking struggles that hit Jalen Hurts after what – for him – was an explosive start was huge. He'd only passed for over two hundred yards in four games prior to Sunday, he had more than 150 in the first half alone in Texas.

However from the time Philadelphia went twenty-one to zero up their offense derailed spectacularly – with four consecutive punts, a failed field goal and then a fumble handing opportunity after opportunity to the Cowboys.

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

Sirianni’s approach is all about winning the big situations, the defense maintains them in it and what offense there is does just about sufficient – if it can't even do that and now the discipline and ball protection is failing, there may be trouble in the future.

In Focus – Postseason Mahomes Appears Prematurely to Rescue Chiefs

It wasn’t as dramatic, but the Chiefs’ eleven-point comeback in the final period against a strong Colts squad was very impressive – and may have just saved their season.

How significant was it? Indeed, the NFL's Next Gen Stats now assign the Kansas City a fifty-eight percent chance of reaching the postseason, whereas a defeat on Sunday would have dropped that figure to twenty-eight percent.

It’s no surprise the postseason version of Mahomes turned up, throwing for two hundred thirty-five yards in the second half alone and leading three point-scoring drives in their last 4 possessions to seal it in extra time.

Some big passes and daring scrambles are typical for Patrick in the playoffs, but currently the Chiefs are in playoff mode – at six and five and just tenth in the conference rankings.

That was closer to the former Kansas City though, with a first one-score victory of the season after losing 5 already – they won eleven of them the previous season so, if that belief comes back, this Kansas City faithful might not be finished so soon.

Discussion – Are Chicago Become Rulers of the North?

You can no longer ignore the Bears now. A victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers, minus Aaron Rodgers, maintained them first of the NFC North and at 8-3 – holding the identical standing as the Philadelphia.

They look threatening on each side of the ball, with a defense that leads the NFL in picks and total takeaways and, in Williams, a emerging player now used to securing tight games.

He may at times be inconsistent, surrendering a touchdown after a fumble in his team’s goal area – but he additionally threw 3 touchdowns and, with already five final period comebacks this season, he knows how to finish the game.

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

Chicago are interestingly the most consistent with 8 victories in nine, but as they travel to the championship champs on the holiday we'll see exactly how strong they truly are.

Look Ahead – Exciting Thanksgiving in Prospect

This looks one of the best Thanksgiving line-ups for years, with every game loaded with postseason consequences.

The Lions welcome the Green Bay in the classic curtain-raiser in Michigan, prior to a rare trip back to Texas for the Chiefs, who started out existence as the Dallas Texans long ago in the 1960s before relocating to Kansas City.

Sunday's comeback kings are each clinging to postseason aspirations but have minimal margin for error – so this will have a post-season atmosphere.

What about the Ravens? An unattractive victory over the New York actually has them top of the AFC North after starting 1-5 and looking dead and buried.

Thanksgiving and Black Friday Fixtures (all times GMT)

  • Thursday, 27 November: Packers @ Lions (18:00)
  • Thursday, 27 November: Chiefs @ Cowboys (21:30)
  • Friday, twenty-eight November: Cincinnati Bengals @ Baltimore Ravens (01:20)
  • Friday, twenty-eight November: Bears @ Eagles (8:00 PM)

Can Sanders Retain His Job?

Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski dismissed questions on whether Sanders had performed sufficiently in his debut NFL outing to keep the first-team job when Gabriel returns.

But the issue will keep being raised as Sanders became the first Browns signal-caller to secure his debut NFL start after Eric Zeier in nineteen ninety-nine – with 17 other first-year quarterbacks unsuccessful to do so since.

It was just the Raiders, and with the help of an nearly feral Browns defense getting 10 tackles, but Cleveland's offense requires a leader, a presence to inspire belief.

And self-belief is something not lacking in Sanders, who told a network {

Joseph Gill
Joseph Gill

Elara Vance is a tech analyst and digital strategist with over a decade of experience in emerging technologies and innovation consulting.