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

The twelfth week provided an epic Dallas Cowboys comeback, or was it an epic Philadelphia Eagles collapse?

Postseason Patrick Mahomes arrived to salvage the Kansas City's season while the Bears continue to surprise as they continue their victorious run.

Did Sanders perform sufficiently on his debut NFL start to earn the starting role in Ohio?

Let's take a look at the pick of the action in the league.

The Breakdown – Dallas Rally or Philly Fail?

Dallas found themselves down and out at 21-0 down against the reigning Super Bowl winners, so how on earth did they produce their joint-best recovery ever?

Sentiment of a first home game since a teammate’s untimely passing may have played a part, but technically it was a mixture of Prescott’s resolve and a defensive unit that pounced on rare mistakes by the Eagles.

Dak surpassed Romo’s records for passing yards (now 34,378) and game-winning possessions (twenty-five) with an dynamic display – his plunging touchdown personifying his all-action display.

Philly wasted a lead of twenty-one points or more for the initial time after 1999, with just their second game with several giveaways this season – the previous being another disappointing division loss at the Giants.

Along with 14 penalties for 96 yards, the attacking malaise that hit Jalen Hurts after what – for him – was an explosive start was significant. He had only thrown for over two hundred yards in 4 games prior to Sunday, he had over 150 in the opening two quarters by himself in Dallas.

Yet from the time the Eagles went twenty-one to zero up their offence derailed dramatically – with four straight punts, a missed field goal and then a fumble giving opportunity after opportunity to the Cowboys.

The Eagles defense is excellent, it truly is, but an offence that's not eclipsed twenty-one points in 5 of 7 games (three losses) is now a major worry, because the pieces are all there but it's simply not working.

Sirianni’s game is all about securing the key situations, the defense keeps them in it and what offence there is does just about sufficient – if it can't even do that and now the composure and ball protection is failing, there could be trouble in the future.

Spotlight – Playoff Patrick Appears Prematurely to Rescue Chiefs

It wasn't as extreme, but Kansas City's 11-point recovery in the final period versus a strong Colts squad was very notable – and may have only saved their campaign.

How big was it? Well, the NFL's advanced analytics now assign the Chiefs a fifty-eight percent chance of making the postseason, whereas a loss on Sunday would have dropped that number to twenty-eight percent.

It’s no surprise the postseason form of Mahomes arrived, passing for 235 yards in the second half by itself and leading 3 scoring possessions in their last four possessions to seal it in extra time.

A few huge throws and daring runs are commonplace for Mahomes in the postseason, but right now the Kansas City are in playoff mode – at 6-5 and just tenth in the conference rankings.

That was closer to the former Kansas City though, with a initial close win of the season after dropping five already – they secured 11 of them the previous season so, if that belief returns, this Kansas City faithful might not be finished just yet.

Talking Point – Can Bears Be Rulers of the North?

You just can't overlook the Bears now. A win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, without Aaron Rodgers, kept them top of the NFC North and at eight and three – holding the same standing as the Philadelphia.

They look threatening on each side of the ball, with a defense that leads the league in interceptions and overall turnovers and, in Caleb Williams, a emerging quarterback now used to winning close games.

He may at times be inconsistent, surrendering a score after a turnover in his own end zone – but he additionally threw 3 touchdowns and, with already 5 fourth-quarter comebacks this year, he knows how to finish the game.

Green Bay are in hot chase in the division after dominating the Vikings and the Lions are right there after beating the Giants in extra time with a monster game from Gibbs.

The Bears are interestingly the most consistent with eight victories in 9, but as they visit the championship champs on Thanksgiving we'll see exactly how good they really are.

Preview – Exciting Thanksgiving in Store

This looks one of the best holiday line-ups for years, with each game loaded with playoff implications.

The Lions host the Green Bay in the classic curtain-raiser in Detroit, before a rare visit back to Dallas for the Chiefs, who began existence as the Dallas Texans long ago in the 1960s before moving to Missouri.

Sunday's comeback kings are each clinging to playoff aspirations but have minimal room for error – so this will have a playoff atmosphere.

What about the Baltimore Ravens? An ugly victory over the New York actually has them leading of the AFC North after starting 1-5 and looking finished.

Thanksgiving and Shopping Day Games (all times GMT)

  • Thursday, 27 November: Green Bay Packers @ Lions (18:00)
  • Thursday, 27 November: Kansas City Chiefs @ Cowboys (9:30 PM)
  • Friday, 28 November: Bengals @ Baltimore Ravens (1:20 AM)
  • Friday, twenty-eight November: Chicago Bears @ Philadelphia Eagles (20:00)

Will Shedeur Sanders Retain His Job?

Browns coach Kevin Stefanski batted away questions on whether Shedeur Sanders had performed enough in his first NFL outing to keep the starting job when Dillon Gabriel comes back.

But the question will continue to be raised as Shedeur became the first Cleveland quarterback to win his first league start since Zeier in 1999 – with seventeen other first-year quarterbacks failing to do so since.

It came just the Las Vegas, and with the help of an almost feral Browns defense getting ten tackles, but the Browns’ offense needs a leader, a figurehead to build belief.

Moreover confidence is one thing not missing in Shedeur, who told a CBS {

Robert Ward
Robert Ward

A business strategist and innovation consultant with over 15 years of experience helping companies navigate digital transformation.