🔗 Share this article

The twelfth week provided an incredible Dallas Cowboys rally, or was it an epic Eagles implosion?

Playoff Mahomes showed up to salvage the Kansas City's season while the Chicago Bears continue to impress while they extend their victorious run.

And did Shedeur Sanders perform sufficiently on his first NFL start to secure the starting job in Ohio?

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

The Breakdown – Cowboys Comeback or Philly Fail?

The Cowboys were trailing badly at twenty-one to zero behind against the reigning Super Bowl champions, so how on earth did they engineer their equal-largest recovery in history?

Sentiment of a initial home game since a teammate’s untimely passing may have been a factor, however it was a combination of Prescott’s resolve and a defence that pounced on uncommon errors by the Eagles.

Prescott surpassed Romo’s marks for yards thrown (now 34,378) and clutch drives (twenty-five) with an dynamic performance – his diving touchdown personifying his energetic showing.

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

In addition to fourteen infractions for ninety-six yards, the offensive malaise that hit Jalen Hurts after what – for him – was an explosive beginning was huge. He had only passed for 200-plus yards in four games prior to the weekend, he had over one hundred fifty in the opening two quarters by himself in Texas.

Yet from the time the Eagles went 21-0 up their offense derailed dramatically – with four straight punts, a failed three-point attempt and then a fumble giving chance after chance to the Dallas.

The Eagles defence is excellent, it truly is, but an offence that's not surpassed 21 points in 5 of 7 games (three losses) is now a major worry, because the components are all there but it's just not clicking.

Sirianni’s game is all about securing the key situations, the defence keeps them in it and what offense there is does just about sufficient – if it cannot 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 Save Kansas City

It wasn’t as dramatic, but the Chiefs’ eleven-point recovery in the final period versus a strong Indianapolis team was hugely notable – and may have only saved their season.

How significant was it? Well, the NFL's Next Gen Stats now give the Kansas City a fifty-eight percent probability of making the postseason, when a loss on Sunday would have reduced that figure to twenty-eight percent.

No wonder the postseason form of Patrick Mahomes turned up, throwing for two hundred thirty-five yards in the latter half by itself and guiding 3 scoring drives in their last four possessions to seal it in overtime.

Some big passes and daring runs are commonplace for Patrick in the playoffs, but right now the Chiefs are in playoff mode – at 6-5 and just tenth in the AFC rankings.

This was more like the old Chiefs though, with a initial close win of the year after losing 5 already – they won 11 of them last year so, if that confidence comes back, this Kansas City faithful may not be done just yet.

Discussion – Are Chicago Become Kings of the North?

You can no longer ignore the Bears any longer. A win over the Steelers, minus Rodgers, maintained them top of the division and at 8-3 – sharing the same standing as the Philadelphia.

They look threatening on both sides of the field, with a defence that tops the NFL in interceptions and total turnovers and, in Williams, a emerging quarterback now used to winning tight games.

He can still be inconsistent, giving away a touchdown after a fumble in his team’s goal area – but he additionally threw 3 touchdowns and, with already 5 final period comebacks this year, he knows how to finish the game.

The Green Bay Packers are in hot pursuit in the division after dominating the Vikings and the Lions are right there after beating the New York in extra time with a monster game from Gibbs.

Chicago are strangely the most reliable with 8 victories in 9, but as they travel to the championship champs on Thanksgiving we'll see just how strong they truly are.

Preview – Thrilling Thanksgiving in Prospect

This looks one of the most exciting holiday line-ups for a long time, with each game loaded with postseason consequences.

Detroit welcome the Green Bay in the traditional curtain-raiser in Michigan, before a unusual visit back to Dallas for the Kansas City, who started out existence as the Texans long ago in the 1960s before relocating to Missouri.

The weekend’s rally teams are each clinging to playoff aspirations but have minimal room for mistakes – so this will have a playoff atmosphere.

What about the Ravens? An unattractive victory over the Jets actually has them top of the division after beginning 1-5 and looking finished.

Holiday and Shopping Day Fixtures (all times GMT)

• Thursday, 27 November: Packers @ Detroit Lions (6:00 PM)
• Thursday, 27 November: Chiefs @ Cowboys (21:30)
• Friday, twenty-eight November: Bengals @ Baltimore Ravens (1:20 AM)
• Friday, twenty-eight November: Chicago Bears @ Eagles (8:00 PM)

Will Shedeur Sanders Retain His Job?

Browns coach Kevin Stefanski batted away inquiries on whether Sanders had done sufficiently in his debut professional outing to maintain the starting job when Gabriel returns.

Yet the issue will keep being raised as Sanders became the first Browns signal-caller to win his debut NFL start after Zeier in 1999 – with seventeen additional first-year quarterbacks failing to do so afterward.

It came only the Las Vegas, and with the help of an nearly aggressive Cleveland defense getting 10 tackles, but the Browns’ offense needs a director, a presence to inspire belief.

And self-belief is one thing not lacking in Shedeur, who informed a network {