🔗 Share this article

Week 12 delivered an incredible Dallas Cowboys rally, or perhaps an epic Philadelphia Eagles collapse?

Playoff Mahomes showed up to salvage the Chiefs' campaign as the Chicago Bears continue to impress as they extend their victorious run.

And did Sanders do sufficiently on his debut professional outing to secure the starting role in Ohio?

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

Analysis – Dallas Rally or Philly Fail?

Dallas found themselves trailing badly at 21-0 down versus the reigning championship champions, how exactly did they engineer their joint-best recovery in history?

Sentiment of a initial home game after Marshawn Kneeland untimely passing could have been a factor, however it was a mixture of Prescott’s determination and a defensive unit that pounced on uncommon mistakes by the Philadelphia.

Prescott eclipsed Romo’s marks for passing yards (now thirty-four thousand three hundred seventy-eight) and clutch drives (twenty-five) with an dynamic performance – his plunging touchdown personifying his energetic showing.

Philly squandered a lead of twenty-one points or more for the first time since nineteen ninety-nine, with only their second game with several turnovers this season – the other being a bad division loss at the New York.

Along with fourteen penalties for ninety-six yards, the offensive malaise that hit Hurts after what – for him – was an fast beginning was significant. He had only passed for over two hundred yards in four games prior to the weekend, he had more than one hundred fifty in the opening two quarters by himself in Dallas.

Yet from the time the Eagles went twenty-one to zero up their offence fell apart spectacularly – with four consecutive punts, a missed field goal and then a turnover handing opportunity after opportunity to the Cowboys.

The Eagles defence is excellent, it really is, but an offense that's not eclipsed 21 points in 5 of 7 games (three losses) is now a huge worry, because the components are all there but it's simply not working.

Nick Sirianni game is all about winning the big moments, the defense maintains them in it and what offense there is does barely sufficient – if it cannot even do that and now the composure and possession security is breaking down, there could be problems ahead.

Spotlight – Playoff Patrick Shows Up Prematurely to Rescue Kansas City

It wasn’t quite as extreme, but Kansas City's 11-point comeback in the final period versus a strong Indianapolis team was hugely notable – and may have just rescued their campaign.

How big was it? Indeed, the NFL's advanced analytics now assign the Kansas City a 58% probability of making the playoffs, whereas a defeat on the weekend would have reduced that figure to twenty-eight percent.

It’s no surprise the playoff version of Patrick Mahomes turned up, throwing for 235 yards in the latter half alone and guiding 3 point-scoring possessions in their last 4 series to seal it in extra time.

Some huge passes and swashbuckling runs are commonplace for Patrick in the playoffs, but currently the Chiefs are in playoff mode – at 6-5 and just 10th in the conference rankings.

This was closer to the former Kansas City however, with a initial one-score victory of the year after dropping five already – they won eleven of them last year so, if that confidence returns, this Chiefs Kingdom might not be finished just yet.

Discussion – Are Chicago Become Rulers of the Division?

You just can't overlook the Bears now. A win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, without Rodgers, maintained them first of the division and at 8-3 – sharing the identical record as the Philadelphia.

They appear dangerous on each side of the ball, with a defence that tops the league in picks and overall takeaways and, in Williams, a young quarterback now used to securing tight games.

He may still be inconsistent, surrendering a score after a fumble in his own goal area – but he additionally threw 3 scores and, with already 5 final period comebacks this year, he understands how to get the job done.

The Green Bay Packers are in hot pursuit in the division after overpowering the Vikings and Detroit are in contention after overcoming the Giants in extra time with a huge game from Gibbs.

Chicago are interestingly the most reliable with eight victories in 9, but as they visit the Super Bowl winners on the holiday we'll discover exactly how good they really are.

Preview – Exciting Holiday in Prospect

It appears one of the most exciting holiday schedules for years, with each game loaded with postseason consequences.

The Lions host the Green Bay in the classic curtain-raiser in Detroit, before a rare trip back to Texas for the Chiefs, who began life as the Dallas Texans way back in the 1960s before moving to Kansas City.

The weekend’s rally teams are both clinging to postseason aspirations but have minimal room for error – so this will have a playoff feel.

What about the Ravens? An ugly win over the New York in fact has them leading of the division after beginning one and five and looking dead and buried.

Holiday and Black Friday Games (all times GMT)

• Thursday, 27 November: Packers @ Detroit Lions (6:00 PM)
• Thursday, 27 November: Chiefs @ Cowboys (9:30 PM)
• Friday, twenty-eight November: Cincinnati Bengals @ Baltimore Ravens (01:20)
• Friday, twenty-eight November: Bears @ Eagles (8:00 PM)

Can Sanders Keep His Starting Role?

Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski batted away questions on whether Shedeur Sanders had done sufficiently in his debut professional start to maintain the starting position when Gabriel comes back.

But the issue will continue to be asked as Sanders became the first Cleveland quarterback to secure his first NFL game after Zeier in 1999 – with seventeen additional rookie quarterbacks failing to do so since.

It came just the Raiders, and with the help of an nearly feral Cleveland defense getting ten tackles, but Cleveland's offense requires a director, a figurehead to build belief.

And self-belief is one thing not lacking in Shedeur, who told a CBS {