🔗 Share this article

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

Playoff Mahomes showed up to salvage the Kansas City's campaign as the Chicago Bears keep to impress as they continue their winning streak.

Did Sanders perform sufficiently on his debut NFL outing to secure the starting job in Ohio?

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

Analysis – Dallas Rally or Philly Fail?

The Cowboys found themselves trailing badly at twenty-one to zero down versus the defending Super Bowl champions, so how on earth did they engineer their joint-best recovery in history?

The emotions of a first home game after a teammate’s untimely death could have been a factor, but technically it was a mixture of Dak Prescott resolve and a defence that pounced on uncommon mistakes by the Philadelphia.

Prescott eclipsed Romo’s marks for yards thrown (now 34,378) and clutch drives (25) with an dynamic performance – his diving score embodying his energetic showing.

Philly squandered a lead of 21 points or more for the initial time since 1999, with just their second game with multiple turnovers this year – the previous being another disappointing division loss at the Giants.

Along with fourteen penalties for 96 yards, the offensive struggles that affected Jalen Hurts after what – for him – was an explosive beginning was huge. He'd only passed for 200-plus yards in four games before Sunday, he had over 150 in the opening two quarters alone in Dallas.

However from the time the Eagles went twenty-one to zero up their offense derailed dramatically – with four straight kicks, a missed three-point attempt and then a fumble handing chance after opportunity to the Dallas.

Philadelphia’s defence is excellent, it really is, but an offence that's not surpassed twenty-one points in 5 of seven games (three losses) is now a major concern, because the pieces are all there but it's simply not clicking.

Sirianni’s approach is all about winning the big moments, the defense keeps them in it and what offence there is manages barely sufficient – if it cannot even do that and now the composure and ball protection is breaking down, there could be problems ahead.

Spotlight – Postseason Mahomes Shows Up Early to Rescue Chiefs

It wasn’t as dramatic, but Kansas City's eleven-point comeback in the final period against a strong Indianapolis team was hugely notable – and could have just saved their season.

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

No wonder the postseason version of Patrick Mahomes turned up, throwing for two hundred thirty-five yards in the latter half by itself and guiding 3 scoring possessions in their last 4 possessions to win it in overtime.

Some huge throws and daring scrambles are typical for Patrick in the postseason, but currently the Kansas City are in post-season form – at six and five and just 10th in the AFC rankings.

That was closer to the old Chiefs however, with a first one-score win of the season after dropping five previously – they won eleven of them the previous season so, if that belief returns, this Kansas City faithful may not be finished so soon.

Talking Point – Can Bears Become Kings of the Division?

You can no longer ignore the Chicago Bears now. A victory over the Steelers, without Aaron Rodgers, kept them first of the NFC North and at 8-3 – holding the identical record as the Eagles.

They appear threatening on both sides of the ball, with a defence that tops the NFL in picks and total turnovers and, in Caleb Williams, a emerging quarterback now accustomed to winning close games.

He can still be shaky, giving away a touchdown after a fumble in his own goal area – but he additionally passed for three scores and, with already five final period comebacks this year, he knows how to finish the game.

Green Bay are in hot pursuit in the division after overpowering the Minnesota and the Lions are in contention after beating the New York in extra time with a huge game from Gibbs.

The Bears are interestingly the most consistent with 8 wins in 9, but as they visit the championship champs on Thanksgiving we'll see exactly how strong they really are.

Preview – Exciting Holiday in Store

This looks one of the best holiday schedules for years, with every game loaded with postseason consequences.

The Lions welcome the Packers in the traditional opener in Michigan, before a unusual trip back to Texas for the Chiefs, who started out existence as the Dallas Texans way back in the 1960s before moving to Missouri.

The weekend’s comeback teams are each holding on to postseason aspirations but have minimal room for error – so this will have a post-season feel.

And how about the Baltimore 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.

Thanksgiving and Shopping Day Fixtures (all times GMT)

• Thursday, twenty-seven November: Packers @ Lions (18:00)
• Thursday, twenty-seven November: Chiefs @ Dallas Cowboys (21:30)
• Friday, 28 November: Bengals @ Baltimore Ravens (01:20)
• Friday, 28 November: Chicago Bears @ Philadelphia Eagles (20:00)

Can Sanders Keep His Job?

Browns coach Kevin Stefanski dismissed questions on whether Sanders had performed enough in his first NFL start to keep the first-team job when Dillon Gabriel comes back.

But the issue will keep being raised as Shedeur became the first Browns signal-caller to win his first NFL start since Eric Zeier in 1999 – with seventeen additional first-year signal callers failing to do so since.

It came only the Las Vegas, and with the assistance of an almost aggressive Cleveland defence getting ten tackles, but the Browns’ offence requires a leader, a figurehead to inspire confidence.

Moreover confidence is something not missing in Shedeur, who informed a network {