🔗 Share this article

Week 12 provided an epic Dallas Cowboys rally, or was it an epic Philadelphia Eagles collapse?

Playoff Patrick Mahomes arrived to salvage the Chiefs' campaign as the Bears keep to surprise while they continue their winning streak.

Did Shedeur Sanders do enough on his first professional start to secure the full-time role in Ohio?

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

The Breakdown – Dallas Rally or Eagles Collapse?

The Cowboys were down and out at twenty-one to zero down versus the reigning championship winners, so how on earth did they engineer their joint-best recovery ever?

Sentiment of a initial home game since Marshawn Kneeland untimely death may have been a factor, but technically it was a combination of Dak Prescott resolve and a defensive unit that pounced on rare mistakes by the Philadelphia.

Dak eclipsed Romo’s records for yards thrown (now 34,378) and game-winning possessions (twenty-five) with an dynamic performance – his diving score embodying his energetic showing.

Philadelphia wasted a advantage of 21 points or more for the initial time since nineteen ninety-nine, with only their second game with several giveaways this season – the other being another bad division defeat at the Giants.

In addition to 14 infractions for 96 yards, the offensive 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 four games prior to the weekend, he had more than 150 in the first half by himself in Dallas.

However from the time the Eagles went twenty-one to zero up their offence derailed spectacularly – with four straight kicks, a missed field goal and then a fumble handing chance after chance to the Dallas.

Philadelphia’s defence is brilliant, it truly is, but an offense that's not surpassed twenty-one points in five of 7 games (3 losses) is now a major worry, as the pieces are all there but it's just not clicking.

Sirianni’s game is all about winning the key situations, the defense keeps them in it and what offense there is does barely sufficient – if it cannot even do that and now the composure and ball protection is breaking down, there could be problems ahead.

Spotlight – Playoff Patrick Shows Up Early to Save Kansas City

It wasn’t as extreme, but Kansas City's 11-point recovery in the fourth quarter against a powerful Indianapolis team was very notable – and could have only saved their campaign.

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

No wonder the postseason version of Mahomes arrived, passing for 235 yards in the latter half by itself and guiding 3 scoring possessions in their last four series to win it in overtime.

Some big passes and swashbuckling scrambles are typical for Mahomes in the playoffs, but right now the Kansas City are in post-season form – at 6-5 and just 10th in the conference rankings.

That was more like the former Kansas City though, with a initial close win of the year after losing 5 already – they won eleven of them the previous season so, if that confidence returns, this Chiefs Kingdom might not be finished so soon.

Talking Point – Can Bears Become Kings of the North?

You just can't ignore the Bears now. A win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, minus Rodgers, maintained them top of the division and at eight and three – sharing the same standing as the Eagles.

They look threatening on both sides of the field, with a defense that tops the league in picks and total takeaways and, in Caleb Williams, a emerging player now used to winning close games.

He can at times be shaky, surrendering a score after a fumble in his own goal area – but he also threw three touchdowns and, with already five final period rallies this season, he understands how to finish the game.

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

Chicago are strangely the most consistent with 8 wins in 9, but as they visit the Super Bowl winners on Thanksgiving we'll see just how strong they truly are.

Preview – Exciting Thanksgiving in Store

It appears among the best Thanksgiving schedules for years, with each game loaded with postseason implications.

The Lions welcome the Packers in the traditional opener in Detroit, prior to a rare visit back to Texas for the Kansas City, who started out life as the Texans way back in the 1960s before moving to Missouri.

Sunday's rally teams are each clinging to playoff hopes but have very little margin for mistakes – so this will have a post-season feel.

And how about the Ravens? An unattractive victory over the Jets actually has them top of the AFC North after starting one and five and looking dead and buried.

Thanksgiving and Black Friday Games (all times GMT)

• Thursday, 27 November: Green Bay Packers @ Lions (18:00)
• Thursday, 27 November: Chiefs @ Dallas Cowboys (9:30 PM)
• Friday, 28 November: Cincinnati Bengals @ Baltimore Ravens (01:20)
• Friday, twenty-eight November: Chicago Bears @ Eagles (8:00 PM)

Will Shedeur Sanders Keep His Job?

Cleveland Browns coach Stefanski dismissed inquiries on whether Shedeur Sanders had performed enough in his first professional outing to keep the first-team position when Gabriel comes back.

But the question will continue to be 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 rookie quarterbacks failing to do so since.

It was only the Las Vegas, and with the help of an almost feral Cleveland defense getting 10 tackles, but Cleveland's offense requires a director, a figurehead to inspire confidence.

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