🔗 Share this article

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

Playoff Mahomes arrived to salvage the Chiefs' campaign while the Chicago Bears continue to surprise as they continue their victorious streak.

Did Shedeur Sanders do enough on his debut professional start to earn the full-time role in Cleveland?

Let's take a look at the best of the week in the NFL.

The Breakdown – Cowboys Comeback or Eagles Collapse?

The Cowboys were trailing badly at twenty-one to zero down versus the reigning Super Bowl champions, so how on earth did they engineer their joint-best recovery ever?

Sentiment of a first home game after a teammate’s tragic death could have played a part, however it was a combination of Dak Prescott resolve and a defensive unit that pounced on rare errors by the Eagles.

Prescott surpassed Tony Romo records for passing yards (now thirty-four thousand three hundred seventy-eight) and game-winning possessions (twenty-five) with an all-action performance – his diving touchdown embodying his energetic showing.

Philadelphia wasted a advantage of twenty-one points or more for the initial time after 1999, with only their second game with multiple giveaways this season – the other being a bad division loss at the New York.

Along with 14 infractions for ninety-six yards, the offensive struggles that affected Hurts after what – for him – was an explosive start was significant. He'd only passed for over two hundred yards in four games before Sunday, he had over one hundred fifty in the first half by himself in Texas.

Yet from the time the Eagles went twenty-one to zero up their offence fell apart dramatically – with four consecutive kicks, a missed three-point attempt and then a turnover handing chance after opportunity to the Cowboys.

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

Sirianni’s game is all about winning the key situations, the defence maintains them in it and what offense there is manages barely sufficient – if it cannot even do that and now the discipline and ball protection is breaking down, there may be problems in the future.

Spotlight – Playoff Patrick Shows Up Prematurely to Rescue Kansas City

It wasn't quite as dramatic, but Kansas City's eleven-point comeback in the final period versus a powerful Indianapolis squad was very impressive – and may have just saved their campaign.

How big was it? Indeed, the NFL's advanced analytics now assign the Chiefs a 58% chance of reaching the postseason, when a loss on the weekend would have reduced that number to twenty-eight percent.

It’s no surprise the playoff version of Mahomes arrived, passing for 235 yards in the second half alone and guiding 3 point-scoring possessions in their final four possessions to win it in overtime.

Some big passes and swashbuckling scrambles are typical for Patrick in the playoffs, but currently the Chiefs are in post-season mode – at six and five and just tenth in the conference rankings.

That was more like the former Chiefs however, with a first one-score victory of the year after losing 5 previously – they won eleven of them last year so, if that belief returns, this Chiefs Kingdom might not be done just yet.

Discussion – Can Bears Be Rulers of the Division?

You can no longer overlook the Bears any longer. A win over the Steelers, minus Aaron Rodgers, maintained them first of the division and at 8-3 – holding the identical standing as the Philadelphia.

They look dangerous on each side of the ball, with a defence that leads the league in picks and overall takeaways and, in Williams, a emerging player now used to winning tight games.

He can still be inconsistent, giving away a touchdown after a turnover in his own end zone – but he also passed for 3 scores and, with already five fourth-quarter comebacks this season, he knows how to finish the game.

The Green Bay Packers are in hot chase in the NFC North after overpowering the Minnesota and Detroit are right there after beating the New York in extra time with a monster game from Gibbs.

The Bears are strangely the most consistent with eight wins in nine, but as they visit the Super Bowl champs on Thanksgiving we'll see exactly how strong they really are.

Look Ahead – Thrilling Holiday in Prospect

It appears one of the best Thanksgiving line-ups for a long time, with every game packed with playoff consequences.

Detroit welcome the Packers in the traditional opener in Detroit, prior to a rare visit back to Texas for the Chiefs, who started out existence as the Texans way back in the sixties before moving to Missouri.

Sunday's rally teams are each clinging to postseason hopes but have very little room for error – so this will have a playoff atmosphere.

And how about the Ravens? An ugly win over the New York actually has them leading of the division after starting one and five and looking dead and buried.

Holiday and Black Friday Fixtures (all times GMT)

• Thursday, twenty-seven November: Packers @ Detroit Lions (6:00 PM)
• Thursday, twenty-seven November: Chiefs @ Dallas Cowboys (21:30)
• Friday, 28 November: Bengals @ Baltimore Ravens (1:20 AM)
• Friday, twenty-eight November: Chicago Bears @ Eagles (20:00)

Will Shedeur Sanders Retain His Job?

Browns coach Stefanski dismissed questions on whether Sanders had performed enough in his debut NFL outing to keep the starting position when Gabriel comes back.

Yet the issue will continue to be raised as Sanders became the first Cleveland signal-caller to win his first NFL game after Eric Zeier in 1999 – with seventeen other first-year quarterbacks unsuccessful to do so afterward.

It was only the Las Vegas, and with the help of an almost feral Cleveland defense recording ten tackles, but the Browns’ offence requires a leader, a presence to inspire confidence.

And confidence is something not lacking in Shedeur, who informed a network {