Week 12 delivered an incredible Dallas Cowboys comeback, or perhaps an epic Philadelphia Eagles implosion?
Playoff Patrick Mahomes showed up to rescue the Chiefs' season as the Chicago Bears continue to surprise as they continue their winning run.
And did Sanders perform enough on his debut professional outing to earn the full-time role in Cleveland?
We’ll examine at the best of the action in the league.
Dallas found themselves down and out at twenty-one to zero down against the reigning Super Bowl winners, how exactly did they engineer their joint-best recovery ever?
The emotions of a initial home fixture after a teammate’s untimely passing may have played a part, but technically it was a combination of Dak Prescott resolve and a defence that cashed in on rare errors by the Eagles.
Dak surpassed Tony Romo marks for yards thrown (now 34,378) and game-winning possessions (25) with an all-action performance – his diving score personifying his energetic showing.
Philly wasted a lead of twenty-one points or more for the initial time after 1999, with just their second game with several giveaways this year – the other being a bad division defeat at the New York.
In addition to 14 penalties for ninety-six yards, the offensive struggles that hit Jalen Hurts after what – for him – was an explosive start was huge. He had only thrown for 200-plus yards in 4 games before Sunday, he had more than 150 in the first half by himself in Texas.
However from the time the Eagles went 21-0 up their offence fell apart spectacularly – with four consecutive kicks, a failed field goal and then a fumble handing opportunity after chance to the Dallas.
The Eagles defence is brilliant, it really is, but an offense that's not eclipsed 21 points in 5 of 7 games (3 losses) is now a major concern, because the components are all there but it's simply not clicking.
Nick Sirianni approach is all about winning the key moments, the defense maintains them in it and what offence there is does just about sufficient – if it can't even do that and now the discipline and possession security is failing, there may be problems ahead.
It wasn’t as extreme, but the Chiefs’ eleven-point comeback in the final period against a strong Indianapolis team was hugely impressive – and may have just rescued their campaign.
How significant was it? Indeed, the NFL's advanced analytics now assign the Kansas City a fifty-eight percent probability of reaching the playoffs, when a defeat on the weekend would have dropped that number to twenty-eight percent.
It’s no surprise the playoff form of Mahomes arrived, passing for two hundred thirty-five yards in the latter half by itself and guiding three point-scoring drives in their last four possessions to win it in overtime.
A few huge throws and swashbuckling scrambles are commonplace for Patrick in the playoffs, but currently the Chiefs are in post-season form – at 6-5 and just tenth in the AFC rankings.
That was closer to the old Chiefs though, with a first one-score victory of the year after dropping five already – they won 11 of them the previous season so, if that belief returns, this Kansas City faithful may not be finished so soon.
You can no longer overlook the Chicago Bears now. A win over the Steelers, without Rodgers, kept them top of the NFC North and at 8-3 – sharing the same record as the Philadelphia.
They appear dangerous on each side of the field, with a defence that leads the league in picks and overall takeaways and, in Caleb Williams, a young player now used to securing close games.
He may at times be inconsistent, surrendering a touchdown after a fumble in his own goal area – but he additionally threw 3 touchdowns and, with already 5 fourth-quarter rallies this season, he understands how to get the job done.
The Green Bay Packers are in close chase in the NFC North after dominating the Vikings and the Lions are right there after overcoming the New York in extra time with a monster game from Gibbs.
The Bears are interestingly the most reliable with 8 victories in 9, but as they visit the championship champs on Thanksgiving we'll see just how good they truly are.
It appears one of the most exciting holiday line-ups for years, with every game packed with playoff implications.
Detroit host the Packers in the traditional curtain-raiser in Detroit, before a unusual trip back to Dallas for the Chiefs, who began existence as the Texans way back in the 1960s before relocating to Missouri.
The weekend’s rally kings are each holding on to postseason hopes but have very little margin for error – so this will have a playoff feel.
What about the Baltimore Ravens? An ugly win over the New York actually has them top of the division after beginning one and five and looking dead and buried.
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Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski dismissed inquiries on whether Sanders had done enough in his first professional outing to keep the starting position when Dillon Gabriel comes back.
Yet the question will keep being raised as Shedeur became the first Browns quarterback to win his debut league game since Eric Zeier in 1999 – with 17 additional rookie quarterbacks failing to do so afterward.
It came just the Raiders, and with the assistance of an nearly aggressive Browns defense getting 10 tackles, but the Browns’ offence needs a leader, a presence to inspire confidence.
And self-belief is something not lacking in Shedeur, who informed a CBS {
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