NFL results & best of week 12: Analysis of Cowboys comeback, Mahomes saves Chiefs & Shedeur Sanders

Week 12 supplied an epic Dallas Cowboys comeback, or was it an epic Philadelphia Eagles implosion?

Play-off Patrick Mahomes turned up to salvage the Chiefs’ season while the Chicago Bears continue to surprise as they continue to win.

And did Shedeur Sanders do enough on his first NFL start to earn the full-time job in Cleveland?

Let’s take a look at the pick of the week in the NFL.

Dallas were down and out at 21-0 down against the reigning Super Bowl champions, so how on earth did they produce their joint-best comeback ever?

The emotions of a first home game since Marshawn Kneeland’s tragic death may have played a part, but technically it was a mixture of Dak Prescott’s determination and a defence that pounced on rare errors by the Eagles.

Prescott eclipsed Tony Romo’s records for passing yards (now 34,378) and game-winning drives (25) with an all-action display – his diving touchdown personifying his all-action display.

Philly squandered a lead of 21 points or more for the first time since 1999, with just their second game with multiple turnovers this season – the other being another bad NFC East loss at the Giants.

Along with 14 penalties for 96 yards, the offensive malaise that hit Jalen Hurts after what – for him – was an explosive start was huge. He’d only passed for 200-plus yards in four games before Sunday, he had more than 150 in the first half alone in Dallas.

Yet from the time Philadelphia went 21-0 up their offence derailed spectacularly – with four straight punts, a missed field goal and then a fumble handing chance after chance to the Cowboys.

The Eagles defence is brilliant, it really is, but an offence that’s not eclipsed 21 points in five of seven games (three losses) is now a huge worry, as the pieces are all there but it’s just not clicking.

Nick Sirianni’s game is all about winning the big moments, the defence keeps them in it and what offence there is does just about enough – if it can’t even do that and now the discipline and ball protection is breaking down, there could be trouble ahead.

It wasn’t quite as extreme, but Kansas City’s 11-point comeback in the fourth quarter against a powerful Colts team was hugely impressive – and may have just saved their season.

How big was it? Well, the NFL’s Next Gen Stats now give the Chiefs a 58% chance of making the play-offs, when a loss on Sunday would have dropped that number to 28%.

No wonder the play-off version of Patrick Mahomes turned up, throwing for 235 yards in the second half alone and leading three scoring drives in their final four possessions to win it in overtime.

Some huge throws and swashbuckling scrambles are commonplace for Mahomes in the play-offs, but right now the Chiefs are in post-season mode – at 6-5 and only 10th in the AFC standings.

This was more like the old Chiefs though, with a first one-score win of the season after losing five already – they won 11 of them last year so, if that belief returns, this Chiefs Kingdom may not be done just yet.

You just can’t ignore the Chicago Bears any longer. A win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, minus Aaron Rodgers, kept them top of the NFC North and at 8-3 – holding the same record as the Eagles.

They look dangerous on both sides of the ball, with a defence that leads the league in interceptions and total turnovers and, in Caleb Williams, a young player now used to winning tight games.

He can still be shaky, giving away a touchdown after a fumble in his own end zone – but he also threw three touchdowns and, with already five fourth-quarter comebacks this season, he knows how to get the job done.

The Green Bay Packers are in hot pursuit in the division after dominating the Vikings and Detroit are right there after overcoming the Giants in overtime with a monster game from Jahmyr Gibbs.

Chicago are strangely the most consistent with eight wins in nine, but as they visit the Super Bowl champs on Thanksgiving we’ll see just how good they really are.

This looks one of the best Thanksgiving line-ups for years, with every game loaded with play-off implications.

The Lions host the Packers in the traditional curtain-raiser in Detroit, before a rare trip back to Dallas for the Chiefs, who started out life as the Dallas Texans way back in the 1960s before moving to Kansas City.

Sunday’s comeback kings are both clinging to play-off hopes but have very little margin for error – so this will have a post-season feel.

And how about the Baltimore Ravens? An ugly win over the Jets actually has them top of the AFC North after starting 1-5 and looking dead and buried.

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Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski batted away questions on whether Shedeur Sanders had done enough in his first NFL start to keep the starting job when Dillon Gabriel returns.

But the question will keep being asked as Sanders became the first Browns quarterback to win his first NFL start since Eric Zeier in 1999 – with 17 other rookie signal callers failing to do so since.

It was only the Raiders, and with the help of an almost feral Browns defence getting 10 sacks, but Cleveland’s offence needs a leader, a figurehead to inspire confidence.

And confidence is one think not lacking in Sanders, who told a CBS reporter even before the game: «I’m who they’ve been looking for.»

The stat line was decent, with some highlight throws showing promise and potential, but there’s definitely an aura about him, a character that seems to lift both his team and the fans.

«A lot of people want to see me fail,» he added after the game. «And it ain’t going to happen.»

The case for him starting next week may just be too strong.

The New York Giants have the unwanted honour of being the first team officially eliminated from the NFL play-offs after Sunday’s defeat in Detroit – it’s the team’s earliest play-off exit since 1976.

A ninth win in a row for the New England Patriots kept them top of the AFC standings – and their 23-20 win in Cincinnati helped them equal the 1961 Houston Oilers as the only teams to win nine straight games while scoring at least 23, and allowing under 23 points in every game.

Seattle receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba had 167 receiving yards and two touchdowns as the Seahawks beat the Titans – giving him 1,313 yards this year so far and already the single-season team record.

He’s also on pace for the NFL’s first ever 2,000-yard receiving season.

Myles Garrett had three of the Browns’ 10 sacks in Las Vegas, taking him to 18 this season and well on course to beat the single season record of 21.5.

Matthew Stafford remains in the MVP conversation after a surgical display for the Rams against the struggling Buccaneers. While LA go to 9-2 and top of the NFC standings, the Bucs could lose their divisional lead after a third defeat in a row.

Tampa Bay may have lost even more as quarterback Baker Mayfield left the game with a shoulder injury.