When ESPN and its new shiny toy NFL Network start to trifurcate the conference standings on their interminable pre-game shows you know we’ve officially reached crunch time. You know the categories–“Division Winners”, “Wild Card”, and the often ambiguous “In The Hunt”. There’s an unofficial Maginot line which I personally subscribe that a team has to be within two victories of a team currently “locked in”, so sorry to say, Dolphins and Vikings fans, your teams’ 4-7 records don’t measure up to the Falcons’, who benefit from a presence in the NFC South that gave them a cupcake game against the woeful Saints that are least for now leave them within that margin of the now injury-riddled Buccaneers and the schizophrenic Panthers. I say for now, because with a Panthers’ victory tonight in San Francisco (one I’m personally rooting for because my first place fantasy team needs two Niners receivers to be shut down to secure a win) they’ll be up to 7-5, which magically will take Atlanta off the board. Things change that quickly this time of year.
Which meant that the cardiac victories that defined yesterday’s action were all the more significant, especially when the marketability of the teams that are clinging to said hunt are so crucial to hyping the schedule for the most opportunistic and crucial time of year for optimal ratings. And no truer was this in the case of the Dallas Cowboys, who somehow have willed themselves back into semi-legitimate playoff contention. Or at least so contends NBC NEWS’ Rohan Nadkarni:
The Cowboys are still alive in the playoff race. Dallas mounted a wild, three-score comeback against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, overcoming a 21-0 deficit en route to a 24-21 victory. Instead of falling to 4-6-1, the Cowboys improved to 5-5-1 and stayed only one game behind in the loss column for the final playoff spot in the NFC.
Nearly 20 minutes into the game, the Cowboys looked all but done. The Eagles raced to a 21-0 lead early in the second quarter, and after having driven all the way to the red zone, quarterback Dak Prescott was picked off in the end zone by Reed Blankenship with 5:01 left in the second quarter.
Late in the third, the Cowboys finally started cooking. Prescott led a seven-play, 89-yard drive to cut the score to 21-14 on a touchdown set up in large part by a 48-yard bomb to CeeDee Lamb. In the fourth quarter, the game went from wild to wacky. First, Philadelphia’s Jake Elliott missed a 56-yard field goal with 13:14 left in the game. Only three plays later, Dallas tied it up. That drive alone featured an incredible catch by George Pickens and a John Elway-esque dive from Prescott on an 8-yard touchdown run. The Cowboys got the ball back with only 1:35 left, and Prescott got the team all the way to Philadelphia’s 24-yard line to set up a game-winning kick for (Brandon) Aubrey.
Keeping the Cowboys relevant is practically as important these days as keeping Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs propped up, and with those two slated for a late afternoon matchup Thanksgiving Day that meant what went down yesterday at what used to be Arrowhead Stadium all the more significant. Per PRO FOOTBALL TALK’s Myles Simmons:
The Chiefs aren’t out of it quite yet. Down 20-9 late in the third quarter, the Chiefs scored 11 in the fourth period before getting a game-winning 27-yard field goal from Harrison Butker in overtime to beat the Colts 23-20.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes made several key plays late to bring the team back from the brink to win. Down by three late in the fourth quarter, Mahomes connected with Rashee Rice on fourth-and-3 to keep the drive alive with a 19-yard gain. While Kansas City got down to the Indianapolis 2-yard line, the club couldn’t punch it in at the end of regulation, settling for a 25-yard field goal from Butker.
While the Colts took the ball in overtime, Jonathan Taylor was stuffed on third-and-1 for a 2-yard loss, forcing a three-and-out. The Chiefs’ defense forced three-and-outs on each of Indianapolis’ last four possessions starting at the beginning of the fourth quarter. That gave Kansas City the opportunity to go down the field and win. Mahomes made another outstanding play, hitting a deep shot to Xavier Worthy on third-and-7 for a 31-yard gain, putting the club in Indianapolis territory. Then a 21-yard pass from Mahomes to Rice effectively put things in place for a Chiefs win.
Also needing overtime were last season’s Cinderella-turned-ugly stepsisters, who took full advantage of the NFC cellar-dwellers’ proven ability to grab defeat from the jaws of victory, as the ASSOCIATED PRESS’ Larry Lage (Hooray! A byline for a change!) reported:
Jahmyr Gibbs to the rescue. Gibbs ran for a 69-yard touchdown on the first snap of overtime and had a career-high 264 yards from scrimmage along with three scores, lifting the Detroit Lions to a much-needed 34-27 win over the New York Giants on Sunday. “He bailed us out in a big way,” Detroit coach Dan Campbell said.
Giants interim coach Mike Kafka helped, too. Kafka went for it on fourth-and-goal from the 6 with his slumping team leading by three points, instead of kicking a short field goal that would have forced Detroit to score a touchdown. Winston threw an incomplete pass to Theo Johnson to end a 14-play, 86-yard drive that took nearly seven minutes off the clock.
At least the G-Men are providing some semblance of entertainment and competition. That’s more than can be said for their MetLife Stadium roommates, who provided another team that would otherwise not be “in the hunt” were it not for their division to take another step toward a comeback that a month ago seemed almost inconceivable. Per REUTERS’ FIELD LEVEL MEDIA:
Derrick Henry ran for two third-quarter touchdowns and the Baltimore Ravens posted their fifth straight win Sunday, stopping the visiting New York Jets 23-10. Baltimore (6-5) moved into a tie with Pittsburgh for first place in the AFC North, after the Steelers fell to the Bears in Chicago. New York (2-9) suffered its second straight loss.