Jameis Winston with touchdown of the year contender for New York Giants, Shedeur Sanders makes history
Another week of NFL action is almost over, with the New York Giants producing a contender for play of the season as they nearly pulled off a stunning upset against the Detroit Lions.
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A much-maligned quarterback won in his first start, while another continues to come under scrutiny.
Read on for that and more in our wrap of Week 12’s games!
‘CRAZIEST PLAY I’VE SEEN’: CONTENDER FOR BEST TD OF THE SEASON?
Jameis Winston, who threw a touchdown pass on a trick play in the first quarter in Detroit, caught a TD pass in the fourth quarter on another trick play.
Up on the Lions by three points early in the fourth, Winston flipped the ball to receiver Gunner Olszewski and Winston slipped out on a pass route.
Olszewski moved up in the pocket and waited for Winston to get open and threw a perfect pass to the quarterback, who then broke a tackle from linebacker Derrick Barne to get into the end zone for a 33-yard score, helping the Giants build a 27-17 lead.
But they blew a double-digit lead for the fifth time this season, losing 34-27 in overtime.
Winston earlier hit Wan’Dale Robinson for a 39-yard touchdown on a flea flicker for the game’s first points, as Winston withstood some pressure from the Lions on the play.
Interim head coach Mike Kafka, who has remained the team’s play caller after taking over for the fired Brian Daboll, has shown he’s not shy about trying some unorthodox plays.
— New York Post
MALIGNED QB’S ‘DANGEROUS’ WARNING AFTER HISTORY IN WIN
The Shedeur era is fully underway in Cleveland, and it was jump-started with a win on Monday.
Sanders and Browns toppled the Raiders 24-10 as the former Colorado Buffaloes quarterback threw his first NFL touchdown and helped Cleveland snap a three-game losing streak.
Sanders finished the game with 209 passing yards on 11 completed passes, along with a TD pass and an interception.
Sanders, the son of Hall of Famer and Colorado coach Deion Sanders, became the first Browns quarterback to win his first career start since 1999, when the franchise returned to Cleveland.
The performance was punctuated by the TD pass, which saw Sanders throw a short pass to running back Dylan Sampson for a 66-yard score midway through the fourth quarter.
Sanders leapt into the arms of Browns guard Wyatt Teller in celebration after Sampson had reached the end zone.
Looking on, grinning from ear to ear, was Deion Sanders, who made the trip to Las Vegas to see his son get his first NFL start
The moment surely felt vindicating for Sanders and those around him after all the ups and downs it took to get to that moment on Monday.
But Sanders never seemed to lose confidence along the way.
“A lot of people want to see me fail … It ain’t gonna happen,” Sanders said.
Sanders also shared a touching moment with his father following the victory.
“I think I showed a couple of great pieces,” Sanders added.
“It’s some things I wish I could get back, but man, a win is crazy. It’s amazing. Off of one week of practice, you know what I mean?
“This one week of practice. Imagine what a full offseason looked like. It get dangerous. But it’s just one week of practice. So I’m just truly thankful that everything happened.”
While Sanders played well, head coach Kevin Stefanski would not say whether he would be named the starter for next week’s game against the 49ers.
“Proud of him and proud of this offence and there are a ton of things to learn from, but I’m just going to worry about today,” he told reporters.
“I’m always gonna take my time and do what’s best for the football team,” he later added about his process of picking a starter.
— New York Post
EAGLES COLLAPSE IN CRAZY COWBOYS WIN
Elsewhere, the Dallas Cowboys pulled off an improbable comeback of their own in a thrilling 24-21 defeat of the reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles in Texas.
The latest instalment of one of the NFL’s most ferocious rivalries served up a classic which saw Dallas recover from a 21-0 deficit to snatch victory with Brandon Aubrey’s game-winning 42-yard field goal on the final play of the game.
George Pickens continued his breakout season in Dallas with nine catches for 146 yards and a touchdown, while A.J. Brown had his biggest game of the year for Philadelphia with eight receptions for 110 yards and a score.
The Cowboys’ win saw them improve to 5-5-1 for the season and left the Texas club second in the NFC East behind the Eagles, who fell to 8-3.
PRESSURE BUILDS ON VIKINGS AFTER ANOTHER LOSS
The Minnesota Vikings were supposed to be Super Bowl contenders this year, with a star-studded offence led by Justin Jefferson and tough defence under coordinator Brian Flores.
But the Vikings dropped to 4-7 to start the season after a 23-6 loss to the Green Bay Packers and pressure is building on coach Kevin O’Connell to make a change at quarterback.
O’Connell though is not wavering in his support for second-year signal caller J.J. McCarthy, who has struggled in what is his first full season in the NFL.
A meniscus injury kept McCarthy sidelined for all of last year and while the former Michigan quarterback also battled an ankle issue earlier this season, he has still made six starts for a 2-4 record.
McCarthy completed 12 of 19 passes for 87 yards and two interceptions and was -0.67 EPA (expected points added) per play.
On the season, according to The Ringer’s Danny Heifetz, McCarthy now ranks 851st out of 852 players in EPA per dropback since 2000.
Despite that and McCarthy’s poor play, particularly under pressure playing behind a porous offensive line, O’Connell remains confident in Minnesota’s ability to win with No.9 at quarterback.
“I think you can. I do believe that,” said O’Connell.
“But it does require as a football team, not doing things that lose games. A special teams turnover, I believe in, two out of our last three games, and then ultimately, the defence is out there battling. They’re trying to get the ball back for us, as much as we can. But then there’s some things where you can’t have breakdowns around that player to consistently sustain.”
It won’t get any easier next week, however, with the fearsome Seattle defence on tap for McCarthy, who lost starting left tackle Christian Darrisaw and left guard Donovan Jackson to injuries in Monday’s game.
The other problem for the Seahawks is they don’t have another obvious option outside of undrafted free agent Max Brosmer, who did reportedly impress the coaching staff in the pre-season.
But benching McCarthy, who was taken 10th overall in last year’s draft, for Brosmer would be hard to swallow given how much capital the Vikings invested in McCarthy.
CHIEFS WIN OVERTIME THRILLER TO KEEP DYNASTY ALIVE
Elsewhere, Patrick Mahomes conjured a trademark rescue act as the Kansas City Chiefs kept their playoff hopes alive with a come-from-behind 23-20 overtime defeat of the in-form Indianapolis Colts.
Mahomes steered the Chiefs back from a 20-9 fourth quarter deficit to force overtime before leading the decisive drive that culminated with Harrison Butker slotting a 27-yard field goal to clinch victory.
“It’s extremely important, we just got to get back on that winning train,” a relieved Mahomes said afterwards.
“We’ve got to start putting these wins together. It’s not going to be easy, and today wasn’t easy. But we’ve got to get back to winning. I’m just excited to get a win and get back on the train,” added Mahomes, who finished with 352 passing yards with no touchdowns and an interception.
The Chiefs went into Monday’s game at Arrowhead Stadium knowing that a defeat could effectively mark the end of a dynasty, with the team outside of playoff contention with only six games remaining.
Instead, the four-time Super Bowl champions now have a fighting chance of reaching the postseason for an 11th straight year — a remarkable run that has included five trips to the Super Bowl since the 2019-2020 campaign.
The Colts, who fell to 8-3 with the defeat, had looked poised to deal the Chiefs’ season a terminal blow after controlling the game for long periods with quarterback Daniel Jones throwing two touchdowns.
Two third quarter field goals from Michael Badgley put the Colts ahead 20-9 heading into the fourth quarter to leave the Chiefs staring down the barrel.
But after functioning smoothly for the first three quarters, the Colts offence stalled down the stretch with four straight punts as the Chiefs clawed their way back into contention.
Mahomes led a 56-yard drive to set up a Kareem Hunt touchdown from close range before making the two-point conversion to make it 20-17, and then steered his team 87 yards upfield for a game-tying Butker field goal as time ran out.
After the Colts were forced to punt in overtime, Mahomes then led an 81-yard drive for the winning field goal.
ELSEWHERE AROUND THE NFL…
In other early NFL games on Sunday, the resurgent New England Patriots improved to 10-2 with a 26-20 win over the Cincinnati Bengals on the road to move closer to a return to the playoffs.
The Pittsburgh Steelers, meanwhile, slumped to a 31-28 defeat against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field. The Bears improved to 8-3 thanks to Caleb Williams throwing three touchdowns in an impressive performance.
The Seattle Seahawks remain top of the NFC West after bagging a 30-24 road win over the Tennessee Titans, while the Baltimore Ravens continued their return to form, clinching a fifth straight win in a 23-10 defeat of the New York Jets.
The Atlanta Falcons remain a longshot to make the playoffs but kept their slim hopes alive with a 24-10 win over the struggling New Orleans Saints, ending their five-game losing streak while winning their first NFC South game.
Meanwhile, the Jacksonville Jaguars won an overtime thriller 27-24 over the Arizona Cardinals despite a turnover-prone game from quarterback Trevor Lawrence.
Lawrence threw three interceptions and had a fumble returned for a touchdown by the Cardinals.
