play0:23Kareem Hunt leaps into end zone for a TDKareem Hunt leaps over the line and scores a 1-yard rushing touchdown to cut into the Colts’ lead.
play0:43Brandon Aubrey walks it off for the Cowboys with a FGBrandon Aubrey hits a field goal as time expires to give the Cowboys the win over the Eagles.
play0:17George Pickens hauls in short TD passDak Prescott finds George Pickens for the 1-yard touchdown to get the Cowboys on the board.
play0:26Jameis Winston stiff-arms a defender as Giants get tricky again for a TDThe Giants’ trick play works to perfection as Gunner Olszewski finds Jameis Winston, who stiff-arms a defender to power into the end zone vs. the Lions.
play0:24Jahmyr Gibbs burns Giants with 69-yard TD in OTJahmyr Gibbs shows off the speed as he breaks off a 69-yard dash to the end zone for a Lions touchdown in overtime vs. the Giants.
play0:22Aidan Hutchinson comes up with game-sealing sack in OT for LionsAidan Hutchinson sacks Jameis Winston to seal the Lions’ overtime victory over the Giants.
Dak Prescott dives into the end zone to tie the score (0:21)Dak Prescott does it himself with a diving touchdown to tie the score in the 4th quarter. (0:21)
Kareem Hunt leaps into end zone for a TDKareem Hunt leaps over the line and scores a 1-yard rushing touchdown to cut into the Colts’ lead.
Brandon Aubrey walks it off for the Cowboys with a FGBrandon Aubrey hits a field goal as time expires to give the Cowboys the win over the Eagles.
George Pickens hauls in short TD passDak Prescott finds George Pickens for the 1-yard touchdown to get the Cowboys on the board.
Jameis Winston stiff-arms a defender as Giants get tricky again for a TDThe Giants’ trick play works to perfection as Gunner Olszewski finds Jameis Winston, who stiff-arms a defender to power into the end zone vs. the Lions.
The Giants’ trick play works to perfection as Gunner Olszewski finds Jameis Winston, who stiff-arms a defender to power into the end zone vs. the Lions.
Jahmyr Gibbs burns Giants with 69-yard TD in OTJahmyr Gibbs shows off the speed as he breaks off a 69-yard dash to the end zone for a Lions touchdown in overtime vs. the Giants.
Jahmyr Gibbs shows off the speed as he breaks off a 69-yard dash to the end zone for a Lions touchdown in overtime vs. the Giants.
Aidan Hutchinson comes up with game-sealing sack in OT for LionsAidan Hutchinson sacks Jameis Winston to seal the Lions’ overtime victory over the Giants.
It was also a time to take the Colts’ temperature. This organization traded two first-round picks for cornerback Sauce Gardner at the deadline in the hopes that he might be a critical part, both now and in the years to come, of their defense. They were getting Charvarius Ward (concussion) back from injured reserve, giving defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo his full complement of cornerbacks and the freedom to go create whatever he wanted on the defensive side of the football.
It was also a moment to wonder whether the Colts have an offense worthy of that sort of all-in move on defense. Indy’s numbers were otherworldly during the first half of the season, of course, but unlikely MVP contender Daniel Jones struggled badly over his two prior starts, more than doubling his sack and turnover totals relative to the first eight games of the season. Coming off the bye with a healthy offense around him, this was a chance for Jones to leave the doubts behind.
Jones didn’t attempt a single pass of 20-plus air yards on Sunday. When the Colts did create explosive plays, they came through shorter throws and yards after the catch, like Ashton Dulin’s 48-yard gain sneaking across the formation on leak. Jonathan Taylor had one 27-yard run. It felt like coach Shane Steichen wanted to keep life easy for Jones by getting the ball out quickly, and his average of 2.4 seconds before throwing was his fastest in a game this season.
Steichen has been one of the more aggressive coaches in the league during his time with the Colts, but facing one of the NFL’s most successful franchises, he chose to lean more conservative. The Colts took a delay of game on fourth-and-3 just past midfield on their opening drive and then again on fourth-and-1 from their own 40-yard line. They kicked a field goal on fourth-and-4 in the red zone and fourth-and-goal from the 5-yard line.
What might haunt the Colts the most, though, is what they did in the fourth quarter when they had that lead. After Kareem Hunt’s fumble in the red zone gave the Colts the ball with an 11-point lead, Steichen’s offense proceeded to go three-and-out on three consecutive drives. Just one of those nine plays — the first one — was a handoff to Taylor. In addition to not running much time off the clock, the Colts curiously didn’t try to decide the game with their star back.
The Chiefs, on the other hand, racked up 33 first downs, the most by any team in a game this season. We normally associate that sort of production with dominant offensive games; the other teams that generated 30 or more first downs in a game this season also averaged more than 39 points in their offensive explosions. The Chiefs got to only 23, and even that took a late comeback and overtime.
Kareem Hunt leaps over the line and scores a 1-yard rushing touchdown to cut into the Colts’ lead.
Impacted further by several special teams penalties on returns, the Chiefs were forced to go on a series of long journeys throughout this game. Their average drive started on the 20-yard line, and just one of their 11 possessions began beyond Kansas City’s own 30-yard line. That drive, which opened up on the 44, produced a fourth-quarter touchdown to get within three.
Eagles fans skeptical of Patullo and coach Nick Sirianni got more fuel for their fire Sunday. Going up 21-0 wasn’t exactly a bad start, of course, and Sirianni had never blown this sort of lead before as a head coach, but this was another day for the Eagles offense where things simply didn’t work for long swaths of time. After the early scores, the Eagles had just one first down on their next four drives, gaining a total of 26 yards across those four possessions.
This isn’t the first time the Eagles have enjoyed significant success in part of a game and seemingly been totally hopeless in another. They scored 21 points in the first half against the Cowboys in the opener and then three over the final 30 minutes. They went up 24-3 on the Buccaneers by halftime and mustered only seven points the rest of the way. And the Eagles scored early against the Rams and then didn’t do anything else in the first half on offense.
The difference is that last season’s offense created explosives through the air and on the ground, and this year’s offense has been capable only of the former. The Eagles had 19 designed runs gain 20 or more yards in 2024, second behind the Ravens, then added six more in the postseason. Many of those were authored by Barkley.
This year, though, the Eagles have only four designed runs of 20 yards or more, and just two of them have come from Barkley. Three of those four big runs came in Week 8, when the Eagles were playing the Giants, who have the league’s worst rush defense. The other one came in Week 1, and it gained exactly 20 yards by Will Shipley against the Cowboys.
Brandon Aubrey walks it off for the Cowboys with a FG
Brandon Aubrey hits a field goal as time expires to give the Cowboys the win over the Eagles.
Cowboys fans will understandably suggest that their new star defensive tackle helped slow down Barkley and the Eagles’ run game. Quinnen Williams had a massive game against the Raiders in his Cowboys debut, but the Eagles were going to be stiffer competition for the 2019 Jets first-round pick. Did Williams blow up the run game?
Dak Prescott finds George Pickens for the 1-yard touchdown to get the Cowboys on the board.
It’s impossible to imagine the Cowboys letting Pickens get there now. He continued his spectacular run of form by catching all nine of the passes thrown in his direction for 146 yards and a touchdown. Pickens picked on Adoree’ Jackson early in the game for a short score before turning Cooper DeJean around on a fake post and bringing in a throw to the corner for 43 yards.
On the final drive, Pickens made his most important catch of the game. The Cowboys used motion to create late confusion before the snap, and when they did, slot corner Michael Carter II stayed at the same depth as Quinyon Mitchell and ran into him. The self-pick freed up Pickens for a 24-yard catch-and-run, setting up the game-winning field goal from Aubrey.
Pickens got off to a slow start, but since the Week 4 shootout with the Packers, he is second in the NFL in receiving yards per game (111.0) and second in yards per route run (3.4), trailing only the spectacular Jaxon Smith-Njigba. He has been a legitimate superstar over the past two months, and the Cowboys will surely either sign Pickens to an extension or use the $28 million projected franchise tag at wideout to keep the 24-year-old around for another season.
Eagles fans could crow a year ago that they had the best wideout duo in the NFC. Now, with all due respect to the Eagles and Rams, that combo resides in Dallas.
On Sunday, it was Jameis Winston, who flung the ball around the field and even outmuscled a linebacker for a touchdown catch on what was something close to a broken play. Winston was only 18-for-36 and threw an interception into too tight of a window, but those 18 completions produced a whopping 366 yards. His 83.5 Total QBR led all quarterbacks in Week 12 through Sunday.
One of the reasons why Winston was so impressive — and why the Lions were not able to stop the journeyman quarterback for so long — is the inconsistency of Detroit’s pass rush. Aidan Hutchinson sacked Winston on fourth down in overtime to win the game, which is the good news. That was Detroit’s only sack of the game on 38 Winston dropbacks, which is the bad news.
The Lions have a 7.9% sack rate, which is good for fifth in the league. Most of those sacks, though, are of the extended variety. NFL Next Gen Stats tracks how long it takes opposing teams to get after the quarterback, and the Lions rank among the league leaders in the percentage of sacks generated on extended rushes (13.1%) or against scrambling passers (14.6%). A league-low 32.3% of Detroit’s sacks are of the quick variety.