You saw the Dallas Cowboys upset the Eagles. You saw the New England Patriots take the No. 1 seed in the AFC. You saw the Chiefs save their season with a late rally against the Colts.
So let’s try to spin it forward, dive deeper and think outside the box about what we just saw. This is “Sound Smart,” where we prepare you for Monday morning with seven observations from the Sunday slate. If I do my job, you’ll be fluent in the NFL’s Week 12 action.
1. IF THERE’S ONLY ONE THING YOU SHOULD KNOW FROM SUNDAY …
The Eagles have lost their identity, and the Cowboys are finding theirs.
A.J. Brown told us what was happening in Philly.
“A s— show,” he said.
I guess I didn’t realize the extent of it.
Against the Cowboys, Philly didn’t score a single point in the final 41 minutes of the game, ultimately losing 24-21 to Dallas after jumping out to a 21-0 lead.
Surely, everyone will be calm. It’ll be all deep breaths and level heads. Right?
OK, I’ll take a first swing at creating chaos. There’s no one person to blame for the Eagles after their embarrassing loss to the Cowboys. It’s everyone. That’s probably what will make this loss sting so much in Philly. The passing game was actually more productive than normal, as Jalen Hurts had 289 passing yards and one passing touchdown (with two more rushing touchdowns). Receiver A.J. Brown had eight catches for 110 yards and a touchdown (so he can’t complain).
But running back Saquon Barkley, who was once the heart and soul of this offense, looks like the ghost of Trent Richardson. Barkley finished this game with 10 carries for 22 yards, further dropping his abysmal 3.8 yards per carry coming into the game.
The Eagles committed a total of 14 penalties, the most since Nick Sirianni’s debut as the team’s head coach. They had two turnovers.
The Eagles went ahead 21-0 early in the second quarter versus the Cowboys and then didn’t score again. (Photo by Matthew Pearce/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
It was so ugly. They looked lost for an identity. They couldn’t count on Saquon to save them. On top of his inefficiencies, he fumbled the ball in the fourth quarter. Brown played well all game long but wasn’t a game-changer, in part because the offense couldn’t advance into the red zone in the second half.
So they’ll go back to the drawing board and try to piece together what they do well and how they can use those pieces to win games when the postseason begins. The first thing they must figure out, with all their talent, is why they can’t seem to score like they should.
As for the Cowboys, they found something. The offense looked explosive around quarterback Dak Prescott, his two receivers and a workhorse in running back Javonte Williams. The defense looked impressive (for 41 minutes) around defensive tackle Quinnen Williams and others. Jerry Jones looked like an evil genius for a night.
The irony was that it probably doesn’t matter.
Because despite the win, they improved their chances of making the playoffs from 8% to … 9%, per Next Gen Stats. It’s rare that a moral victory is also a literal victory. But that’s likely all the Cowboys will get for the rest of the year. As exciting as they are to watch, they can’t do much in the way of meaningful work in 2025.
2. MONDAY MORNING CONTROVERSY
Shedeur Sanders just created a QB controversy in Cleveland.
I was talking to former Cleveland Browns coach Hue Jackson on the phone this week, and he thought back to why he picked Baker Mayfield over Josh Allen, Sam Darnold and Lamar Jackson, among other QBs.
“It’s all of the other things that came with trying to be the quarterback at Cleveland,” Jackson told me. “And I had my reservations a little bit [about the other QBs], because that’s pressure. That’s adding a whole ‘nother layer onto a quarterback when it’s already the hardest position — in my opinion — on all the sports to play.”
We think of the Browns as a hard place to play because, every year, their supporting cast seems to stink. It’s where quarterbacks go to die. But that reputation, in itself, is another reason why quarterbacks struggle to succeed. Because it’s almost like a curse or a self-fulfilling prophecy. It’s another psychological weight for the quarterback to carry on top of all their other burdens.
Sanders had a totally benign, perfectly fine outing. In any other context, it was forgettable.
But in the context of Cleveland? For a rookie’s debut start? It was good.
After a successful debut start, will Shedeur Sanders remain the Browns’ QB1 for the remainder of the season? (Photo by Chris Unger/Getty Images)
Here’s the history: Sanders was the Browns’ first QB to win his first career start this century. Cleveland’s quarterbacks had an 0-17 record in debut starts since 1999. Sanders is also the 45th starting QB to start since 1994.
So maybe Sanders only scored a touchdown on a screen pass. And maybe the Browns took him out of the game — twice — when Cleveland got near the end zone. And maybe he even threw a bone-headed interception to the Raiders, arguably the league’s worst defense.
It was a decent showing for Sanders, who might not have gotten another shot if he hadn’t played well. After all, he went in the fifth round, where QBs who don’t last in the league long typically go. He has not shown qualities that teams admire in a backup, and teams don’t view him as a starter if they let him slip that far. So he might be headed for the UFL or CFL in the near future if things go south in Cleveland.
In the meantime, the Browns don’t have an answer at QB. They’re likely to draft someone in 2026, but for the sake of due diligence, they should see what Sanders can offer. Maybe he can win them over. And if he can’t, maybe he can put up enough good film to be their QB2 or earn a job somewhere else.
3. THE SCREENSHOT THAT’S WORTH 327 WORDS
Patrick Mahomes looked like a man who’d burnt his turkey after the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Indianapolis Colts, 23-20, in overtime on Sunday.
Why did Mahomes look like he lost after an overtime win to knock off the AFC’s No. 1 seed?
The Chiefs led for zero seconds of regulation — and not until they made an overtime field goal to end the game. Their chances of making the playoffs improved to 58%, per Next Gen Stats. Had they lost, the Chiefs would have had a 28% chance of making the postseason.
It seems like the Chiefs are back to playing football like a team that’s not having fun. But in doing so, they have started to win games.
There was a clear problem against the Colts. Kansas City’s offense couldn’t beat man coverage. No one but receiver Rashee Rice could get open in structure. (Rice finished with 141 receiving yards — and, notably, a hamstring issue that will be worth monitoring). And tight end Travis Kelce is past the point in his career where he can be trusted consistently out of structure.
Against man defense, Mahomes finished the game 9 of 19 for 116 yards, one interception, a 45.1 passer rating, a 47.4 completion percentage and a -8.3 completion percentage over expected at 6.1 yards per carry.
Mahomes often looked like a shell of the guy we thought could give Tom Brady a run for his money as the GOAT. I’m not saying he can’t — I’m just saying Mahomes’ level of play is slipping. There are a multitude of reasons for it. But this picture above makes me think he can feel it just like everyone can see it.
If you think that means he’s giving up, you’re crazy.
“This is exactly what we needed,” Mahomes said postgame. “To win against a really good football team when things aren’t going your way … we could have folded … now, let’s try to win off this.”
4. BLIND PASSING CHART TEST:
5. WHAT EVERYONE ELSE IS AFRAID TO SAY:
Josh McDaniels is once again the NFL’s best offensive coordinator.
This (totally made-up) “award” is a pretty tough decision between Seahawks OC Klint Kubiak and McDaniels. But I’m giving the edge to McDaniels 1) because of what this offense and this quarterback looked like last year, 2) because of the team’s still-limited group of playmakers, 3) because of how different this offense and QB are from the Tom Brady era and 4) because of that immense body of successful work from McDaniels’ past.
It’s easy to overlook McDaniels, because of his truly abominable time as a head coach. McDaniels is also unpopular from a fantasy football perspective, given how he uses running backs (namely, featuring Rhamondre Stevenson over TreVeyon Henderson). But none of that has to do with what McDaniels is pulling off in New England.
Let’s start with the quarterback: Drake “Drake Maye” Maye.
Don’t ask me to explain the nickname. Please.
His rise has been truly meteoric. Anyone who said they saw this coming was blatantly ignoring every developmental quarterback whose projected ascent went off the rails and into a ditch. Now, today wasn’t his day. He looked shaky to start the game, lacking the accuracy at every level that has made him the NFL’s hottest young quarterback. He even threw an inexplicable interception that had me wondering if his pass-catcher, tight end Hunger Henry, ran the wrong route. (But no, it was on Maye.) The game was likely just a blip in Maye’s progress as a quarterback. McDaniels used the offensive supporting cast (and defense) to dig out the win.
It’s that quality that makes me think — maybe — this team can win some playoff games.
That’s a real testament to McDaniels.
The Patriots proved something to themselves by winning without Drake Maye at his best. (Photo by Ian Johnson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
The team has no WR1. Stefon Diggs isn’t the same guy he once was. Kayshon Boutte had a nice clump of weeks, but he’s a product of Maye’s emergence. Demario Douglas couldn’t figure out the slot role that Jakobi Meyers, Julian Edelman, Danny Amendola and Wes Welker once enjoyed. Mack Hollins is not that guy.
The offensive line looks like a major improvement from what the team had last year — probably the worst unit in the league. And in the offseason, the Patriots invested in their line, with free agents Morgan Moses and Garrett Bradbury and rookies Will Campbell and Jared Wilson. It’s not easy to improve an offensive line with four new starters. But the Patriots look solid.
McDaniels has found a new life as a playcaller and designer, bringing in a Vrabel-ian (and non-Belichickian) staff — with ideas that seem to be helping McDaniels grow, even at 49 years old and after six Super Bowl wins.
It’s awesome to see him get back to the top of the NFL by, to some degree, reinventing himself. He’ll also have to keep reinventing himself, because of all the injuries (Campbell, knee; Wilson, ankle) the Patriots sustained in Sunday’s nail-biter win over the Bengals.
6. HE SAID WHAT!?
Moments after the New York Giants let their lead slip away in an overtime loss to the Detroit Lions on Sunday, receiver Malik Nabers sounded off on X about the team’s late-game decision-making.
“Sometimes I think they b makin us lose on purpose!” Nabers wrote in a now-deleted post. “Cause it’s no way, bro you know the ball instead of runnin it to make em burn 2 timeouts?? Then you dnt kick the field goal.??? Then they have to go down and score!! Football common sense!!!! Am I missing something?”
It makes sense that Nabers, who is on injured reserve after suffering an ACL injury, is upset, because the game had all the makings of a Giants upset, including an incredible touchdown reception from Jameis Winston.
It also makes sense that the Giants receiver deleted his tweet. He seemed to be suggesting that the Giants are tanking — which they’re not allowed to do intentionally. And which they don’t seem to be doing. No, they’re losing despite their best efforts.
But what, exactly, was he referring to?
With a 27-24 lead, the Giants couldn’t convert in crucial moments against a vulnerable Detroit defense. They drove down to the 6-yard line and tried for a potential game-sealing TD on fourth down rather than kick a field goal that would have extended the lead to six.
It wasn’t necessarily the Giants’ offense — or this decision, founded in analytics — that cost them the game. It was all the guys who were supposed to tackle Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs, whose explosiveness (264 yards from scrimmage, three TDs) went wholly unchecked as the Lions inched their way back into the game despite a brutally slow start.
7. LOST MY TRUST & EARNED MY TRUST
Lost My Trust: anyone calling for Matt LaFleur’s job
There have been some strange moments during the Packers’ season. But the strangest was when someone asked LaFleur if he was worried about his job security.
Sure, the expectations are high for Green Bay this year. After the Micah Parsons trade, it seemed like it was Super Bowl or bust for the Packers.
So far this year, this looks like a Super Bowl-caliber defense, thanks in large part to Parsons, who has 10 sacks, 20 QB hits and 60 pressures (leads NFL, per Next Gen Stats) in 11 games. He took over the game in the second half, rendering a bad quarterback (J.J. McCarthy) into a wholly useless one with two sacks and three pressures.
The Vikings resorted to triple-teaming him. Yes, really.
Micah Parsons has been everything the Packers could have hoped for when they acquired him from the Cowboys and extended him before the season. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)
But while the Packers’ defense is clearly elite, the Packers’ offense is like that college kid who returned from study abroad only to realize that — despite countless kalimotxos in España — they’re still finding themselves. There’s no doubt that Jordan Love is playing out of his mind, but he has had to make some of the most difficult throws I’ve seen all year because of a lack of help from his receivers (is Christian Watson a WR1? IDK), his running backs (4.1 yards per carry) and his offensive line (pressure on 34.7% of Love’s dropbacks, worst by far of his career). All the while, Love’s counting stats continued to suffer on Sunday.
But LaFleur is making it work — even if sometimes it’s ugly and even predictable.
“I’ve never called the same run so many times consecutively,” LaFleur said postgame. “It was like 3 yards and a cloud of dust, but it was effective. With the way our defense was playing, we just took the air out of the ball.”
Trust In: Myles Garrett
The 2023 Defensive Player of the Year didn’t need to earn anyone’s trust. Garrett is incredible. But I’d like to acknowledge his incredible 2025 campaign nonetheless. I want to remind everyone that we trust in Garrett to be the best defensive player in the NFL. So far this year, he has 18 sacks — that’s just one off the NFL record (19) through 11 games. With six games to go, he is within spitting distance of the NFL sack record for a season at 22.5.
He and Aaron Donald are probably the two most dominant defensive players over the past decade. That’s the company Garrett keeps.
ANSWER: BLIND PASSING CHART TEST
It was Cam Ward against the Seattle Seahawks. And against all odds, Ward is quietly putting together a lot of good film during his rookie season. This Titans team is awful, but Ward appears to be a true bright spot.
Next year, can he ascend like Drake Maye did? Or, at least, continue to develop like Caleb Williams has?
Before joining FOX Sports as an NFL reporter and columnist, Henry McKenna spent seven years covering the Patriots for USA TODAY Sports Media Group and Boston Globe Media. Follow him on Twitter at @henrycmckenna.
