NFL week 16: Cowboys beat the Eagles, Vikings win another close game, Niners go eight in a row

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A frigid Christmas Eve successful the NFL saw immoderate red-hot performances arsenic the Dallas Cowboys handed the Philadelphia Eagles conscionable their 2nd nonaccomplishment of the season.

The Minnesota Vikings created much NFL past with yet different adjacent victory, portion the San Francisco 49ers made it 8 successful a enactment successful their storming extremity to the season.

The Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs stay locked successful a conflict for apical spot successful the AFC aft they some earned 12th wins of the season.

Dallas down Eagles arsenic historical Vikings adjacent the gap

The Philadelphia Eagles, who were without injured prima backmost Jalen Hurts, missed the accidental to unafraid apical spot successful the NFC aft fierce rivals the Dallas Cowboys came from down to triumph 40-34.

Cowboys QB Dak Prescott threw 3 touchdown passes to erase a 10-point pb opened up by Eagles back-up Gardner Minshew, who threw 2 TDs but came up conscionable abbreviated of a last-second winner.

The Eagles inactive pb the mode successful the NFC astatine 13-2 and request to triumph 1 of their past 2 to beryllium perfectly definite of earning a precious first-round bye successful the play-offs, but they'll privation to spot Hurts backmost connected the tract arsenic soon arsenic possible.

The Minnesota Vikings are conscionable a crippled down Philadelphia aft they proved to beryllium the undisputed kings of the adjacent crippled with their 11th one-score triumph of the play - the astir ever successful 1 play successful NFL history.

It was ever going to beryllium a adjacent telephone against the New York Giants, who person won 8 one-score games themselves this play truthful it was predictably unpredictable astatine the extremity arsenic the Vikings followed up past week's biggest comeback successful NFL history with different league record.

Saquon Barkley's touchdown pulled the Giants level up with conscionable 2 minutes left, but Kirk Cousins had capable clip to pb a thrust to acceptable up kicker Greg Joseph to onshore a team-record 61-yard tract extremity arsenic clip expired.

It's the 5th game-winning footwear Joseph has made this play arsenic the Vikings improved to 12-3 with a 27-24 occurrence that again highlighted however pugnacious they are to bushed successful adjacent games.

"You don't blink. You don't flinch. You don't waver," said Joseph. "Because we cognize wherever we've been, and we cognize what we're susceptible of."

Bills & Chiefs stay successful conflict to beryllium AFC apical dogs

Over successful the AFC, the Buffalo Bills stay apical seeds aft a second-half blitz saw disconnected the Chicago Bears 35-13 and won them the AFC East rubric for the 3rd consecutive twelvemonth aft antecedently going 23 years without one.

The Bills weren't astatine their champion for their sixth triumph successful a row, but a objective 2nd fractional successful a freezing Chicago means 2 much volition clinch the apical seed, a week disconnected and adjacent much crucially, location tract vantage passim the play-offs.

The win, though, was not capable to gain the squad the accidental to aftermath up astatine location connected Christmas greeting arsenic blizzard conditions backmost successful Buffalo closed the airport, meaning the Bills had to enactment the nighttime successful Chicago earlier trying to alert retired to different airport.

"Yes, it's a shame we can't get home," said Bills manager Sean McDermott. "But determination are a batch of radical who person got it a batch worse than we bash retired there, including immoderate radical backmost location close now."

Buffalo clasp the tiebreaker implicit the Kansas City Chiefs, who are besides 12-3 aft a broad 24-10 triumph implicit the Seattle Seahawks successful yet much frigid conditions crossed the Midwest of America.

The Chiefs and Bills played retired one of the champion play-off games ever past season, and look acceptable to conflict it retired again for apical seeding and perchance the venue of the rematch.

Patriots sprout themselves successful the foot... again

For the 2nd week running, the New England Patriots produced an uncharacteristic immense precocious mistake to outgo them a imaginable triumph aft responding from 22-0 down to conscionable suffer retired to the Cincinnati Bengals 22-18.

Bill Belichick's teams are usually the astir well-drilled successful the league, but past week a failed effort astatine a instrumentality successful the past play of the crippled cost them astatine the Las Vegas Raiders portion this week a Rhamondre Stevenson fumble conscionable extracurricular the extremity portion condemned them to a 4th nonaccomplishment successful five.

"I was trying to marque thing happen, astir apt doing much than I was expected to do. Probably should person conscionable went down," said Stevenson, aft his fumble near New England's play-off chances hanging by a thread.

It should person been a overmuch easier seventh triumph successful a enactment for the Bengals aft going successful 22-0 astatine half-time, but with a play-off spot locked up they are inactive warring for the AFC North rubric arsenic they look to get backmost to the Super Bowl for the 2nd twelvemonth running.

"We've got to bash a amended occupation connected discourtesy of putting teams away," said Bengals backmost Joe Burrow. "Teams that privation to triumph the Super Bowl enactment them distant a small earlier."

New England's decision meant the Baltimore Ravens belatedly booked their play-off spot portion manager John Harbaugh was doing his post-match property league aft their 17-9 triumph implicit the Atlanta Falcons.

Baltimore are inactive a crippled down Cincinnati successful the AFC North and volition privation QB Lamar Jackson backmost arsenic soon arsenic imaginable to spark thing successful attack, but their defence has excelled of precocious arsenic they've lone allowed implicit 14 points erstwhile successful 7 games.

San Francisco marque it 8 successful a row

The San Francisco 49ers made it 8 wins successful a enactment with rookie Brock Purdy continuing to impressment with different 2 TD throws successful their 37-20 triumph implicit the Washington Commanders.

Purdy has slotted close successful and played astatine a acold higher level than galore suspected the rookie picked past successful the NFL Draft would bash erstwhile helium stepped successful arsenic San Francisco's third-choice starter aft injuries to Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo.

"I don't truly deliberation astir getting much and much comfy oregon thing similar that," said Purdy. "I inactive person that aforesaid occurrence and thrust arsenic earlier erstwhile I wasn't playing. I privation to spell successful and I privation to beryllium to my teammates and gain the respect each play, each snap, each drive."

Elsewhere connected Christmas Eve, the Detroit Lions saw their resurgent tally halted by a 37-23 decision astatine the Carolina Panthers, portion the New Orleans Saints won 17-10 astatine the Cleveland Browns and the Houston Texans upset the Tennessee Titans 19-14.

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