Judging biggest overreactions for NFL Week 12 games - ESPN

Week 12 in the NFL offered a classic early-window finish. In the span of mere minutes:

The Texans missed a tying 28-yard field goal and then took a safety, ultimately losing to Tennessee by five points.

The Cowboys ran back two kickoffs against the Commanders (one of which they shouldn't have!) to win a game that featured 41 fourth-quarter points.

The Bears recovered an onside kick and (finally!) made a field goal to send the game into overtime against the Vikings (where they lost).

The Panthers scored a touchdown and a two-point conversion to tie the Chiefs, though they ended up losing on the next drive.

I had a whole bunch of overreaction angles planned out around 3:30 p.m. ET, and by 4:15, almost all of them were obsolete. Yes, the football is getting good this time of year. And while 12 weeks' worth of data is enough on which to base some solid conclusions about this season, it's not enough to keep us from overreacting. So let's judge a few potential takeaways as legitimate or irrational.

Jump to:
Commanders missing the playoffs?
Buccaneers comeback for the NFC South?
Top NFC seed coming down to Lions, Vikings?
Packers should hit free agency hard more often?
Young playing much better in Carolina?

The Cowboys tried to hand Washington this game about a hundred different ways, but the Commanders wouldn't take it. The Commanders scored a miracle 86-yard touchdown with 21 seconds left to cut the lead to one point but then missed the PAT. They kicked onside, and the Cowboys' Juanyeh Thomas recovered it and ran it all the way back for a touchdown (which objectively wasn't a good call because Washington was out of timeouts, and going down inbounds with the ball would have ended the game).

The Commanders got close to midfield on