In the hotly discussed matchup between the Cowboys and Patriots, New England proved that their off-field preparation will once again carry them further than their roster suggests.

Elsewhere, Cleveland continued their revival by dismantling Miami, the Texans' offense carried them past the Colts and the Jets threw up a huge shock against the Raiders.

Here are five things we noticed in Week 12.

Fairytale of New York

What happened to the Jets?!

Someone decided that the Gang Green fans deserved a very early Christmas present and gave them a total dismantling of the Oakland Raiders.

It was fair to assume that their impressive victory over Washington last week spoke far more to the Redskins' troubles than the Jets' excellence.

Apparently though, Darnold and co. have really stepped things up.

The second-year man looked focused and controlled throughout and was assisted by excellent play from their defensive unit.

Brian Poole’s pick-6 was a microcosm for a strong display which shut down a running game who had been having terrific success all year.

The Raiders still look like they are a strong second in the AFC West, but they will have had a lot of things to consider on their flight back to Oakland.

Jason Garrett needs to go

This Dallas Cowboys team is stacked to the rafters with talent.

There aren't too many teams in this modern era of draft-cap controlled NFL that have the number of stars at every single level and on both sides of the ball - it’s terrific.

Despite that, they continue to be beaten by teams who are just better set up. Better coached.

Especially following another loss to the Patriots up in Foxborough.

Their very small Super Bowl window is already closing quickly, especially if they finish this year with a playoff appearance.

If that were to happen, it seems impossible to imagine that Jerry Jones would stick with Garrett for another year.

Mason Rudolph’s time might be up

When Myles Garrett decided, for whatever reason, to strike Mason Rudolph with the QB’s own helmet, not only did he distract media from an excellent Browns victory, but he also may have earned Rudolph some time.

Mason Rudolph was poor in that game against the Browns, he threw four interceptions, which without the incident may have been enough to get him replaced before Sunday's matchup with the Bengals.

As it was, being beaten with his own equipment would have been a poor way for the Pittsburgh Steelers to move on to Devlin Hodges, so they gave Rudolph another chance.

Sadly, that ended up as eight passes for 85 yards and an interception against a weak Cincinnati Bengals team which apparently, was the straw that broke the camels back in the QB department.

It will be interesting to see if it's just a scare tactic from Mike Tomlin or a genuine change – either way Rudolph might have Garrett to thank, strangely, for giving him one more shot.

Mitch Trubisky was better – not good

The Chicago Bears did what they needed to.

They went to the Big Apple; they fought past a struggling team and continued their pursuit of the NFC North in a week where none of their counterparts won.

That being said, despite the stat line and the W, Mitch Trubisky was still not the star man.

This Giants defense has allowed an average passer rating of 103.9, so Trubisky’s rating of 69.0 doesn’t look quite so good in comparison.

He did have a couple big drops from his receivers, he used his legs better, and moved through reads quicker so his performance is definitely commendable, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

The Bears will still struggle to go far with their second overall pick at QB.

The Saints do have more than one receiving option

We are used to hearing the New Orleans Saints have won via the classic Brees-Thomas equation.

And they didn’t disappoint against Kyle Allen’s Carolina Panthers as Thomas once again had 100 yards receiving and a touchdown.

More eyes, however, were on Jared Cook the tight end as he caught his own touchdown and nearly a century of receiving yards.

This isn’t the first time Jared Cook has impressed during his long career, but it means far more to the Saints who need some more options on the outside come playoff time.

The Cowboys proved last year that doubling Michael Thomas on important downs could restrict the Saints production, so some consistent stat lines from Cook could really improve their chances of going far this year.