NFL Winners and Losers: Frauds...

There was some speculation this week about the Minnesota Vikings being underdogs against the 5-7 Detroit Lions on Sunday. It drew a lot of attention to the Vikings being — to be nice — not quite as excellent as their 10-2 record entering Week 14. It also sparked debate over the importance of analytics in sports and if they were even relevant.

The Lions and the geeks both won on Sunday. The Lions defeated the Vikings 34-23. There's nothing wrong with a club that went 10-2 and will certainly win the NFC North losing a road game. However, it raises the issue of whether the Vikings are serious Super Bowl candidates.

This season, the Vikings have suffered three defeats. They were annihilated by the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys, two of the NFC's top teams. This reinforced to the perception that, despite their record, they were not a Super Bowl candidate. The Lions' defeat will amplify the naysayers' cries. The only way for the Vikings to outrun their detractors is to win again. Analytics aren't optimistic about their chances.

Here are the rest of the winners and losers from Week 14 of the NFL season:

WINNERS

Jalen Hurts’ MVP chances: Hurts had another big day in the Philadelphia Eagles’ blowout win at the New York Giants, and Patrick Mahomes made some mistakes.

The Kansas City Chiefs won 34-28, hanging on after allowing the Denver Broncos to rally back from a 27-0 deficit as Mahomes had three interceptions. He also threw for 352 yards and three touchdowns, but the interceptions could open the door for Hurts. It wasn't the best day for the Chiefs or Mahomes, despite the win.

Trick or Treat Trevor: We're in a weird place with Trevor Lawrence. Some weeks he looks like a quarterback who can win NFL MVP in a year or two. Then the next week you wonder where that quarterback disappeared to.

The good Lawrence showed up Sunday. The Jacksonville Jaguars used some turnovers on defense and a solid game from Lawrence to beat the Tennessee Titans 36-22. Lawrence had 368 yards and three touchdowns and looked fantastic all day.

Tyler Huntley, then Anthony Brown and the gutty Baltimore Ravens: Sunday might have been the most Ravens-style win they've had in many years.

The Ravens were without Lamar Jackson, so Huntley started. Huntley left with an injury, so undrafted Brown came in. And it didn't matter. The Ravens played good defense, ran the ball, Justin Tucker provided most of the points and they won a physical 16-14 duel with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Buffalo Bills defense: The Bills didn't play their best offensive game Sunday. It's hard against a New York Jets defense that is among the NFL's best. Cold, snowy weather didn't help.

LOSERS

Post-Germany Seattle Seahawks: Maybe it’s a total coincidence, but the Seahawks haven’t been the same team since they boarded a plane to Germany.

Before that long trip to play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Munich on Nov. 13, the Seahawks were 6-3. Counting the loss to the Bucs overseas, they’re 1-3 since, including a bad 30-24 loss to the Carolina Panthers at home Sunday. The only win came last week against the Los Angeles Rams, who are as injured as any team in the NFL.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: There will be plenty said this week about Brock Purdy and his fantastic performance in his first start for the San Francisco 49ers. That might take away attention from how terrible the Bucs are.

Their comeback win over the New Orleans Saints on Monday night masked that Tampa Bay is sliding fast. No, the Buccaneers are not going to come alive in the playoffs. This is who they are. An ugly 35-7 loss to the 49ers, when they trailed 28-0, should let everyone know that there’s not a sudden surge coming. Tampa Bay is going to win the NFC South by default and be nobody’s problem in the playoffs.

New York Giants: It's hard to keep fooling 'em in the NFL if you're severely outmanned. The Giants did their best for the first half of the season.

We saw New York exposed over the past few weeks. Nobody thought it was as good as its 6-1 record in late October indicated. Regression has come.

Dallas Cowboys looking elite: The Cowboys won and that's the most important thing. You can imagine what would be said about them if they lost to the one-win Houston Texans.

Ezekiel Elliott scored on a touchdown run with 41 seconds left and the Cowboys squeezed out a 27-23 win. Dallas (10-3) played terribly and should have lost. It needed a great goal-line stand after a fourth-quarter Dak Prescott interception, then a 98-yard touchdown drive in the final minutes to win.

The Cleveland Browns’ offense without Jacoby Brissett: The Browns spent a lot of money, traded valuable draft picks and took on a lot of controversy just for their offense to look worse than it did with Brissett.

Deshaun Watson looked better for the Browns than his first game, but it still didn’t matter much in a 23-10 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. It wasn’t all Watson’s fault. Cleveland ran a weird fourth-and-1 play early when it put Brissett in cold, presumably to get Cincinnati to think it would quarterback sneak, and then Brissett overthrew his target. The offense moved the ball, it just couldn’t score. That happens when a quarterback is out of competitive football for 23 months.