NFL Winners and Losers: Sam Da...

Teams hold onto quarterbacks too long, even if they probably know it's a bad idea. The fear of the unknown at quarterback leads to poor decisions. Too often franchises believe it's better to have a proven mediocre QB than gamble on a new one and end up with utter incompetence. Bottoming out at QB gets head coaches and general managers fired.

That's why the Minnesota Vikings' offseason was unusual. It was a reason everyone gave up on them. The Vikings moved on from Kirk Cousins, reportedly refusing to increase their offer to their QB of six seasons. The Atlanta Falcons came in with a better offer, leaving the Vikings without a quarterback at all.

The 2024 Vikings' story might not change how teams approach rapidly aging or average quarterbacks. But their path shows that a team doesn't have to settle for a less-than-ideal option just because they're worried about what might happen next. The Vikings saw firsthand in a 42-21 win over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday that they made the right decision.

Cousins' slump continued Sunday. He threw two interceptions, giving him no touchdowns and eight interceptions in his past four games as the Falcons' hold on first place in the NFC South continues to slip away. Cousins looks like a shell of what he was, at age 36 coming off an Achilles injury. That's not to say the Vikings are geniuses — they tried to get Cousins back, after all — but their refusal to overpay Cousins when they knew it would be a mistake should be commended. Not many teams would make that same decision. Most teams would give out the blank check and pray for better results.

Meanwhile, Sam Darnold was signed on a one-year deal by the Vikings, and he has been a revelation. Darnold became the season-long starter when first-round draft pick J.J. McCarthy suffered a preseason knee injury, and he has been far better than Cousins this season. Darnold was fantastic on Sunday, throwing for 347 yards and a career-best five touchdowns. He completed 16 of 18 passes for 250 yards in the second half alone. Other than a brief midseason bout with turnovers, Darnold has had a phenomenal year and is a big reason the Vikings are a shocking 11-2.

The Vikings trusted their coaching staff to get more out of their next quarterback than overpaying Cousins, and they were right. Now the Falcons are stuck with the Cousins bill, and it's not cheap.

The Vikings will have another decision to make next offseason. Darnold was on just a one-year deal. McCarthy should be healthy enough to step in as the starter. Whatever happens next offseason, the Vikings will do it on their terms. That worked out for this season.

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

WINNERS

Puka Nacua: Nacua had some injury issues this season, but he’s proving his rookie season was no fluke.

The Rams relied heavily on Nacua and he led the way to a 44-42 upset win over the Buffalo Bills. Nacua had 12 catches for 162 yards and made a play every time the Rams needed it. The biggest play came on third-and-5 with the Bills trailing 38-35 at the two-minute warning. The Rams dialed up a receiver screen for Nacua and he took it in for a 19-yard score. The Rams played well enough to overcome Josh Allen, who became the first player in NFL history to have three passing touchdowns and three rushing touchdowns in a game.

The Rams improved to 7-6 and are still alive in the NFC West race. As long as Nacua stays healthy, he’ll be a big part of the Rams’ playoff push going forward.

Seattle Seahawks: Had the Los Angeles Rams lost on Sunday, the Seahawks might have been close to a lock for the NFC West title.

They didn’t have a bad day as is. The Seahawks got off to a hot start and completed a season sweep of the Arizona Cardinals with a 30-18 win. That gives the 8-5 Seahawks a two-game lead over the Cardinals and the head-to-head tiebreaker.

The Seahawks still have to contend with the 7-6 Rams, who got a big win on Sunday, and the 6-7 49ers aren’t dead after beating the Bears. But a 4-0 record since the bye week has put Seattle in a great spot to take the division.

Dave Canales: Through Canales' first eight games as an NFL head coach, his Carolina Panthers looked historically awful. Given Panthers owner David Tepper's impatience, the team's 1-7 start was not good news for the rookie head coach.

Give Canales credit, because he and the Panthers look like a new team.

The Panthers didn't win Sunday, but their competitive 22-16 loss to a Philadelphia Eagles team that looks like a viable Super Bowl contender showed how far they've come. The Panthers battled hard, taking a lead into the fourth quarter before the Eagles rallied for a win. Carolina had a shot to take the lead late in the game, but rookie receiver Xavier Legette couldn't haul in a deep pass in the final minute that would have been a touchdown. The Panthers came that close to getting a road win over of the best teams in the NFL.

Bryce Young's improvement after his benching looks good on Canales too. Young didn't have a great game on Sunday against a good Eagles defense but he looks much better than he did early in the season. The Panthers are 2-3 in their past five games but the losses have been close ones to the Chiefs, Buccaneers and Eagles. Assuming the Panthers stay competitive the rest of the season, it's a pretty good way for Canales to enter the offseason.

New York Giants and Las Vegas Raiders: Nobody is scoreboard watching for draft picks in early December, but the Jacksonville Jaguars' win on Sunday might be good news for the Giants and Raiders.

There were three 2-10 teams coming into Week 14, and one of them won. The Jaguars won an ugly game against the Tennessee Titans, beating them 10-6 on a fourth-quarter touchdown. They got a big stop late in the game after the Titans drove to the Jaguars' 9-yard line. Will Levis missed Nick Westbrook-Ikhine in the end zone on fourth down.

Players and coaches don't tank for draft pick position, and the Jaguars will be happy with the win. But that's the type of win that could mean something when the draft order is set.

Aaron Rodgers, even in a loss: Rodgers had arguably his best day with the New York Jets. And it still didn’t result in a win.

Rodgers threw for a season-best 339 yards and got his team a go-ahead field goal with less than a minute left, but the Jets allowed the Dolphins to drive down and tie the game in the final seconds on a Jason Sanders field goal. The Dolphins got the ball first in overtime and tight end Jonnu Smith, who didn’t have a catch in the first four quarters, had three receptions on Miami’s first drive of overtime including the game-winning touchdown for a 32-26 win. That loss eliminates the Jets from the playoffs, extending their streak without a playoff berth to 14 seasons. That’s the longest drought in the NFL.

It's hard to blame Sunday's loss on Rodgers. He looked as good as he has all season. Rodgers reportedly wants to keep playing in 2025, and it seems unlikely to be with the Jets. He might be auditioning for a new team next season. He looked pretty good Sunday, and a few more performances like that could give him some renewed hope for better overall results next season.

LOSERS

Chicago Bears in the first half: Last week against the Detroit Lions, the Bears didn’t get a first down until 51 seconds remained in the half. They were outgained by the Lions 279-53 in the first half.

And somehow, their first half against the San Francisco 49ers was worse.

The Bears played one of the worst halves of football a team can play in their 38-13 loss to the 49ers. They were outgained 319-4 by the Niners, and had just one first down at halftime. The 49ers had 14. Brock Purdy completed 16 of 18 passes for 258 yards and two touchdowns in the first half.

The Bears played better in the second half in each of the past two weeks, but their curious struggles in the first halves had given them impossible holes to work out of.

Brian Daboll: The New York Giants can’t catch a break.

Ultimately, a 14-11 loss to the New Orleans Saints will help the Giants in the 2025 NFL Draft. But it hurt on Sunday. The Giants were awful on offense behind quarterback Drew Lock for three quarters, but rallied and had a shot to send it to overtime on a 35-yard field goal in the final seconds. But Saints lineman Bryan Bresee jumped over the line and blocked the kick, giving the Saints the win.

The 2-11 Giants won’t have many more opportunities to win this season. And a 2-15 finish might test ownership’s patience in their third-year head coach.

Another injured Las Vegas Raiders QB: Antonio Pierce's first full season as the Las Vegas Raiders' head coach has been a nightmare, and it's unlikely to get better.

The Raiders had already lost Gardner Minshew II to a season-ending injury, and they lost their second quarterback to what looked like a serious injury Sunday. Aidan O'Connell took a cheap shot from Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive lineman Calijah Kancey, who pushed O'Connell in the back after he'd delivered a pass. An unsuspecting O'Connell stepped awkwardly as he was going down and hurt his leg. He was carted off in an air cast. That's a rough way for O'Connell's season to end, if the injury is as bad as it looked and it leads to him going on injured reserve.

The Raiders lost 28-13, falling to 2-11 this season. Pierce has to make an impression the rest of the way with third-string quarterback Desmond Ridder. That won't be easy.

Jameis Winston: There have been moments in which it seems like Winston might end up being the Cleveland Browns' answer at quarterback for 2025. Then he has moments when that seems like a terrible plan.

Winston with the Browns has been what he has been his entire NFL career, looking great for stretches and then making key mistakes. On Sunday he didn't even have those promising stretches, as he and the Browns were shut down by the Pittsburgh Steelers, who got revenge for a loss at Cleveland two weeks ago. The Browns' offense did very little in a 27-14 loss, with Winston throwing two interceptions. Winston will presumably keep playing, unless the Browns want to get a look at Dorian Thompson-Robinson. At this point, they and everyone else should know what Winston is as a quarterback.