NFC North rivals delight in Vikings' defeat to Bills: Winners, losers from MNF

· Yahoo Sports

If you fancy offensive football, then Monday night’s matchup between the high-scoring Buffalo Bills and suffocating Minnesota Vikings probably offended you.

Buffalo eventually pulled away in the second half, emerging with a hard-fought 23-6 victory on Nov. 9, one that improved the Bills’ record to an AFC-best 7-1. Minnesota, meanwhile, looked as incapable as ever of mounting any kind of offensive attack, and the Vikings’ futility – and second straight loss – knocked them out of first place in the NFC North.

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Yet the ramifications of this particular game could very well go far beyond what occurred on the field at U.S. Bank Stadium. Monday night’s widely dispersed winners and losers are as follows:

WINNERS

Colts? Jets? Raiders?

Surely one of these teams could – and should – be encouraging the Vikings to take a veteran quarterback off their hands ahead of the league’s Tuesday trade deadline in a bid to get Minnesota’s offense merely elevated to subpar, a level it's not currently close to.

Josh Allen

It won't go down as one of the Bills QB's more memorable games (234 yards, TD, INT passing and 15 yards rushing). But he didn't get KO'd by the Minnesota D, either, and made enough plays to keep Buffalo on a track toward the AFC's No. 1 playoff seed.

NFC North

As the Vikings come back to the pack − and the Pack − after losing their second in a row following a 6-0 start, the surging Chicago Bears have taken over first place in the division ... though they're only one game ahead of the fourth-place Green Bay Packers. If the season ended now − it doesn't − the entire NFC North would still qualify for the playoffs.

James Cook

Going into the teeth of Minnesota's vaunted D ... 31 times ... for 107 yards ... and a TD? Yeoman's work, sir.

Adrian Peterson

Minnesota’s all-time leading rusher (11,747 yards) and the 2012 league MVP was inducted into the Vikings’ Ring of Honor on Monday night … though hard to figure why coach Kevin O’Connell didn’t put the likely first-ballot Hall of Famer into his lineup. (And, yes, “AD” looks like he could still play, even at 41.)

Vikings defense

Awesome, per usual. The league’s stingiest defense, in terms of points allowed entering the game, largely limited a Buffalo offense that was the NFL’s highest-scoring outfit – exceeding 30 points in five of its first seven games.

Byron Murphy Jr.

The Vikes corner made one of the few memorable plays on a night devoid of them. Hall of Fame quarterback and “MNF” analyst Troy Aikman called Murphy’s end zone interception of Allen and subsequent 54-yard return "one of the best plays I've ever seen.”

LOSERS

Byron Murphy Jr.

All that effort, and Minnesota fumbled on the play after Murphy’s pick.

Vikings defense

All that effort to keep Allen and Co. within striking distance was still not sufficient to keep Minnesota in the game nor atop its division. And, as had happened in Detroit in Week 8, this unit eventually cracked in the face of a highly capable offense ... and while enjoying no support of its own.

Carson Wentz

Playing in place of injured Kyler Murray, the 11th-year veteran had a purple-and-golden opportunity to take the quarterbacking reins for his offensively challenged team. Instead, Wentz completed just eight of 25 passes for 81 yards and two picks before giving way to the far friskier Max Brosmer in the fourth quarter. The Vikings offense finished with just 178 yards and nine first downs, cracking Buffalo's red zone only one time, and turned the ball over three times. Simply dreadful. And highly alarming at this stage of the season.

Justin Jefferson

Minnesota's best player was once again limited ... by the team he's on. Jefferson was rightly targeted 11 times but only caught three passes for 58 yards on a night when he was once again mostly invisible, really though no fault of his own.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NFC North rivals delight in Vikings' defeat to Bills: Winners, losers from MNF

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