NFL: Biggest winners and losers of Week 11

Loser: Taysom Hill haters

Everyone was blown away by Sean Payton’s decision to start Taysom Hill over the likes of Jameis Winston was puzzling to say the least. Even the players in the locker room questioned the move after the gadget player threw a career 20 passes. Four quarters later, it’s clear why Payton is the coach and none of us are in power to call the shots.

Hill wasn’t perfect, but he did enough to get by. Going 18-of-23, the 30-year-old connected with six different targets for 233 yards. Trusting his legs in the open field, Hill also led the team in rushing with 51 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Drew Brees will miss a minimum of three games after suffered 11 cracked ribs. With a second game against Atlanta, Hill already has proven he can win under center. Although he’s flawed, the greatest question in the NFL was finally answered. What position does Hill play? Quarterback, along with so much more.

Winner: Chiefs fans 

As if we needed a reminder of how effortlessly good Patrick Mahomes is.

Mahomes needed 75 seconds and seven plays to ruin Las Vegas’ night. He was on point, accurate, and made it look easy marching down the field to set up the game-winning touchdown to Travis Kelce.

It helps that the Raiders decided against playing defense on that last drive, but Sunday Night was a reminder of how good Chiefs fans have it.

Once again, Mahomes is magic late in games. Down but never out, a back and forth battle between him and the Raiders made it seem impossible to determine a winner early on. Outside of a redzone interception before halftime, Mahomes certainly looked like the part of MVP, throwing for 348 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

The MVP voting should be a two-man race at this point between Mahomes and Seattle’s Russell Wilson. This weekend, Russ baked instead of cooked, throwing for a mere 197 yards and two scores. Over the past three weeks, the Seahawks star also has committed seven turnovers while Mahomes had led Kansas City to a 9-1 start.

On Sunday, Mahomes finally threw a go-ahead touchdown pass in the final two minutes of a game. Soon, he’ll be throwing another piece of hardware on his trophy case.

Loser: Packers defense

They say defense wins championships in the NFL. No wonder why Green Bay will head back to the pretender category after Sunday’s loss to the Colts

Yes, the Marquez Valdes-Scantling fumble ultimately cost them the game, but this was in overtime. Meanwhile, Green Bay held a 14-point lead at halftime and caused two turnovers before allowing Indianapolis’ offense to score 17 unanswered and watch Aaron Rodgers play catch up.

Green Bay was exposed for who they truly are. Sure, they might have the league’s most impressive QB-WR combination, but what else is there to like? Another pitiful performance from the defense now cost them likely a first-round bye come January. Too bad since that’s likely the only way the Packers advance to the divisional games with sloppy play such as that.