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Sports
The Associated Press

Vikings race to 10 wins while getting outscored overall

Vikings Lions Football
Minnesota Vikings' Justin Jefferson can't catch a pass during the second half of an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions Sunday, Dec. 11 in Detroit.
Paul Sancya | AP

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It's been nearly three decades since so few teams were on the positive side of the point ledger this late in the season.

What's really surprising is the 10-win Minnesota Vikings aren't one of them.

Thanks to a 9-0 record in games decided by eight points or fewer, the Vikings have managed to go 10-3 despite being outscored by one point.

Minnesota is the first team in NFL history to win at least 10 of its first 13 games despite being outscored. Atlanta had the previous worst scoring margin of a team 10-3 or better at plus-15 in 2004.

In all, only 12 of 32 teams have outscored the opposition through 13 games — the fewest at this point of the season since 12 of 28 teams did it in 1994. The only other season since the merger with fewer than 12 teams outscoring the opposition through 13 games was in 1978 when nine of 28 teams did it.

Four teams have enjoyed a lopsided edge in scoring, with the 12-1 Eagles leading the way at plus-138, followed by Buffalo (plus-132), Dallas (plus-131) and San Francisco (plus-120).

That's the most teams with a scoring margin that big through 13 games since four teams did it in 2015.

Dominant chiefs

The Kansas City Chiefs can clinch their seventh straight AFC West title with a win over Houston on Sunday.

That would tie the Los Angeles Rams (1973-79) for the second-longest streak of division titles in NFL history, trailing only New England's 11-year run in the AFC East from 2009-19.

With a win over Denver on Sunday, Andy Reid became the third head coach in NFL history with at least eight consecutive double-digit win seasons, joining Bill Belichick (17 straight) and George Seifert (eight straight).

Reid's 17 career seasons with at least 10 wins broke a tie with Tom Landry for the third-most ever, trailing only Belichick and Don Shula, with 20 each.

Patrick Mahomes also improved to 10-0 as a starting QB against Denver, joining Andrew Luck (11-0 vs. Tennessee), Tom Brady (10-0 vs. Atlanta) and John Elway (10-0 vs. New England) as the only QBs in the Super Bowl era to start at least 10 regular-season games against an opponent without a loss.

Double threat

Jalen Hurts has been double trouble for opposing defenses this season.

Hurts had 217 yards passing, 77 yards rushing, two touchdown throws and one TD run in Philadelphia's win over the Giants.

That gave Hurts back-to-back seasons with at least 10 rushing TDs — the first time that's ever been done by a quarterback. The only other QB with multiple seasons with at least 10 TD runs is Cam Newton, who did it in 2011, 2015 and 2020.

Hurts also became the fourth player with at least 3,000 yards passing, 20 touchdown passes and 10 TD runs in a season, joining Kyler Murray (2020), Newton (2011 and '15) and Kordell Stewart.

Big play Cheetah

Tyreek Hill found another way to score a long TD for Miami.

Hill picked up a fumble from teammate Jeff Wilson Jr. and raced 57 yards for a touchdown in a loss to the Chargers on Sunday night.

That fumble recovery TD made Hill the first player in the Super Bowl era to score a touchdown of at least 50 yards five ways. He also has receiving, rushing, kick return and punt return scores that long.

Dazzling debut

Brock Purdy entered the NFL as an afterthought with the “Mr. Irrelevant” moniker after being the last pick in the NFL draft.

His first career start for the San Francisco 49ers was unlike any other.

Purdy went 16 of 21 for 185 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions for a 134 passer rating with one TD run in a 35-7 win over Tampa Bay.

He became the first rookie in the Super Bowl era with at least two TD passes, one TD run and a passer rating of 125 or higher in his first career start.

Purdy also became the first QB to beat Tom Brady in his first career start. The other seven who tried lost by an average of 15.6 points per game.

Sack streak

The NFL’s three longest sack streaks all came to an end Sunday.

The 49ers had their 39-game streak in the regular season with at least one sack snapped, while Tampa Bay (34-game streak) and Dallas (24 games) also failed to get a sack.

That leaves Buffalo with the longest active streak at just 18 games — a far cry from the NFL record of 75 consecutive regular-season games with a sack set by Pittsburgh from 2016-21.