Week 15 NFL losers: Dak Prescott's MVP chances take big hit

With almost all of the Week 15 NFL games completed, let's take a look at some of the biggest losers from around the league. 

Dak Prescott's MVP chances. Prescott entered the week as one of the top contenders for the league MVP award, but those chances took a significant hit on Sunday. Not only because he and the Cowboys were a complete no-show in a 31-10 loss at Buffalo, but because one of the other top contenders — San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy — had another massive game with four touchdown passes and no interceptions. 

Prescott is having a great season whether he wins the award or net, but he almost certainly fell behind Purdy in the MVP race on Sunday. 

Los Angeles Chargers. The Chargers had almost no choice but to fire head coach Brandon Staley and general manager Tom Telesco after Thursday night's embarrassing 62-21 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders. In his three years as the Chargers head coach Staley consistently demonstrated that he was not cut out to be an NFL head coach and it was only a matter of when, and not if, a change would get made. 

The bigger problem for the Chargers is the fact the coach and general manager may not matter as long as Dean Spanos is making the decisions to replace them. He has gotten it wrong for two decades and history suggests he will again. 

Minnesota Vikings defense. With a playoff spot on the line and going into the fourth quarter with a 17-3 lead in Cincinnati on Saturday, the Vikings defense completely imploded and allowed three consecutive touchdown drives to the Bengals (all three of them over 63 yards), sending the game to overtime where they would ultimately lose. With the NFC wild-card race being so tight that is a game they needed to lock down. 

George Pickens, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers. George Pickens has been visibly frustrated all season and this week talked about the problems with the routes he is being asked to run. He talked a big game, but he did not play one on Saturday. Pickens had to miserable plays in the Steelers' 30-13 loss that are not going to look good in film review. 

First, he lost a jump ball to a significantly smaller defensive back resulting in an interception for the Colts.