Are the Vikings the best team in the NFL?

Short answer: No.

Longer answer — twice as long in terms of syllables: Maybe.

Why say "No," when any rational assessment of this team has, to date, proven faulty?

And if the Vikings aren't the best team in the NFL, who is?

Let's start with basic math. The Vikings are 11-2. That places them in the NFL's first tier, defined by double-digit victories and the ability to defeat quality teams.

Only the Chiefs and Lions at 12-1, have a better record. The Eagles are also 11-2.

In terms of point differential, those four 11-wins-or-better teams rank thusly: Lions plus-183, Eagles plus-108, Vikings plus-99, Chiefs plus-56.

In terms of winning streaks, the Lions are at 11, the Eagles are at nine and the Vikings are at six.

The only other team that has staked a reasonable claim to being the best in the NFL is the Bills, who are 10-3, with a plus-129 differential, and lost on Sunday to the Rams.

Who has the best roster? The Eagles. They also struggled to beat the woeful Panthers on Sunday, then had star receiver A.J. Brown complain about the passing game, which has failed to reach 200 yards in three straight games. In fact, the Eagles have thrown for a combined 362 yards over their last three games.

The way Jalen Hurts is running the offense could be exploited by a quality defense and, Sunday, one of the Eagles' best defenders, rookie cornerback Cooper DeJean, was torched by former Viking Adam Thielen.

Which team has the best pedigree? The Chiefs, of course. But if they hadn't won consecutive Super Bowls and didn't employ Patrick Mahomes, we'd look at their 2024 résumé as fraudulent, because they have trouble beating even bad teams by more than a few points.

Which team is scariest? The Lions, who can beat you up physically while they beat you badly on the scoreboard. But the Lions are dealing with a crisis of injuries on defense, and, as Vikings fans know, heading toward January with a great offense and a suspect defense is no way to win a championship.

Which team looks dominant?

None.

You can downgrade the Vikings for having the least-accomplished quarterback of all of the top contenders, but it wasn't long ago that Jared Goff was considered a weak link in Detroit, and now he's playing like an MVP.

As is Darnold, who is having a better season as a passer than Mahomes.

Mahomes has completed 68.1% of his passes for 3,189 yards, 20 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. His passer rating is 92.0.

Darnold has completed 68.4% of his passes for 3,299 yards, 28 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. His passer rating is 108.1.

Since that awful performance in Jacksonville, Darnold has repeatedly passed the eye test, running the Vikings' offense efficiently, moving well within the pocket and running effectively.

While the Lions are patching their defense together and hoping that star end Aidan Hutchinson can return by the Super Bowl — which is a diplomatic way of telling the world that Hutchinson will not be back by the Super Bowl — the Vikings, heading into Week 15, are remarkably healthy.

They won without Stephon Gilmore on Sunday, but he should return for Chicago. And if he doesn't return for Chicago, he will have been given three weeks to prepare for the Vikings' next big challenge, on Dec. 22 in Seattle.

The Vikings are playing in the NFL's best division, and have a fighting chance to win it. The Lions have to play the Bills on Sunday, while the Vikings play the dilapidated Bears on Monday night.

The Vikings could be in first place heading into the final three weeks of the season, which would mean that their regular-season finale in Detroit could decide the NFC North championship.

The team that wins this division has every right to call itself the best in football.

Hot and healthy, the Vikings deserve to be ranked alongside NFL royalty.