They say a bad loss can sink a team's reputation for an entire season. No matter what said team accomplishes.

That appears to be the exact case for the Minnesota Vikings.

The Vikings are currently 10-2 and are currently the NFC's No. 2 seed, yet they opened the week as 1.5-point underdogs to the 5-7 Detroit Lions.

Yes, the Lions have been playing good football lately and the game is in Detroit. But, overall, the Vikings are still the better team. Minnesota's weakness, its defense, is slightly better than Detroit's weakness, which also happens to be its defense. And Minnesota boasts the better offensive unit even though Jared Goff and co. are looking better each week.

What makes things even more wild is per Betonline.ag, the spread has gone up to 2.5-points since it opened on Sunday.

It's a massive, massive heap of disrespect thrown at the Vikings. And one has to assume it has to do with the Vikings' two losses to the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys in which they lost by a combined 54 points.

But, even then, former Super Bowl champion Jason McCourty isn't having any of it.

"What is this? The Vikings are 10-2. They've won TEN GAMES," McCourtey said on a recent episode of NFL Network's Good Morning Football. "Why are we disrespecting them so much? I don't care how many points they've won by [or] the fashion they've won in… The Vikings have won TEN GAMES.

"Yes, I give the Lions credit – [they have] five wins and they've gone on a winning streak. They're playing some good football. But, Minnesota [has] 10 wins [with] a new head coach. Kirk Cousins is making plays late in the game [and] the defense is taking the ball away to win the game.

"Give them their credit. [There's] no way they should be underdogs to a 5-7 team. Minnesota should be the favorite to win this game."

It's not like the Vikings are on back-to-back road trips, playing in bad weather, or anything like that, either. Again, the Lions are playing good football, but it's still hard to see them as the favorite.

But, the Vikings have won the last four road games by one possession and their last game -the miraculous win over the Buffalo Bills– featured a ton of breaks that went Minnesota's way.

But, still – sometimes it's better to be lucky than good in the NFL.

Either way, a Vikings win or tie equals a postseason berth on Sunday, so it's safe to assume the Vikings are going to be dialed in and focused. Which is obviously a great thing, because apparently, they're going to need to be on their toes in Motown.

Featured image via Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports