Hello again, sports fans. We’re back with another season of putting together a weekly consensus power ranking for your Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings squeaked past the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium last week to move to 3-0, with a visit from the woeful Miami Dolphins looming this weekend.
Here’s a link to the year-long rankings spreadsheet.
Let’s talk to it (rankings are hyperlinked for maximum clickage):
The Rankings
NFL.com — 9th (last week: 15th)
Key excerpt: “I know the Vikings’ offense is completely unreliable. I also know Minnesota’s
defense is special and the reason these Vikes are 3-0. That’s enough for me to move them into the top 10 for the first time this season, even if I still can’t trust Kyler Murray.”
The Athletic/New York Times — 7th (last week: 10th)
Key excerpt: “The Vikings are undefeated with the combination of Kyler Murray and Carson Wentz at quarterback, but it’s not because of the offense.“
ESPN.com — 9th (last week: 12th)
Key excerpt: “ Jefferson could be back as soon as Sunday against the Dolphins, but with the Vikings’ offense struggling, it’s unclear whether Jefferson can get back on track.”
Pro Football Focus — N/A (last week: 15th)
Key excerpt: These do not appear to be updated yet. Will add when they come through.
Pro Football Talk — 9th (last week: 11th)
Key excerpt: “Just when it looked like they may need J.J. McCarthy at some point this season, they traded him.”
CBS Sports (Pete Prisco) — 4th (last week: 13th)
Writers note: They’re claiming to have had the Vikings sixth last week — but the update must have been lost in translation because the blurb, you may remember, had not been updated when I posted the rankings.
Key excerpt: “If only they had a better offense. They might just be considered the best team in football. Brian Flores and the defense have led them to a 3-0 record.”
The Score — 7th (last week: 11th)
Key excerpt: “Their biggest star in the early going might be Brian Flores, who’s coordinating the league’s No. 2 scoring defense despite having no clear franchise player on that side of the ball. Flores’ philosophy is no secret: When in doubt, blitz.”
Sports Illustrated — 11th (last week: 8th)
Key excerpt: “The Vikings hover in this territory, dropping just a tad to reflect the disappointing debut of Kyler Murray. That said, if he ascends even to his career average and the defense and special teams hold serve, this team is going to be postseason-bound and dangerous.”
USA Today (Nate Davis) — 7th (last week: 9th)
Key excerpt: “Per Next Gen Stats, their -0.22 EPA per play leads the league (trust us, that’s good) as does a 46.7% QB pressure rate and 14 sacks. If QB Kyler Murray settles in without trying to do too much − good job on that front Sunday in Tampa − this team should be really dangerous.”
Yahoo! Sports— 9th (last week: 10th)
Key excerpt: “The Vikings’ offense was bad on Sunday. Starting with the team’s second drive of the game, Minnesota had a 10-possession stretch in which it had eight punts, one interception and one touchdown.”
New York Post — 5th (last week: 10th)
Key excerpt: “The special teams were excellent: Miles Price had an 86-yard punt return touchdown and Will Reichard drilled three field goals, including kicks from 54 and 56 yards.”
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Average ranking: 7.7 (77 ranking points/10 rankings| High: 4th; Low: 11th)
Spare thoughts: I don’t have too many complaints here, though dropping from eighth to 11th at Sports Illustrated strikes me as…odd. Oh well.
What do you think? Join the conversation below (and recommend other power rankings to add if you wish)!
