Saturday, October 21, 2023

Minnesota Vikings Week 7 NFL Power Rankings Roundup

Throughout the 2023 NFL season, we will compile a consensus NFL Power Rankings that averages the rankings of all 32 NFL teams.

Below you will find a Week 7 roundup for the Minnesota Vikings in our consensus 2023 NFL Power Rankings.

ESPN -- Rank: 25

Lesson learned: The pendulum swings on one-score games.

During the 2022 regular season, the Vikings were famously 11-0 in one-score games. This season, they are 2-4. And yet there's reason to believe the quality of the two teams has been roughly the same, at least before receiver Justin Jefferson's hamstring injury last week. ESPN's FPI ranks the 2023 Vikings at No. 15 in the NFL. Their 2022 FPI ranking was No. 16. In truth, the 2022-23 Vikings have been an extreme example of the difference a handful of plays can make on a game and a season. They ranked No. 5 last year in the NFL's "luck metric," a measure of win probability added by plays such as dropped interceptions and fumble recoveries. Through six weeks of 2023, the Vikings rank No. 32. -- Kevin Seifert

NFL.com -- Rank: 25

The good news is that the Vikings are now 1-0 without Justin Jefferson this season. The bad news: The offense didn't really have much to do with Sunday's 19-13 win in Chicago. The hope was that Jordan Addison, T.J. Hockenson and maybe Alexander Mattison could each help absorb some of Jefferson's production, and they did, at least to some extent -- but the offense really labored outside of the impressive touchdown drive right before halftime. In six second-half possessions, Minnesota gained a grand total of 36 yards. That left the team's fate in the hands of the defense. Say the words "backup QB" to a Vikings fan and watch the color leave that face. Chase Daniel, Cooper Rush and Matt Moore are recent QB2s who have beaten Minnesota, and it looked for a second like Tyson Bagent would join the illustrious club before the defense forced two critical second-half turnovers.

CBS Sports -- Rank: 26

Winning at Chicago may delay any of that talk of selling off parts at the trade deadline. They face a tough one against the 49ers this week.

USA Today -- Rank: 22

Another week and another key injury (LB Marcus Davenport, ankle) for a struggling team apparently determined not to have a fire sale.

The Athletic -- Rank: 26

The Vikings' victims have a combined record of 1-11. That kind of sums it up. And the Bears ended Sunday's game with backup quarterback Tyson Bagent. Kirk Cousins is second in the league in passing yards (1,679), but it hasn't mattered. Justin Jefferson is out until at least the Nov. 12 game against New Orleans and could be out a lot longer. Every Minnesota game has been decided by one possession, but that shouldn't change the fact that this team should be a seller at the trade deadline.

FOX -- Rank: 23

Not a memorable win, but it was fun to see Brian Flores draw up such a stifling game plan against an offense that had been red-hot the previous two weeks. I'm just not sure I buy that the Vikings can maintain their current level of play and expect to win most weeks — particularly not against their next opponent, the 49ers.

Yahoo! -- Rank: 22

The Vikings' season was possibly saved by Creed. That might be the ultimate "desperate times call for desperate measures" story.

PFT -- Rank: 25

Next Monday night vs. the 49ers could get ugly.

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