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The Minnesota Vikings suffered another loss this past Sunday, dropping them to 4-7 with five games remaining in the 2014 regular season. However, it doesn't seem to have hurt them too much in the weekly Power Rankings, for the most part, as the experts out there seem to be acknowledging that the Vikings put together a pretty decent performance. Though it may not necessarily reflect in their record for this season, this really should be viewed as a team on the rise. As such, the Vikings didn't actually drop in any of this week's rankings. . .four of our sources held them steady, while four of them actually gave the team an upward bump.
Here's the data for this week's rankings.
| Average Ranking (Number of Rankings) | 23.375 (8) |
| Average Change from Last Week | +0.955 |
| Highest Ranking (Source) | 22 (SB Nation/Fox Sports) |
| Lowest Ranking (Source) | 26 (Prisco) |
| Biggest Positive/Smallest Negative Change (Source) | +4 (Fox Sports) |
| Largest Negative/Smallest Positive Change (Source) | +/-0 (4 different sources) |
And here is your graphical representation:
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So, what's everybody saying this week? Let's check out the roundup.
SB Nation: 22nd (Last week: 23rd)
No team-specific commentary
SI.com: N/A (Last week: 24th)
I'm sure they'll get around to it.
ESPN.com: 24th (Last week: 24th)
Teddy Bridgewater 40.8 Total QBR is fifth worst in the league. Bridgewater also still has road games against the Dolphins (first in QBR allowed) and Lions (second) this season.
Pete Prisco, CBS Sports: 26th (Last week: 26th)
It's all about improvement for Teddy Bridgewater the rest of the way.
Pat Kirwan, CBS Sports: 23rd (Last week: 23rd)
The trials and tribulations of breaking in a rookie QB! The Vikings played division rival Green Bay tough but just aren't ready to go toe-to-toe for 60 minutes. Next up? Carolina and the Jets at home, which are better tests to see where this team is right now.
USA Today: 24th (Last week: 26th)
Still a lot of unanswered questions on offense, but Mike Zimmer's D could be one of the league's elite units in 2015.
Fox Sports: 22nd (Last week: 26th)
Teddy Bridgewater is making strides as a rookie quarterback despite the fact that the Vikings have seen bookend offensive tackles Matt Kalil and Phil Loadholt fall off a cliff in terms of production. That says a lot about the future of the franchise in Bridgewater's hands.
NFL.com: 24th (Last week: 24th)
The Vikings played the Packers tough, but ultimately, 4-7 is exactly what this football team is. We are seeing signs from Teddy Bridgewater -- signs, but ultimately he is not good enough yet to mitigate an average run game and mediocre defense. Nor is he good enough to lift "Signs" from the ranks of movie mediocrity.
Yahoo! Shutdown Corner: 23rd (Last week: 24th)
Cordarrelle Patterson has more than two catches in a game one time since Sept. 21. He has posted yardage totals of 8, 15, 9, 9, 24 and 18 in that stretch. Can't blame the coaches forever. Especially compared to this year's unbelievable rookie receiver class, it doesn't look good for Patterson.
Well, I'm not sure if I'd classify this defense as "mediocre," particularly when one other source thinks that it could be an elite unit next season. Frankly, I'd classify it as closer to the latter than the former, particularly when one considers where they came from last season. As far as the Patterson bit from the last paragraph. . .well, that's kind of tough to argue.
But those are the Power Rankings for this week, ladies and gentlemen. What do you think?