Minnesota Vikings Week 6 Power Rankings Roundup

I generally try to get the Power Rankings Roundup posted on Wednesdays, but real life has gotten in the way a bit this week, so we’re doing it today. Hopefully it will be worth waiting for.

As we know, our Minnesota Vikings got a somewhat ugly victory on Monday night over the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field. When it comes to how this team usually performs in the Windy City, I’ll certainly take an ugly victory over a pretty loss. But, what do the pundits around the interwebs think of what the Vikings did on Monday night?

Well, let’s find out as we take our spin around the interwebs for this week’s (belated) Power Rankings Roundup.

Associated Press: #12 (Last week: #18)

No Vikings-centric commentary this week from the Associated Press

Chris Simms, Bleacher Report: #12 (Last week: #13)

First of all, it was a mistake for the Vikings to start Sam Bradford on Monday night. He was obviously not 100 percent. Minnesota wasted the first half offensively with him struggling to move in the pocket and incapable of making plays.

The Vikings might need to just move on with Keenum for the time being. He gives the team a legitimate chance to win.

It was great to see some big plays in the run game from Jerick McKinnon, but the run game is still concerning. Losing Dalvin Cook is huge, and it's hard to be sold on McKinnon or Latavius Murray without a bit more proof.

The Minnesota defense is special, as it showed on Monday. About the only thing it is missing is a capable backup defensive end other than Brian Robinson who can help keep Everson Griffen and Danielle Hunter fresh.

The Vikings are good enough to allow Bradford to get back to 100 percent while still staying in the playoff race.

Pete Prisco, CBS Sports: #16 (Last week: #18)

Case Keenum played well in relief of Sam Bradford Monday night. You have to wonder if Bradford might be sitting for a while with that knee injury. Now comes the Packers.

ESPN: #20 (Last week: #17)

51.5 percent chance. Sam Bradford's health is a concern, but Case Keenumhas more than held his own, keeping the Vikings' playoff chances over 50 percent. How good has Keenum been? Only Drew Brees and Alex Smith have thrown more passes without a pick this season.

MMQB, Sports Illustrated: #13 (Last week: #19)

No Vikings-centric commentary from MMQB this week

Elliot Harrison, NFL.com: #17 (Last week: #17)

Can't move this team up. Not after that performance. While Minnesota's a decent squad and will be in the wild-card race, the Vikings probably had no business winning Monday night. Mike Zimmer's group was repeatedly rescued by close calls. The most questionable one: That holding penalty on the Jordan Howard touchdown that wasn't. That said, I love the Vikes' defensive personnel. Solid from stem to stern. Dig seeing a 39-year-old corner ballin'. Glad to see Case Keenum get credit, too. He plays hard and deserves to be out there.

Mike Florio, Pro Football Talk: #15 (Last week: #18)

Sam Bradford hadn’t spent that much time in the fetal position since exiting the womb.

SB Nation: #22 (Last week: #26)

No Vikings-centric commentary from SB Nation this week

Vinnie Iyer, Sporting News: #15 (Last week: #18)

Case Keenum was needed again to get them back on track in Chicago, and he got help from their newest supersub, Jerick McKinnon. The defense still is the most reliable asset for Mike Zimmer.

This week: vs. Packers, a team aspiring to return to Minnesota for February's Super Bowl

USA Today: #16 (Last week: #19)

They scratched out a victory Monday, but loss of Dalvin Cook and Sam Bradford's ongoing knee issues will probably relegate them to .500.

Walter Cherepinsky, Walter Football: #17 (Last week: #18)

It's ridiculous that Sam Bradford is still hurt. Again, when did this injury happen? It's like the wind blew into his knee and shattered it. He couldn't even move Monday night! Case Keenum should just remain the starter until Teddy Bridgewater is ready to play because it seems like Bradford won't be healthy until 2023.

Frank Schwab, Yahoo! Sports: #17 (Last week: #17)

It’s pretty clear Sam Bradford wasn’t right on Monday night. The real question is, when will he be healthy again?

Well, our favorite team moved up in nine of the 12 sets of Power Rankings we use for the Roundup. Two of them kept them right where they were (both at #17, no less), and the folks from ESPN. . .for whatever reason. . .decided that the Vikings’ second win in their last ten trips to Soldier Field merited a three-place drop in the rankings. I get that the Bears aren’t a great team or anything, but seriously a win is a win. I don’t get dropping teams after a win, but I’m not making the rankings.

Overall, however, the Vikings are basically seen as a middle of the road team at this point. The average of all of these rankings is exactly 16, and you can’t get a whole lot more middle of the road than that.

Here’s a look at this week’s ups and downs:

As usual, you may click to embiggen the chart. You would think that, if the Vikings can pull off a victory this week, they would see a significant jump from just about everyone. Well, except for ESPN, who would probably drop them down to about #24 for having the audacity to beat Green Bay.

That’s this week’s Power Rankings Roundup for the purple, ladies and gentlemen. I’ll effort to have it out here in a more timely manner next week.