Minnesota Vikings Power Rankings Roundup: Week 2

Last week, the Minnesota Vikings found themselves at the top of quite a few of the sets of Power Rankings that we aggregate each week. That was before they went into Lambeau Field and tied with the Green Bay Packers. How would the tie be viewed by the pundits across the internet as far as their rankings of the Vikings going into Week 3?

Well, we’re here with this week’s spin around the interwebs for our Power Rankings Roundup. Here we go!

Associated Press: #3 (Last week: #3)

No commentary on the Associated Press poll.

SB Nation: #4 (Last week: #1)

No Vikings-centric commentary from SB Nation this week.

MMQB, Sports Illustrated: #4 (Last week: #4)

No Vikings-centric commentary from MMQB this week.

Walter Cherepinsky, Walter Football: #6 (Last week: #9)

Overrated NFL Team: See why the Vikings are an overrated NFL team in our new Overrated-Underrated page.

Whatevs.

Bleacher Report: #2 (Last week: #1)

Yes, you read that right—another tie.

Some will likely argue that the Minnesota Vikings should count themselves lucky to have escaped Lambeau Field with even that. The Vikings trailed the Green Bay Packers, 20-7, before Kirk Cousins led a furious comeback that culminated in his fourth touchdown pass of the game with under a minute left.

However, the Vikings could have won this game. Should have won this game.

Rookie kicker Daniel Carlson had a pair of opportunities in overtime to first give Minnesota a lead and then win the game as the clock hit triple zeros. But from 49 and then 35 yards out, Carlson missed his second and third kicks of the game.

And thus, a sister was kissed.

The not-so-special special teams ruined a phenomenal outing from Cousins, who threw for 425 yards. Spoiled a chance for the Vikings to send a message that they’re the team to beat in the NFC.

And in the process may have exposed a weakness on Bleacher Report’s No. 1 team entering the week.

Mike Florio, Pro Football Talk: #7 (Last week: #8)

A tie is like cutting your kicker.

Pete Prisco, CBS Sports: #5 (Last week: #5)

Kirk Cousins was sensational against the Packers. Maybe he was worth all that money.

ESPN: #6 (Last week: #3)

Kirk Cousins became the first Vikings quarterback with 400 passing yards and four touchdowns in a game since Daunte Culpepper in 2004. He was 14-for-20 with 219 yards and 3 TDs in the fourth quarter and overtime after going 0-for-7 in the fourth quarter in Week 1. This was the first time since at least 2001 that the Vikings didn’t lose when trailing by eight or more points in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter. (They entered the game 0-76 in such situations since 2001.)

Elliot Harrison, NFL.com: #3 (Last week: #3)

Incredible game at Lambeau on Sunday, win, lose or (ahem) tie. All those folks who doubted the wisdom of acquiring Kirk Cousins (or said the guy is supremely overrated) should do themselves a favor: Log onto nfl.com/gamepass, throw down some cold, hard plastic and re-watch Vikings-Packers. Pay special attention to the touchdown throw to Adam Thielen that brought the Vikings to within two, and then the perfect drop to Stefon Diggs for the two-point conversion. Daniel Carlson? Oy. Dan Bailey? Hi.

Power Rankings side note: Why, oh, why was Xavier Rhodes playing 7 yards off Davante Adams with seven seconds left in regulation ... knowing Aaron Rodgers was going to try a 4-yard pass to get Mason Crosby in closer for a game-winning field-goal attempt? Asking for a friend.

Nate Davis, USA Today: #5 (Last week: #4)

After seeing Clay Matthews rooked by refs and Aaron Rodgers limited against swarming D, tie feels bad — especially in tiebreaker department.

Vinnie Iyer, Sporting News: #4 (Last week: #1)

Kirk Cousins has added a lot more punch to the Vikings’ offense, and he was key to their escaping with a tie at Lambeau Field. That’s like a division win for the NFC North favorites.

Frank Schwab, Yahoo! Sports: #2 (Last week: #1)

The Rams taking their No. 1 spot is more a reflection of L.A.’s dominance. There’s no shame in getting a tie at Lambeau Field, and the way Kirk Cousins played on Sunday should make the Vikings feel very good going forward.

So, the Vikings aren’t considered the top team in the league this week by any of our twelve ranking bodies after finding themselves in the top spot in one-third of those rankings last week. However, their lowest ranking has also increased. Last week, the purple were ranked as low as #9 in the National Football League by these various sources, but this week nobody has them any lower than #7.

Over the first few weeks, the Vikings’ consensus rankings really haven’t changed all that much. I’m going to skip the graphical representation this week (because it looks a little wonky and I’m going to effort to get it fixed), but the averages for each week for Minnesota’s rankings have looked like this:

• Prior to Week 1: Average ranking of 4.5
• Prior to Week 2: Average ranking of 3.5833 (repeating, of course)
• Prior to Week 3: Average ranking of 4.25

Hopefully we’ll see these numbers go up again after this week’s game against the Buffalo Bills, and I can get our graph to stop looking like hot garbage and include it with next week’s Power Rankings Roundup.