Experts seem to have no idea where to place the Minnesota Vikings in their power rankings heading into a big Week 5 showdown against the Philadelphia Eagles.
It’s easy to understand why some experts may not be very high on the Minnesota Vikings following their loss to the Los Angeles Rams in Week 4 of the 2018 NFL season on Thursday Night Football.
However, many of the questions that came up during the Week 3 shellacking by the Buffalo Bills were put to rest, especially any concerns about the team’s ability to put points on the scoreboard against a tough defense.
So, it’s expected that nearly every expert would drop Minnesota in their ratings, and the result was some huge drops along with one increase now that they are 1-2-1 heading into Week 5 against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Here are the expert rankings heading into Week 5 starting with the highest spot:
Ranked 4th
- USA Today FTW – Steven Ruiz: “This is still the most balanced team in the league, though Everson Griffen’s absence is a concern.” (change unknown)
Ranked 8th
- Bleacher Report – Staff: “Had you said a month ago that September would end with the Vikings in third place in the NFC North, you would have been laughed at. But here we are.” (Down 3 spots)
Ranked 10th
- MMQB – Staff: “The Vikings ran into a buzzsaw Thursday night in L.A. but at least they got a few extra days before having to return to the scene of last year’s NFC Championship Game embarrassment.” (Down 4 spots)
Ranked 12th
- SBNation – Rebecca Toback: “Jared Goff passed for 465 yards, five touchdowns, and zero interceptions in an impressive win over the Vikings.” (Down 6 spots)
Ranked 13th
- ESPN – staff: “DB Mike Hughes, 162 snaps out of 249 (65.1 percent). He is one of four players this season with a forced fumble, an interception and a defensive TD.” (Down 4 spots)
- NFL.com – Elliot Harrison: “one of the oddest factors might be the regression of Mike Zimmer’s defense” (Down 4 spots)
- Sporting News – Vinnie Iyer: “Kirk Cousins is trying to prop them up in a one-dimensional offense while under heavy pressure to produce.” (Down 1 spot)
- Yahoo Sports – Frank Schwab: “Kirk Cousins has been very good (again, let’s dump the whole “quarterback record” thing; it’s a team sport) and the defense didn’t forget how to play football.” (Down 5 spots)
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Ranked 15th
- NJ.com – Joe Giglio: “Uh oh. After going 13-3 last season, the Vikings are in some trouble.” (Down 6 spots)
Ranked 16th
- NBC Sports Chicago – Cam Ellis: “They *did* actually look pretty good against LA on Thursday night. But like a win is a win, a loss is a loss.” (Down 4 spots)
Minnesota Vikings
Ranked 17th
- USA Today – Nate Davis: “Lot of issues, including defense’s apparent ongoing deterioration. But it would help if RBs had more than 17 total carries past two weeks.” (Up 2 spots)
Ranked 20th
- CBS Sports – Pete Prisco: “They’ve lost two straight and the defense has been a problem.” (Down 5 spots)
It’s absolutely crazy that experts have the Vikings anywhere between four and twenty in their power rankings and this team has experts divided on whether Minnesota is contenders or pretenders.
When looking at the records, it’s hard not to put the team in the bottom half of the league. However, based on the talent and potential of this team, they deserve to be significantly higher. This causes such a wide range of placement.
Currently, the most likely place for the Vikings is somewhere between ten and twelve…since they are a better team than their record indicates and their performance against the Bills showed.
The Minnesota Vikings will face another tough test in Week 5 of the 2018 NFL season when they stay on the road to take on the Philadelphia Eagles, a team that eliminated the purple and gold in the NFC Championship game and went on to win the Super Bowl.