Minnesota Vikings stay put in NFL power rankings after Week 5 nail-biter

Vikings power rankings heading into Week 6

Last week’s power rankings brought hopes up for the Vikings. Their win against the Houston Texans may not have been a lop-sided affair, but it did get Minnesota back on track in several aspects and they looked more competent than previous weeks.

Experts still don’t seem to really know what to think of the Vikings. And, honestly, most fans likely have no clue either. Let’s see where Minnesota has landed in this week’s power rankings following their Week 5 loss.

Bleacher Report

20th (↓ 2)

• “The 2020 season has been filled with disappointments for the Minnesota Vikings.” – B/R NFL Staff

USA Today Sports

22nd (↓ 2)

•  “They needed 1 yard on fourth down deep in Seattle territory to notch huge road win. Didn’t get it.” – USA Today’s Nate Davis

ESPN

21st (no change)

• “Minnesota is getting great play out of tackles Riley Reiff and Brian O’Neill, but its pass protection on the interior of the offensive line remains an issue.” – ESPN’s Courtney Cronin

Sports Illustrated

16th (↑ 2)

• “Sometimes the football gods just decide they’d like to point and laugh at you.” – Sports Illustrated’s Gary Gramling

Sporting News

22nd (no change)

• “The Vikings are trying to duct tape their young defense with zone heavy approach combined with blitzing.” – Sporting News’ Vinnie Iyer

NFL.com

17th (↑ 3)

• “The Vikings did just about everything right on Sunday night, but they couldn’t close out the Seahawks.”  – NFL.com’s Dan Hanzus

Yahoo Sports

20th (↓ 1)

• “Going for it, trying to keep the ball away from Wilson, was not a mistake.” – Yahoo Sports’ Frank Schwab

Pro Football Network

16th (↑ 2)

• “Dalvin Cook is playing as well as any running back in football right now.” – Pro Football Network’s Matt Williamson

ProFootballTalk

25th (no change)

• “They squandered their best chance to beat Seattle, without an assist from Blair Walsh.” – ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio

CBS Sports

24th (↓ 1)

• “The Dalvin Cook injury isn’t a good thing for the run-based offense.” – CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco

The Dynasty Draft Room

18th (no change)

• “They hung with the Seahawks on Sunday night, but struggled to close the game out.” – TDDR’s Zack Patraw

This week, the average placement of the Vikings among these experts is 20.5, down 0.6 from their average last week. Considering Week 5 resulted in another loss, it’s surprising there wasn’t a bigger dip from the experts.

But the fact that the loss was to an undefeated team and the purple and gold were very competitive was likely a big factor in keeping the team where they were from after last week.

The most common spot to see Minnesota ranked is at 20th or 22nd. Both have two experts placing them in that spot. Last week, it was 18, making it interesting that the most common placement dipped, but the average stayed close to the same.

As far as the spread, placement ranged from 17 to 25, giving a range of eight. Interestingly, that is the exact same range as last week, meaning Sunday night’s game didn’t help in making the experts agree on where the team deserves to be ranked in the scope of the NFL.