Minnesota Vikings ascend in NFL power rankings after Week 9 win

Vikings power rankings heading into Week 10

Last week’s power rankings saw the Vikings move up into respectable territory after beating the Packers in a fairly convincing manner. That victory gave hope that Minnesota could continue to climb the ranking., But the team had yet to prove if they could string together some wins.

The Vikings continued their great play on offense on the back of Dalvin Cook and convincingly laid a smackdown on the Lions in Week 9. Now, they have an opportunity to knock off the Chicago Bears and make it three division wins in a row.

Before looking too far ahead, here are where the experts have the Vikings placed in their most recent power rankings moving into Week 10.

Bleacher Report

19th (↑ 5)

• “It’s Dalvin Cook’s world. The rest of us are just living in it.” – B/R NFL Staff

USA Today Sports

18th (↑ 3)

•  “Dalvin Cook’s two-week explosion has vaulted him past Derrick Henry for the league rushing lead..” – USA Today’s Nate Davis

ESPN

19th (↑ 2)

• “An expanded field could help Minnesota keep its postseason hopes alive after a 1-5 start.” – ESPN’s Courtney Cronin

Sports Illustrated

17th (↑ 3)

• “Are the Vikings surging? Maybe not quite yet.” – Sports Illustrated’s MMQB Staff

Sporting News

19th (↑ 4)

• “The Vikings are creeping back into the NFC wild-card race.” – Sporting News’ Vinnie Iyer

NFL.com

16th (↑ 4)

• “Cook is up to four games this season with at least two scores.”  – NFL.com’s Dan Hanzus

Yahoo Sports

17th (↑ 8)

• “Maybe this is a team that gets on a roll in the second half of the season.” – Yahoo Sports’ Frank Schwab

Pro Football Network

19th (↑ 3)

• “The Vikings have somewhat quietly resurrected their season.” – Pro Football Network’s Matt Williamson

ProFootballTalk

18th (↑ 2)

• “If they keep playing like they’ve been playing, they’ll take a 7-5 record to Tampa Bay next month.” – ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio

CBS Sports

19th (↑ 5)

• “Can they get back into playoff contention?” – CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco

When averaging all these numbers, the spot where Minnesota lands is at 18.1. That is 3.9 spots better than last week’s average of 22. While it’s not as big of an improvement as last week’s 4.4 spot rise, it is significant in moving closer to the middle of the pack.

Five experts put the Vikings at 19, making it the most common spot for the team to be ranked. Interestingly, it is also the lowest spot Minnesota was placed in all of the power rankings this week. This means if the Vikings can beat Chicago this week, they will likely see the average increase more.

Finally, the range of placement is quite interesting. This week, the range tightened up to 16 to 19, a spread of four spots compared to last week’s six. Are experts getting closer to honing in on where Minnesota actually belongs?