Vikings Power Rankings: How much did Minnesota rise after Week 12 win?

Vikings power rankings heading into Week 13

Last week’s power rankings found the Vikings take a tiny tumble after losing at home to the Dallas Cowboys. That disappointment was bigger for fans than the media experts, who barely moved the team in their rankings.

This week, Minnesota is coming off of a win against the Panthers after overcoming a disastrous start to the third quarter. But the Vikings only won by the skin of their teeth. How much will that win impact the latest power rankings?

Here is where the experts have Minnesota heading into Week 13.

Bleacher Report

16th (↑3)

• “The Minnesota Vikings are clinging to faint playoff hopes in the NFC.” – B/R NFL Staff

USA Today Sports

19th (↑2)

• “Justin Jefferson’s remarkable season continues, the rookie now leading the league with 17 catches of at least 20 yards.” – USA Today’s Nate Davis

ESPN

18th (↑1)

• “Minnesota got this far after a 1-5 start by beating up on bad teams.” – ESPN’s Courtney Cronin

Sports Illustrated

15th (↑1)

• “It might be too little too late, but the Vikings deserve a lot of credit for their turnaround. – SI’s Mitch Goldich

Sporting News

19th (↑2)

• “The Vikings got sloppy with the football twice and it nearly cost them against the Panthers.” – Sporting News’ Vinnie Iyer

NFL.com

16th (no change)

• “Over the last month, {Kirk Cousins} has been one of the most productive quarterbacks in football.”  – NFL.com’s Dan Hanzus

Yahoo Sports

16th (↑2)

• “If we redrafted the 2020 rookie class, where would Jefferson go? Top 10? Top 5?” – Yahoo Sports’ Frank Schwab

Pro Football Network

16th (↑2)

• “Even without Adam Thielen, Kirk Cousins played his best when it mattered most.” – Pro Football Network’s Matt Williamson

ProFootballTalk

15th (↑3)

• “It’s better to be lucky than good. It’s ideal to be both.” – ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio

CBS Sports

18th (↓2)

• “Rallying to beat the Panthers might have saved their season.” – CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco

The average placement of the Vikings among the experts took a pretty nice jump this week. The team moved from 18 to 16.6, a nice leap of 1.4 spots after getting their second win at home and moving into second place in the NFC North.

Half the experts put the Vikings in the 16th spot on their lists. That is interesting since last week there were only two experts that had Minnesota in that spot and it was the highest-ranking that the team achieved after Week 11.

The range of this sample is awkward. Eight of the 10 experts have the Vikings at 15 or 16 but two experts still left them down at 18 and 19. Even worse, one of those experts moved the team down after beating the Panthers with a great drive. So, this week’s range is 15-19, a total of five spots.