And then there was one.
With the San Francisco 49ers losing an early double-digit lead en route to a nine-point loss to the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday afternoon and the Kansas City Chiefs getting absolutely embarrassed on Sunday night by Sam Darnold and the reigning Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks, the Minnesota Vikings are now the lone unbeaten in the NFL after upping their record to 6-0 with a 16-10 win over the Indianapolis Colts.
Nobody's going to pretend the victory over the Colts was the prettiest thing to watch, but a win is a win, and you take them whenever and wherever you can get them in the NFL. That said, let's also not pretend the Vikings have beaten the most impressive list of teams over the past four weeks, as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-5), Miami Dolphins (1-5), New Orleans Saints (2-5), and Colts (2-5) currently own a combined record of 7-20.
Again, though, wins are wins, and the two they do have against teams with winning records right now are obviously important, as those came against their NFC North rivals, the Green Bay Packers (4-3) and Chicago Bears (5-2), which could come in very handy if the division ends up being decided by some sort of tiebreaker scenario.
Given the schedule so far, some still see Minnesota as a pretender, not a genuine contender, even with the league's best defense, which has surrendered only12.3 points per game. For perspective, the Chiefs sit in second in that department at 17.2. But over the next month, the Vikings will get the chance to prove whether they're the real deal, as their next four opponents all have winning records and own a combined mark of 19-7.
The Minnesota Vikings have a tough four weeks ahead
Heading into Week 8, the Vikings face the toughest remaining strength of schedule in the NFL, with their remaining opponents having a combined winning percentage of .576. One big reason for that is this upcoming four-week stretch, as Minnesota has dates with the Detroit Lions (4-2), the Buffalo Bills (5-1), the aforementioned Packers (4-3), and the aforementioned Niners (6-1).
So, let's go ahead and quickly break down each of these matchups.
Week 8: at Detroit Lions
After splitting their first four games of the season with wins over the New Orleans Saints and New York Jets and losses to the Buffalo Bills and Carolina Panthers, the Detroit Lions have taken two straight victories to get to 4-2 on the year, first blowing out the Arizona Cardinals in Week 5 ahead of their bye and then squeaking past the Packers this past Sunday.
So, here's the thing with Dan Campbell's crew.
The Lions' offense will undoubtedly test the Vikings' vaunted defense, as Jared Goff & Co. rank second in the NFL in both total yards per game (397.3) and scoring (30.7). The Detroit defense, however, has surrendered the most total yards per game (391.0) and the seventh-most points (27.5). So, for a Minnesota offense that ranks 29th in yardage (281.7) and 23rd in scoring (20.8), Sunday could very well be an opportunity to get something going.
Week 9: vs. Buffalo Bills (Monday Night Football)
You could basically take everything I said above about Detroit and apply it to Buffalo, whose lone loss of the year was a 29-26 shootout defeat to the New England Patriots in Week 4.
Truth be told, most of the Bills' games thus far have been shootouts, and the reason for that is that while Josh Allen's offense ranks first in scoring (32.8) and fourth in yardage (387.7), the Buffalo defense has surrendered the second-most yards (386.8) and the third-most points (28.5) per contest.
So, these first two games could very well play out similarly.
Week 10: at Green Bay Packers
Week 10 brings Minnesota's second matchup with Green Bay, this time at Lambeau Field. At 4-3 after their loss to the Lions, the Packers have the worst record on this list, but they can't be overlooked.
For starters, of course, let's not forget that they held a 22-10 lead over the Vikings with just a little over five minutes to play in the third quarter back in Week 1 before Minnesota magically reeled off 29 consecutive points to close the game.
Secondly, after allowing 30.3 points per game over the first three weeks of the season, the Green Bay defense has surrendered just 12.8 per contest over its last four meetings. Giving up only seven to the Bears has to be taken with a grain of salt, since Caleb Williams was still out, but in the last two weeks, the Packers held the Dallas Cowboys' high-octane offense to just 13 points and Detroit to a season-low 20.
Lastly, while the Green Bay offense can be inconsistent, if Jordan Love gets rolling, he can sling it with the best of them, as the Bears found out a few weeks back when he hung 367 yards and two touchdowns on them. And by the time this game rolls around, Josh Jacobs will likely have found his footing as well.
Week 11: vs. San Francisco 49ers (Sunday Night Football)
Last, and certainly not least, we come to the 49ers, who, as mentioned, took their first loss of the season on Sunday to the Atlanta Falcons, who are far better than their 3-4 record would indicate.
Despite the defeat and despite suffering through several injuries on both sides of the ball, the 6-1 Niners have still been one of the most balanced teams in the NFL, with the offense ranking eighth in yardage (371.4) and third in scoring (28.1), and the defense surrendering the fourth-fewest yards (299.3) and the sixth-fewest points (19.9).
So, this is certain to be a battle.
The Vikings can win all of these games, of course, but even if they get a 2-2 split out of these four weeks, standing at 8-2 after 10 games would still be a solid way to head into the homestretch.
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