Vikings Slide to Comically Low Power Ranking
The Minnesota Vikings are traveling in the wrong direction, one year removed from a fancy 13-4 season in 2022.
Out of the gate, Minnesota has lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at home, the Philadelphia Eagles on the road, and the Los Angeles Chargers in Minneapolis to compile an 0-3 record.
Vikings Slide to Comically Low Power Ranking
No NFL team has ever started a season with an 0-3 record and later reached a Super Bowl.
And because of the nasty start, the Vikings are penetrating the bottom rung of credible national power rankings. That’s the way of the world at 0-3, and Minnesota faces a daunting task at in-season redemption with two games against the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers in the next four weeks.
CBS Sports even called the Vikings the fourth-worst team in football this week, placing Kevin O’Connell’s team at No. 29 in its power rankings, a dreadful fall from grace following an NFC North crown in 2022.
“At 0-3, their season is all but done. Climbing out of that hole won’t be easy, and the defense probably won’t make it possible,” CBS Sports‘ Pete Prisco explained about the state of the Vikings. In his power ranking batch, Minnesota lived between the Las Vegas Raiders (No. 28) and Denver Broncos (No. 30).
Sporting News also plopped the purple team at No. 29, and Vinnie Iyer opined, “The Vikings are not having the unsustainable fourth-quarter success of last season and their defense is playing a huge part in the regression below the mean. The reality should be sinking in, despite the talent around Kirk Cousins, they’re not returning to the playoffs.”
USA Today‘s Nate Davis was slightly kinder to Minnesota, dropping the team at No. 23 in its power rankings. Davis wrote, “WR Justin Jefferson might be your early Offensive Player of the Year, on pace for nearly 2,600 receiving yards. Unless it’s QB Kirk Cousins (league-high 96 completions, 1,075 yards and 9 TDs). Question is, will “KFC” – should he? – finish the season with presently winless Minnesota?”
The Vikings lead the NFL in turnovers — not at forcing them, giving the ball to opponents via fumbles and interceptions — and virtually any team that tops that category is doomed.
Minnesota gets another shot at redemption in four days, jetting to Carolina for a date with Adam Thielen’s Panthers. The Vikings are favored by 3.5 points to win.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sal Spice. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band).
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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