Minnesota Vikings Power Rankings Roundup: Week 7

We’re excited too, coach. | Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

Another rise for the Vikings

With their second straight victory, it appears as though your Minnesota Vikings are making their way up in the Power Rankings across these vast interwebs of ours. But, how high will they move up after thrashing Philadelphia?

Let’s take a look, as we cruise the internet looking for Power Rankings for this week’s Roundup, shall we?

Associated Press: #8 (Last week: #13)

No Vikings-centric commentary from the AP this week.

Bleacher Report: #11 (Last week: #16)

For most of the 2019 season, Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Stefon Diggs has been on the side of the proverbial milk carton. Missing in Minnesota.

Kirk Cousins certainly found him in Week 6.

On a day where Cousins had his best game of the season, Diggs was the primary beneficiary. He led the team with seven grabs for 167 yards and three scores in a decisive win over the Philadelphia Eagles that may have been the Vikings’ most complete effort of the year.

”The Vikings have looked good in back-to-back wins over the Giants and Eagles,” Davenport said, “and Minnesota also owns a resounding victory over an Oakland Raiders team that’s better than we thought. But this is also the same Vikings team that’s 0-2 in the division and seems to shrink when the lights are brightest more often than not. Minny has road trips coming to Detroit, Kansas City and Dallas that could change my mind about this team, but I’m still not quite ready to consider it a legitimate Super Bowl contender.”

”Minnesota has taken a lot of heat from me this season,” Gagnon added, “but only the Vikings and New England Patriots have won four or more games by 16 or more points this season. The Vikes lack consistency, but it’s fair to wonder if Kirk Cousins and Co. have actually begun to turn things around. Maybe the strife from two weeks ago was just what they needed. Week 7 in Detroit will be very telling.”

Pete Prisco, CBS Sports: #10 (Last week: #18)

Kirk Cousins was sensational against the Eagles. Maybe the big-game failures are behind him. If the offense plays like that, they can win a lot of games.

ESPN: #10 (Last week: #14)

Biggest weakness: Tight end play

Many expected a tight end to assume the role of WR3 in the Vikings’ offense given Gary Kubiak’s history with the position. However, in Minnesota’s first six games, Kyle Rudolph and Irv Smith Jr. have a combined 16 catches for 165 yards and no touchdowns while Tyler Conklin has yet to be targeted. The Vikings rank 27th in receiving yards, 26th in receptions and are one of three teams without a receiving TD by a tight end. The Vikings paid a pretty penny to bring back Rudolph this offseason and used a high draft pick on Smith but haven’t utilized this position group all that much beyond run blocking.

MMQB, Sports Illustrated: #8 (Last week: #14)

The Vikings needed a big game, and they got it thanks to Stefon Diggs’s seven catches on 11 targets for 167 yards and three touchdowns. The Eagles’ secondary is shambolic at best, but sometimes all you need is a slump-buster to get back on track.

Dan Hanzus, NFL.com: #8 (Last week: #16)

We come to praise Kirk Cousins. The Vikings quarterback was a punching bag when the offense was slumping earlier this month, so it’s only fair we point out how excellent Cousins was, both in Week 5 against the Giants and -- especially -- on Sunday against the Eagles. Cousins shredded Philadelphia’s milquetoast secondary, finishing with four touchdowns and 333 yards on 22-of-29 passing. Three of those scores went to Stefon Diggs, who stepped into a starring role one week after Adam Thielen went off for 7/130/2 against the Giants. And, hey, those were the two teammates who made no secret about their disappointment in the offense (read: Cousins) after the Vikings were shut down by the Bears in Week 4. Cousins is no dummy -- you want to keep your best guys happy. That’s what he’s done in back-to-back wins.

Mike Florio, Pro Football Talk: #11 (Last week: T-14)

It’s not a prime-time game at Detroit, but it’s precisely the kind of big spot in which Kirk Cousins has continuously gacked in the past.

Vinnie Iyer, Sporting News: #6 (Last week: #10)

Don’t look now, but Kirk Cousins just had his two best games as the Vikings’ quarterback in consecutive convincing victories. The running game has opened everything in the passing game while easing pressure on Cousins. The defense is starting to feed off that energy, too.

USA Today: #7 (Last week: #9)

They’ve won three of four, and Kirk Cousins has seven TD passes, one INT and a 121.0 QB rating in that time. What was everyone spun up about?

Frank Schwab, Yahoo! Sports: #7 (Last week: #12)

OK, that was a quality win. Kirk Cousins played well. They have opened up the offense, which needed to happen after that miserable loss to the Bears. It’ll be a week-to-week thing if they can sustain that and if Cousins can continue to play well against good opponents, but Sunday was a good sign.

All of those big jumps allowed the Vikings to move their average ranking this week up to 8.6, firmly into the top ten in the league. That’s an even five-spot increase from last week’s average of 13.6. Maybe this team is making some believers out of folks after all.

Let’s ride the wave with this week’s graph, shall we? You may click for purposes of embiggening if you’re feeling cromulent enough to do so.

Things are looking up for the Vikings this week, folks. Hopefully after Sunday’s game in Detroit that will continue to be the case.

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