The Vikings have been near the bottom of the NFL power rankings most of the season and they remain in the bottom third this week, even with Sunday’s victory over Carolina and signs the Vikes are starting to play better.
FOX continues to be the most generous to the Vikings. Following Sunday’s win they bumped Minnesota up two spots to 20th.
“Teddy Bridgewater’s play continues to trend upwards and the defense is starting to click in Mike Zimmer’s scheme. The team will need Sharrif Floyd and Anthony Barr’s injuries to prove minor if they want to keep their momentum to close out the season.”
On the downside, FOX has also put the Packers at the top of this week’s power rankings.
CBS analysts Pat Kirwan and Pete Prisco have quite different views. Kirwan lines the Vikings up two spots at 21st.
“I got to hand it to Teddy Bridgewater. He isn’t just taking his rookie lumps but he’s starting to dish it out. Mike Zimmer has done a masterful job with this defense and this team will be contenders in 2015.”
Prisco still has the Vikings down at 24th, but also highlighted some of the young talent the Vikings have.
“If you haven’t watched this team, they have some good, young players to build around. Everson Griffen is one of them.”
Neither ESPN nor NFL.com bumped the Vikings up at all following their victory over Carolina. Both left Minnesota at 24th, but NFL.com gave Mike Zimmer a lot of credit for the job he has been doing with the team.
“Minnesota’s blowout win might have been the one game most people didn’t seem to notice on Sunday. First off, Mike Zimmer deserves some credit for the job he’s done in Year one.”
The Vikings probably won’t jump too much if they beat the New York Jets next week. The Jets are 2-10 on the season, and rank near the very bottom on most power rankings.
