Twenty-two teams are ranked higher than the Minnesota Vikings in ESPN’s first Football Power Index of of the 2015 NFL season.
ESPN describes the Football Power Index – FPI for short – as a “prediction system” for the NFL. It predicts offensive, defensive and special teams efficiency.
At the end of the day, the FPI is extremely complicated. The part you need to know is that it expects the Vikings to finish 17th in offense, 19th in defense and 20th in special teams.
Around the NFC North division, the Packers are No. 1 on the list, followed by Detroit at 18 and Chicago at 26.
Away from the number crunching, the Vikings are getting a lot more respect in basic power rankings from the likes of Monday Morning Quarterback’s Peter King and USA Today’s Nate Davis, both of whom have the Vikings in their top 10.