NFL Power Rankings: Vikings see movement with win

During the 2022 regular season, the Vikings were famously 11-0 in one-score games. This season, they are 2-4. And yet there’s reason to believe the quality of the two teams has been roughly the same, at least before receiver Justin Jefferson‘s hamstring injury last week. ESPN’s FPI ranks the 2023 Vikings at No. 15 in the NFL. Their 2022 FPI ranking was No. 16. In truth, the 2022-23 Vikings have been an extreme example of the difference a handful of plays can make on a game and a season. They ranked No. 5 last year in the NFL’s “luck metric,” a measure of win probability added by plays such as dropped interceptions and fumble recoveries. Through six weeks of 2023, the Vikings rank No. 32. — Kevin Seifert

Winning at Chicago may delay any of that talk of selling off parts at the trade deadline. They face a tough one against the 49ers this week.

They’ve won two games against two bad teams and haven’t looked good in either one of them. Kirk Cousins isn’t waving that no-trade clause, either, so it doesn’t look like they’ll be in position to take one of the top quarterbacks this April.

The good news is that the Vikings are now 1-0 without Justin Jefferson this season. The bad news: The offense didn’t really have much to do with Sunday’s 19-13 win in Chicago. The hope was that Jordan Addison, T.J. Hockenson and maybe Alexander Mattison could each help absorb some of Jefferson’s production, and they did, at least to some extent — but the offense really labored outside of the impressive touchdown drive right before halftime. In six second-half possessions, Minnesota gained a grand total of 36 yards. That left the team’s fate in the hands of the defense. Say the words “backup QB” to a Vikings fan and watch the color leave that face. Chase Daniel, Cooper Rush and Matt Moore are recent QB2s who have beaten Minnesota, and it looked for a second like Tyson Bagent would join the illustrious club before the defense forced two critical second-half turnovers.

The Vikings’ victims have a combined record of 1-11. That kind of sums it up. And the Bears ended Sunday’s game with backup quarterback Tyson Bagent. Kirk Cousins is second in the league in passing yards (1,679), but it hasn’t mattered. Justin Jefferson is out until at least the Nov. 12 game against New Orleans and could be out a lot longer. Every Minnesota game has been decided by one possession, but that shouldn’t change the fact that this team should be a seller at the trade deadline.

They left Chicago with a win, thanks in large part to the team’s best defensive performance of the season. But if Week 6 was any indication, Minnesota’s playoff hopes are just about done.

Yes, the Vikings got the victory. But without Justin Jefferson, Minnesota had just 220 yards of offense against one of the league’s worst defenses. Even Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins said the team didn’t play well offensively.

Mind you, this is a Vikings team that ranks 21st in the league in scoring defense. A team that ranks 30th in the NFL in rushing after letting Dalvin Cook go in the offseason. Jefferson was far and away the most valuable player on Minnesota’s roster.

And now that he’s sidelined indefinitely, there’s really nothing left to talk about but Kirk Cousins’ future (or lack thereof) in purple and gold.

Another week and another key injury (LB Marcus Davenport, ankle) for a struggling team apparently determined not to have a fire sale.

The Vikings’ season was possibly saved by Creed. That might be the ultimate “desperate times call for desperate measures” story.

Next Monday night vs. the 49ers could get ugly.

The Vikings are now beating up on bad teams to get wins, as they’ve beaten only the Panthers and Bears. They will be upset-minded with their defense again when they host the 49ers next, but they do need a quick offensive rebound with Kirk Cousins in a tough spot.

The Vikings set the tone in their win over the Bears by pummeling Justin Fields from the blind side. There weren’t enough designed quarterback draws in the world to offset a handful of players who were able to scream off the edge with regularity. Jordan Addison has now scored in all but two of his games this season and, while I’m not sure how he was able to get behind the Bears’ defense with that much free space on Sunday, his wherewithal to seek and secure the ball was perfect.

Beating the partially-Fields-less Bears is like beating your seven-year-old cousin in Madden during Thanksgiving. The Justin Jefferson loss is one this offense cannot deal with long-term.

Windows everywhere were tighter without his gravity on the field, even against one of the league’s worst passing defenses. Cousins, who has continued to put up big statistical performances in 2023, could not do so against Chicago.