Power Rankings – Syndication Server

NBA Power Rankings: Reasons for hope for each team

Welcome back to another installment of HoopsHype’s power rankings! Rather than just talk about the week that was, I like to focus on something a little more specific for each team. Last time, it was a look at each team’s most intriguing young player …

Welcome back to another installment of HoopsHype’s power rankings!

Rather than just talk about the week that was, I like to focus on something a little more specific for each team. Last time, it was a look at each team’s most intriguing young player. For the upcoming holidays, however, I thought it would be nice to examine reasons for hope.

Every squad has different goals at this point in the season, and their reasons for optimism won’t follow the same parameters. It’s unrealistic to expect 30 teams to compete for a championship, but there are still silver linings to the on-court product of even the teams most resembling an M1 Abrams. I didn’t want to lean on the lottery odds as a crutch for the bad squads, so I tried to find something about their current roster that gives a reason to tune in.

In that same cheerful spirit, we’ll start with the teams at the bottom. I know half of you are just here to look for the top five, but this way, the teams that don’t get talked about as much will get at least a little shine.

These power rankings are as much art as science. Net ratings, injuries, forward-looking projections, strength of schedule, and feel are all part of the equation. Just because one team beats another doesn’t mean they are more powerful. This early in the season, expect a lot of movement week-to-week.

Vikings make a small jump ESPN Power Rankings after Week 12

After beating the Bears, Minnesota see a slight rise up the power rankings for ESPN.

Following the thrilling 30-27 overtime win over the Chicago Bears, the Vikings saw a slight rise in their ESPN power ranking. Entering Week 12, Minnesota was ranked No. 6, but after beating the Bears, the Vikings entered Week 13 as the fifth-best team in the NFL.

The FPI accurately puts the Vikings’ defense at the top of the reasons the team is in an excellent position for a playoff berth. Coordinator Brian Flores’ group bamboozled opposing quarterbacks early this season and has continued to find ways to pile up takeaways (22) and sacks (38). . . The Vikings have gotten far more from quarterback Sam Darnold, including 21 touchdown passes, than anyone could have expected.

On Sunday, the Vikings will host the Arizona Cardinals, who just lost to the Seahawks. According to ESPN, Arizona is the 14th-ranked team. The Cardinals are currently 6-5 on the year.

The game will go a long way for both teams attempting to earn a division title.

Bucs rise up the ESPN Power Rankings heading into Week 13

In ESPN’s latest power rankings list, the Bucs offense received some praise and is the reason they went up the rankings this week.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are heading through the holiday week and into Week 13 as a team on the rise, in power rankings at least. After the Bucs’ win over the Giants, the team now heads into their matchup against the Panthers with momentum.

In ESPN’s latest power rankings list, the Bucs offense received some praise and is the reason they went up the rankings this week.

Bucs ESPN Nation reporter Jenna Laine writes, “The Bucs’ offense is averaging 27.3 points per game — tied for fourth-best in the NFL. It’s largely due to the play of quarterback Baker Mayfield, whose 27 offensive touchdowns (24 passing, three rushing) are the second most after Week 12. . . the Bucs now have a top-10 rushing attack (128.1) after being dead last with 88.8 yards per game in 2023.”

The defense doesn’t get much discussion despite their success on Sunday. Going against Tommy DeVito and the Giants’ offense didn’t impress many, but it may be a performance that gets the team’s groove back.

Vikings keep moving up NFL power rankings ahead of Week 12

The Vikings are surging upward in the power rankings.

Following the Vikings’ 23-13 win over the Titans in Nashville this past weekend, Minnesota has moved up ESPN’s latest power ranking. Entering the weekend, the Vikings were the eighth-best team. But after the win, Minnesota has moved up to No. 6.

“Adofo-Mensah is the general manager of a team that has surprised the NFL by starting 8-2 despite the season-long loss of rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy (knee). His 2024 draft hasn’t helped much, similar to the 2022 and 2023 drafts, but Adofo-Mensah’s free agent class — including linebackers Jonathan Greenard, Andrew Van Ginkel and Blake Cashman, along with cornerback Stephon Gilmore — has been fantastic. There was never a high likelihood that Adofo-Mensah would be fired this winter, but the team’s performance raises the chances that he will receive a contract extension.”

The Detroit Lions are ESPN’s top team in the NFL following the Chiefs’ loss to the Bills. The Vikings’ next opponent, the Bears, are ranked No. 23 in the power rankings.

Bucs slip in NFL power rankings following their Bye Week

Every week, a variety of outlets drop power rankings during the NFL season, and one had them actually dropping in the rankings.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were inactive during their Bye Week, but that didn’t mean they were safe from taking a loss off the field. Every week, a variety of outlets drop power rankings during the NFL season, and one had them actually dropping in the rankings.

USA Today ranked the Bucs 17th in their Week 10 rankings, but they dropped to 19th following Week 11. They argued, “They (Bucs) went into their bye with a four-game slide. They’ll emerge from it faced with the NFC’s easiest remaining schedule. . .”

The rest of the NFC South was ranked, with the Falcons coming in at 14, the Saints coming in at 24, and the Panthers rounding things out at 26.

The benefit of the NFC South being all over the place is that this division is still winnable for the Bucs. The two losses to the Falcons will hurt, but having the easy schedule mentioned above will help their chances.

NBA power rankings: Darius Garland’s wonderful bounce-back year

We’re still so early in the season that traditional indicators of a team’s strengths and weaknesses aren’t particularly sturdy, so instead of talking a whole bunch about point differentials and whatnot, I thought it would be more interesting to zoom …

Just to establish an arbitrary cutoff, I’m defining “young” as age 25 or lower. (There is a surprising paucity of such players on several teams, as we’ll see below.) That allows for a good mix, from rookies to superstars.

Again, don’t worry too much about the placement of your favorite team; next time we’re here, we’ll be close to the quarter mark of the season, which allows us to really start taking stock of each team’s respective power level.

Vikings offensive line tumbles in latest PFF power rankings

In the wake of a Christian Darrisaw injury and trade for Cam Robinson, the Minnesota Vikings offensive line tumbled in PFF’s power rankings.

Most media outlets these days put out power rankings after each week, evaluating how each team fared in the previous week’s matchup, and how they compare to their peers. It’s an easy way to churn out content, and a great conversation starter.

The folks at PFF; however, go a little further with power rankings than most. Not only do their weekly overall team rankings have more data than most other outlets to give you a better concept of why teams are moving up or down, but they also churn out power rankings for individual units on each team, giving a more granular look at the weekly picture.

One of those unit power rankings that PFF puts out is ranking each team’s offensive line each week. This week, the results aren’t kind to the Minnesota Vikings — and understandably so. Losing Christian Darrisaw– playing at a Pro Bowl level before the injury- is a huge blow to the team, and it makes sense that the Vikings would tumble as a result.

And tumble they did! The team’s offensive line fell six spots in this week’s rankings from PFF. That puts the Vikings in the bottom third of the league at #22, down from their #16 spot last week. That ranking may change next week, as Christian Darrisaw’s replacement, Cam Robinson, gets acclimated to the team and gets inserted into the starting lineup. For this week, however, PFF is projecting David Quessenberry getting the start in Darrisaw’s absence.

As the Vikings try to recover from their two-game skid, the offensive line is going to play a big part in just how well the team performs from here on out. Where quarterback Sam Darnold once could feel confident his blindside was protected, now there’s a lot of uncertainty — which is not good for a quarterback who has struggled the past two weeks, and has a pretty lengthy history of struggling when the pressure is on.

If there is a bright side, it’s that despite the tumble in offensive line rankings, and in spite of the two-game slide, the Vikings are still in the top 10 of PFF’s overall power rankings.

Vikings take a slight drop in ESPN’s power rankings after Week 8

The Vikings didn’t take a huge drop in the latest power rankings, but it was a slight one.

The one-time 5-0 Minnesota Vikings were being highly talked about around the NFL circles, but after dropping two games in a row, the talking heads aren’t so sure about Minnesota. The loss to Detroit two weeks ago didn’t hurt the Vikings all that much. While at home, the Lions are one of the better teams in the NFC, and both teams played well.

But Thursday’s loss to the Los Angeles Rams stung a little. The Rams entered the game banged up but got Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua back for the game. The Vikings’ secondary struggled to stop Matt Stafford and the vaunted passing attack.

Following Week 8 loss to the Rams, the Vikings took a dip in ESPN’s power rankings. Entering Week 8, Minnesota was ranked No. 6 but after losing to the Rams, the Vikings are now No. 8 entering Week 9.

With a home game against the Colts coming up on Sunday Night Football, the Vikings are hoping to right their wrongs and get back into the win column.

Vikings still in top 10 of NFL analyst’s latest power rankings

After losing back-to-back games and left tackle Christian Darrisaw, for the season, the Minnesota Vikings are falling down power rankings.

To say that things have not gone the Minnesota Vikings’ way this past week would be an understatement. The team has lost two games in the span of a week after winning their first five. They were a miraculous Hail Mary in Washington away from going from first to last in the division. Worst of all, they’ve lost their star left tackle for the remainder of the season.

All of that combined has led to a dramatic drop in the latest NFL power rankings from The Sporting News’ NFL analyst Vinnie Iyer. Despite the loss last week, the Vikings were still sitting in Iyer’s top 3 coming into this week. Now, after back-to-back losses and the Vikings’ defense looking uncharacteristically bad in both — along with the loss of Christian Darrisaw — the Vikings have fallen to the 9th spot.

That six-place drop was matched only by the Baltimore Ravens, who fell from the fourth spot to the 10th, and surpassed by the New York Jets, who fell from the 23rd spot to the 30th.

If there’s any consolation for the Vikings and their fans amid this rough stretch, the team’s schedule gets a lot easier in the next few weeks. After tough games against both the Lions and the Rams, the Vikings get the Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Tennessee Titans in their next three games.

Minnesota has a lot to work out on the defense, as that has been the biggest pain point these past two weeks. They’re also going to need to figure out what they’re going to do in the wake of the Darrisaw injury, whether that’s rolling with David Quessenberry, shifting Blake Brandel over to tackle, moving Brian O’Neill over to the left side of the line, or signing a free agent offensive tackle.

Fortunately, these next three weeks should afford them time to work out those kinks. However, nothing comes easy in the NFL, and Minnesota can’t overlook these next three opponents.

Vikings tumble in ESPN’s power rankings following loss in Week 7

After losing to the Lions on Sunday, the Vikings take a hit in the latest power rankings.

After a close loss to its division rival, the Detroit Lions, on Sunday, Minnesota is taking some heat from the talking heads. Although the Vikings were largely competitive in the loss, despite getting crushed in the second quarter, some are quickly losing faith in them.

Heading into Sunday, the Vikings were ranked No. 2 in ESPN’s power rankings. But after their two-point loss to Detroit, the Vikings moved down to No. 6.

Minnesota is now behind Kansas City, Detroit, Buffalo, Baltimore, and Green Bay. Three of those teams have two losses, including the Packers, whom Minnesota had already beat this season.

The Vikings will have to continue to prove themselves week in and week out. Minnesota will get its next chance on Thursday night when the Vikings play the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday Night Football. Minnesota is hopeful to get some of its key players back for the primetime matchup.