Category: Power Rankings

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.

Former NFL offensive lineman praises the work of Vikings OL group

The entire world could learn from the bond that offensive linemen have with their groups and with other linemen around the league.

The entire world could learn from offensive linemen’s bond with their groups and other linemen around the league. They are constantly looking to help each other improve and make each person’s career last forever within the NFL.

Because of that, they continue to hype up other offensive lineman groups even after they exit the league.

A.Q. Shipley, a 12-year NFL veteran, has made his offensive linemen rankings a constant on The Pat McAfee Show. On Wednesday, he ranked the current offensive line groups, and the former NFL lineman gave the Vikings a glowing one.

“The Minnesota Vikings offensive line has been doing an unbelievable job. . . They’ve been blocking the (blank) out of people.”

He ranked them fourth overall in the NFL, and for good reason. Christian Darrisaw and Brian O’Neill have done a great job of sealing the edges for Sam Darnold. Blake Brandel has been playing out of his mind this year, Ed Ingram has been consistent, and Garrett Bradbury has held up well despite being banged up.

The group as a whole is a major reason this team is undefeated at 4-0 heading into Week 5. Not to mention, they have kept Sam Darnold upright, and it has allowed him to play at an MVP-like level.

Sam Darnold has disrespectful ranking in latest QB Power Rankings

Not everyone is on board the Sam Darnold hype train, as Dan Pizzuta with The 33rd team has Darnold with a surprisingly low ranking at QB.

The Minnesota Vikings are one of two undefeated teams left in the NFL, along with the Kansas City Chiefs. Just like everyone predicted before the season started, right?

The Vikings have been one of the surprise stories in the NFL, and while they were easy to dismiss after the first week and a win over the New York Giants, it has become harder to ignore their success after wins over the San Francisco 49ers, Houston Texans, and Green Bay Packers. Those wins have most of the NFL on notice that the Vikings may very well be “for real.”

The Vikings have been climbing up most outlet’s power rankings heading into Week 5, but it seems like there’s not quite a consensus on the team — at least as it pertains to their quarterback. In the latest power rankings from Dan Pizzuta of The 33rd Team, Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold comes in as the 19th-ranked quarterback in the NFL.

That may seem absurd on the surface for a quarterback who is leading one of only two remaining undefeated teams — especially when you add in the fact that Darnold is ninth in passing yards, third in QBR, and leads the league in both passer rating, and passing touchdowns this season.

The ranking looks even more disrespectful when you look at some of the names ahead of Darnold — in particular, the name right ahead of him, Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence. Lawrence has the 26th-best passer rating in the league this year — a rating only slightly better than Dolphins quarterback Skylar Thompson.

Lawrence also has a completion percentage just barely above 50% on the season—53.3%—just four touchdown passes on the season, and a passer rating a full 40 points lower than Darnold’s.

Obviously, there’s still some skepticism about Darnold and whether or not he’s simply a product of the offense he’s in with head coach Kevin O’Connell and the weapons around him, like wide receiver Justin Jefferson. Even still, to be that low in the rankings seems questionable, at best.

Minnesota Vikings continue their ascent up NFL power rankings

The Minnesota Vikings are definitively one of the best teams in the NFL after four weeks, and their ascent up NFL power rankings shows that.

Very few people anticipated the Minnesota Vikings being one of just two undefeated teams after Week 4 when the NFL season started. Yet, that’s where quarterback Sam Darnold has the team sitting. Add in a sweltering defense commanded by defensive coordinator Brian Flores, and it’s undeniable that the Vikings are one of the best teams in the league this season. This stance is reflected in many outlets’ power rankings heading into Week 5.

ESPN: No. 2 (Up three spots from last week)

Brian Flores’ defense has been one of the NFL’s best stories this season, and there are no glaring issues. But after the group allowed 22 points in the fourth quarter to the Packers, it’s worth thinking about age and snap counts. Of the 10 defensive players who have started all four games, three are 30 or older and six are 28 or older. So far this season, the Vikings’ defense has played the league’s third-most defensive snaps (272). Safety Harrison Smith (35), cornerback Stephon Gilmore (34) and No. 3 corner Shaq Griffin (29) constitute one of the NFL’s oldest secondaries. — Kevin Seifert

Pro Football Talk: No. 3 (Up four spots)

Between the players and the coaching on both sides of the ball, they’ve got the most balanced team in the league. — Mike Florio

The Sporting News: No. 2. (Up two spots)

Sam Darnold has maximized the offensive pop with Justin Jefferson and the rest of the receivers. The defense continues to dictate terms with big plays, sacks, and takeaways. Kevin O’Connell easily has the best team in the NFC so far. — Vinnie Iyer

Where do the Panthers stand in NFL power rankings heading into Week 5?

Did the Panthers bottom out in the power rankings following their Week 4 loss to the Bengals?

Unfortunately for the Carolina Panthers, a winning streak was simply not meant to be. After a triumphant victory against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 3, the team fell short of knocking off the Cincinnati Bengals in a 34-24 loss this past Sunday.

So, how far did they fall across the power rankings?

Let’s take a look at where the Panthers stand heading into Week 5 . . .

USA TODAY

Author: Nate Davis

Rank: 25 (-2)

Take: “They head to Chicago this week. Better lock the hotel safes and stadium lockers given the Bears will try to steal a win after already swiping WR DJ Moore and the No. 1 pick of this year’s draft.”

NFL.com

Author: Eric Edholm

Rank: 31 (-)

Take: “Once again, benching Bryce Young for Andy Dalton looked like the right decision, as Dalton kept the chains moving all game against the Bengals and played well, even with a tipped-pass interception. He has limited the sacks (zero on Sunday) and helped stretch the field, two things Young was unable to do, which has given receivers such as Diontae Johnson and Xavier Legette a chance to showcase their skills to a greater degree. Johnson dropped a would-be TD on the opening drive, but he’s come alive with Dalton under center. The run game also showed more juice, although a leaky Bengals defense was partly responsible for that. Still, the entire operation looks better, even as the Panthers remain in the infancy stages of their rebuild.”

ESPN

Author: David Newton

Rank: 31 (-)

Take (on team’s biggest issue on defense): “Injuries could be the answer here, because LB Shaq Thompson is now out for the rest of the season with a torn Achilles, and the Panthers were already down three starters — DE Derrick Brown (knee), DT Shy Tuttle (foot) and S Jordan Fuller (hamstring). But pressure was a concern heading into the season, and it was magnified Sunday against the Bengals. QB Joe Burrow was pressured on just four of 32 dropbacks, the third-lowest he has faced in his career. Carolina has no one outside of LB Jadeveon Clowney who can consistently get to the QB.”

CBS Sports

Author: Pete Prisco

Rank: 31 (-2)

Take: “The Andy Dalton bump came to a halt because the defense had issues against the Bengals. But the offense is better with Dalton than when Young was in the lineup.”

Pro Football Talk

Author: Mike Florio

Rank: 31 (-2)

Take: “Yes, Week 3 said more about the Raiders than it did about the Panthers.”

Yahoo Sports

Author: Frank Schwab

Rank: 31 (-1)

Take: “The Panthers’ offense still looked viable in Andy Dalton’s second start, despite Sunday’s loss to the Bengals. Carolina won’t win many games but Sunday showed it’ll remain competitive.”

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Defense has Vikings in top 5 of NFL analyst’s latest power rankings

Thanks to a sweltering defense led by defensive coordinator Brian Flores, the Minnesota Vikings have entered the top 5 of new power rankings

It’s not a stretch to say not many — maybe no one — saw a 3-0 start to the season coming for the Minnesota Vikings. Many could have predicted an opening-week victory over the New York Giants. But if you had told someone that the Vikings would go on to defeat the San Francisco 49ers and Houston Texans back-to-back, they likely would have laughed at you.

The Vikings’ hot start to the season has a lot to do with another unexpected aspect of the season: high-quality play from quarterback Sam Darnold. Darnold has come in and taken to head coach Kevin O’Connell’s offense quickly and, in turn, has experienced some of the most success he’s seen in his career.

How well the defense is performing shouldn’t be surprising to anyone. Defensive coordinator Brian Flores has worked wonders with this team’s defense and has them becoming the bane of offensive coordinator’s existence. While their performance may not be surprising, just how good they’re playing shouldn’t be taken for granted.

That defensive performance has the Vikings breaking into the top 5 of the latest power rankings from Sports Illustrated’s NFL analyst Conor Orr. Orr has a glowing review of Flores and what he’s doing with the 2024 Minnesota Vikings defense, saying:

What has been masterful about Brian Flores’s defensive performances to me is that, like some of the other Bill Belichick disciples who have left New England only to commit the same sins—loading up on former Patriots, paying them big money and trying to run the same defense—Flores has loaded up on former Dolphins and Patriots. However, he has taken those players and plugged them into a whirlwind defensively that is zigging while the rest of the NFL is sitting in Cover 2 and praying for no big plays (sorry gang, Andy Dalton is back and that’s not gonna happen). While it’s harder to maintain a great offense than a great defense, and at some point the referees and the league will step in to goose scoring, we need to take note of how wonderful and maddening this defense has been over the course of three games.

Two former Dolphins — edge rusher Andrew Van Ginkel and linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill — were instrumental in the Vikings’ upset victory over the Texans on Saturday. Van Ginkel, the Vikings’ leading tackler on the day, was all over the field for the Vikings’ defense, making tackles at every level, including getting one sack on Texans’ quarterback C.J. Stroud.

Grugier-Hill stepped in on short notice to fill in for an injured Ivan Pace, Jr. and made several key plays for the defense. In the first quarter, Grugier-Hill came down with a huge interception after defensive tackle Harrison Phillips tipped the Stroud pass, ending Stroud’s NFL-leading consecutive passes without an interception streak.

It was a dominating performance all around, and that has been the case all season long for the Vikings, as it was to close out the season in 2023. The Vikings defense kept Minnesota in a number of games that they probably had no right being in, and kept the team in the playoff race for far longer than they should have been given the injuries and offensive struggles they experienced.

Now that the offense has at least somewhat caught up to the defense, the Vikings could be a dangerous team from now on.

Where do the Panthers stand in NFL power rankings heading into Week 4?

The Panthers are no longer in the deepest depths of the power rankings.

Remember all of those jokes about the Carolina Panthers having nowhere to go but up? Yeah, we can throw those away now.

The ‘0’ had to go on Sunday, as the Panthers captured their first win of the 2024 campaign in a stunning 36-22 upset of the host Las Vegas Raiders. Sparked by the first start of the season from veteran quarterback Andy Dalton, Carolina finally broke out on offense and received some complementary football on defense.

So now that they actually look like a real NFL team, here’s where the Panthers stand across the power rankings heading into Week 4 . . .

USA TODAY

Author: Nate Davis

Rank: 23 (+9)

Take: “Veteran QB Andy Dalton came off the pine to pass for 319 yards and three TDs – totals benched Bryce Young has never surpassed in the NFL – in Sunday’s upset of Las Vegas.”

NFL.com

Author: Eric Edholm

Rank: 31 (+1)

Take: “Dave Canales absolutely deserved to lead a raucous postgame celebration of Sunday’s win, which was his first as a head coach and only the second for the Panthers since last Halloween. Canales’ controversial decision to bench Bryce Young after two games and turn to Andy Dalton was validated by Dalton’s delivery of a Red Rifle classic. The veteran threw for three touchdowns and looked totally in command, as if he’d been running this offense as the starter since OTAs. If you’re a glass-half-empty type, well, no, this one didn’t make Young look great in comparison, as the Panthers had much better rhythm than they did at any time he was running the offense. The energy and body language also felt far different Sunday. But questions about the first overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft can wait; for now, we’re looking forward, and Carolina is 1-0 in the AD era. For the first time in forever, the Panthers have elevated from the Power Rankings basement. The view surely isn’t too shabby from here after they were below ground for the better part of a year.”

ESPN

Author: David Newton

Rank: 31 (+1)

Take (on team’s biggest issue on offense): “Quarterback Andy Dalton proved coach Dave Canales was right in benching Bryce Young, and that the Panthers were close if they had a steady presence under center. With Dalton on Sunday, the Panthers looked like an offensive juggernaut instead of the lifeless unit they were with Young. Dalton had three touchdown passes in the first half against the Raiders. Young has only two TD passes in his past nine starts. The Panthers had a 300-yard passing game, 100-yard rushing game and 100-yard receiving game for the first time since Week 8 of 2022.”

CBS Sports

Author: Pete Prisco

Rank: 29 (+3)

Take: “Andy Dalton made this a different team. He was sharp and accurate and the confidence bled over to the rest of the team. Benching Bryce Young looks to be the right decision.”

Pro Football Talk

Author: Mike Florio

Rank: 29 (+3)

Take: “Can they string two wins together?”

Yahoo Sports

Author: Frank Schwab

Rank: 30 (+2)

Take: “The Panthers should feel like their season started Sunday. They’re 1-0 with Andy Dalton at QB. We’ll see if that was just a one-game boost with a backup and they fall back to the bottom. But there’s good reason for them to feel like they can be competitive with a competent quarterback.”

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Steelers considered a top team in Week 4 power ranking

The Pittsburgh Steelers have been ranked at four in the most recent power ranking for NBC’s Pro Football Talk.

Oh, what a difference a week makes. The Week 4 power rankings from NBC’s Pro Football Talk have done the unthinkable—what no other power rankings for the 2024 season have done before: treat the Pittsburgh Steelers as a top-five team!

One week ago, at the beginning of Week 3’s buildup, several sports outlets deemed the Pittsburgh Steelers unworthy of being considered one of the better undefeated teams—coming in at ranks 12, 15, 10, 14, and 12 from ESPN, Yahoo, CBS, NFL.com, and USA Today, respectively.

While obviously maddening for many Steelers fans to consider that their 2-0 Steelers could have been so undervalued heading into Week 3, NBC’s Pro Football Talk made sure to rectify the mistakes by the other sports outlets in Week 4’s power rankings:

https://twitter.com/SNFonNBC/status/1838589369550065957?t=qDlyylOvtyg4GiLEqRE83Q&s=19

Finally being given respect as one of the NFL’s elite teams feels great and all, but the Pittsburgh Steelers won’t be satisfied until they have taken the number one spot overall.

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Vikings have shocking power ranking spot heading into Week 3

Coming off a surprise win against the San Francisco 49ers, the Minnesota Vikings sit just outside the top 3 on Bucky Brooks’ power rankings.

It’s no secret that the Minnesota Vikings are one of the most surprising teams in the league after their 2-0 start to the season. While many could have predicted the Vikings got off to a 1-0 start with a game against the New York Giants, few would have picked them to be undefeated after an early-season matchup against NFC juggernauts, the San Francisco 49ers.

Yet that’s exactly where the Vikings stand heading into their Week 3 matchup against the Houston Texans. While some may still doubt the Vikings and where they stand in the league, one NFL analyst seems to be all-in on the team right now.

In his latest power rankings, Fox Sports’ NFL analyst Bucky Brooks has the Vikings surprisingly high. Coming off a surprising win against the 49ers, Brooks has the Vikings all the way up at #4, just behind the Kansas City Chiefs, New Orleans Saints — another contender for the most surprising team in the league to start the season — and the Philadelphia Eagles.

Minnesota comes into their Week 3 matchup against the Texans with some significant questions at the wide receiver spot. Both Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison are recovering from injuries, and their statuses are uncertain. If Minnesota can find a way to pull out the win and move to 3-0 on the season, it’ll be interesting to see where Brooks has them going forward.

The Pittsburgh disrespect continues: NFL’s Week 3 Power Rankings

A quick analysis of the Steelers Power Ranking placement shows they are undervalued.

Three things are certain in life: death, taxes, and the NFL world underestimating the Pittsburgh Steelers.  Whether it’s on team power rankings, Top 100 player lists, PFF rankings, Madden ratings, or individual player accolades, the Pittsburgh Steelers are consistently underestimated in their actual play compared to their poor rankings.

Steelers fans can see how true this statement is by hopping on social media to see this week’s NFL Power Rankings.

https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1836540707542307181

 

There are only nine undefeated teams currently in the NFL, and only three of these teams have a top-five defense.  The Steelers fit the bill for both categories, but not only are they ranked at fourteen, the Ravens, who could possibly be 0-3 in a week, are ranked at nine.

The Pittsburgh Steelers will look to ignore the outside noise and doubters, as they prepare to take on a fellow undefeated team in the Los Angeles Chargers for Week 3.

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