After their 20-7 win over the Lions in Week 14, the Vikings improved to 9-4 on the season.
They also moved from 10 to seven in USA TODAY’s Week 15 power rankings.
Here’s what Nate Davis wrote about the Vikings:
Adam Thielen, who’s played 16 snaps in last seven games, is probably the key if Minnesota is to make late charge to NFC North crown.
Davis is right. It would be absolutely huge for this offense to get Thielen back before the end of the season. We’ll see whether that will be in Week 15 when the Vikings travel to play the 5-8 Chargers in Los Angeles. The Chargers rank 23rd in the rankings.
To round out the NFC North, the Packers rank fourth, the Bears rank 14th and the Lions rank 29th.
The Vikings are currently the sixth seed in the NFC playoff picture, but they are also still in the mix for the NFC North championship.