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.