NFL Power Rankings, Week 8: Are The Vikings a Top 5 Team in the NFL?
Three games is officially a streak.
The Vikings scored a season-high 42 points in Detroit on Sunday to secure their third consecutive victory. They've continued to turn heads with their play of late, especially on offense.
Last week, the Vikings were generally ranked between the 7th and 11th spots in the power rankings.
Have they continued to move up this week? See for yourself:
Yahoo! Sports: No. 5 (Up 2 spots)
"The Vikings gave up 30 points, including four touchdowns to Marvin Jones, and still won fairly comfortably. Now that we’ve seen the offense take off the past few weeks, this is a team with a championship upside. Because we pretty much know what we’re getting out of the defense."
ESPN: No. 8 (Up 2 spots)
Vikings reporter Courtney Cronin says the Vikings' recalibrated expectation should be to compete for the NFC North crown.
"With the way this offense looks at the halfway point, anything short of a playoff berth would be considered a major disappointment. It might take more than 10 wins to capture the NFC North crown, but the way the Lions and Bears are regressing can only benefit the Vikings, who are in prime position to battle down the stretch with Green Bay."
Bleacher Report: No. 7 (Up 4 spots)
B/R's voters rank the Vikings as high as No. 5 and as low as No. 10.
"It's time to start taking the Minnesota Vikings seriously ... Kirk Cousins caught a lot of flak early in the season—and with good reason. But he's been red-hot the last few weeks, and with both the running and passing games firing on all cylinders, the Vikings look less like a paper tiger and more like a legit contender in the NFC."
Sporting News: No. 5 (Up 1 spot)
"Kirk Cousins is starting to become worth all that money. He lost go-to receiver Adam Thielen to an injury but still spread the ball around, played off the run perfectly and finished off a Lions team that kept fighting back. The midseason offensive coordinator change last season is paying even bigger dividends for Cousins in 2019."
CBS Sports: No. 7 (Up 3 spots)
"They've won two straight games behind the passing of Kirk Cousins. He has been outstanding the past two weeks and now faces his former team in Washington."
NFL.com: No. 5 (Up 3 spots)
"Cousins absolutely shredded the Lions in play-action, continuing a trend that began (perhaps not coincidentally) at the start of this surge. Over the past three weeks, Cousins has a 157.2 rating on play-action, completing 32 of 42 passes for 592 yards and seven touchdowns without an interception, according to Pro Football Focus. Throw in another huge day from running back Dalvin Cook and we're beginning to see the full potential of this Vikings offense. It's an attack with a ceiling as high as that of any team in the NFC."
Washington Post: No. 8 (Up 3 spots)
"Kirk Cousins suddenly is playing very well and has the Vikings’ offense in gear heading into Cousins’s reunion with his former team, the Redskins, on Thursday night. The playing status of WR Adam Thielen could be an issue in the short week. He hurt his hamstring during Sunday’s triumph over the Lions."
Chicago Tribune: No. 10 (Up 1 spot)
"Ever since a miserable showing at Soldier Field, Kirk Cousins has been hot. He obliterated the Lions on Sunday by completing 24 of 34 passes for 337 yards and four touchdowns in a 42-30 victory. He’s the first quarterback in NFL history to pass for at least 300 yards with a passer rating of 135 or higher in three consecutive games. With the Redskins and Chiefs next, perhaps Cousins will continue to roll."
USA Today: No. 5 (Up 2 spots)
"Torrid Kirk Cousins is primed to show Washington what a catastrophic mistake it made by letting him go ... assuming Case Keenum and Adrian Peterson don't have bigger axes to grind at Minnesota."
