Surging Vikings continue to climb consensus power rankings

Minnesota has now won six straight games

Dec 8, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson (18) looks on during the fourth quarter against the Atlanta Falcons at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images / Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

Sam Darnold had a career day while leading the Vikings to a resounding 42-21 win over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday. The win makes them all but a lock to return to the playoffs and keeps Minnesota within a game of the Lions for the top of the NFC North with four games left to play.

While most power rankings kept the Vikings where they had them last week, Minnesota did take some big leaps in a few of our tracked power rankings. Here is a compiled list of power rankings from across the NFL media landscape...

The Athletic - No. 3 (Last week: No. 5)

Color us rather surprised by The Athletic vaulting the Vikings up to top-three status. For the past several weeks, despite having a better record and already beating them once this season, the Vikings had been behind the Packers in The Athletic's power rankings. However, this week, Minnesota jumps up two spots, now just one place ahead of Green Bay.

SI.com - No. 4 (Last week: No. 4)

Darnold's "heater" of a game sees the Vikings remain at the four spot in Sports Illustrated's power rankings, behind only the Lions, Bills and Chiefs.

CBS Sports - No. 4 (Last week: No. 5)

If you haven't had enough of the Darnold love this week after his 347-yard, five-touchdown performance, then go read CBS's Pete Prisco gush about Darnold and the Vikings, who he says are "here to stay." Minnesota moved up one spot into the top four, with Prisco admitting he was wrong about Darnold and didn't see this type of season coming.

"The old Sam Darnold just might be gone forever. He's certainly playing that way, and the Vikings will be a tough offense to stop come playoff time," said Prisco.

PFT - No. 4 (Last week: No. 5)

Resident curmudgeon, Mike Florio, appears to be cracking. He moved Minnesota up one spot to No. 4 and noted that the Vikings "could end up being a 14-win wild-card team."

NFL.com - No. 5 (Last week: No. 5)

Minnesota stayed at No. 5 in the league's power rankings, with the write up saying the Vikings are "beginning to resemble the powerhouse suggested by their gaudy 11-2 record."

FOX Sports - No. 5 (Last week: No. 5)

Like the league, FOX keeps the Vikings entrenched as the No. 5 team. FOX does note, however, that "It doesn't feel like people are giving Minnesota proper credit for what it has accomplished."

Yahoo! - No. 5 (Last week: No. 5)

Yahoo notes the Vikings still have some difficult games ahead — Seahawks, Packers and Lions — but that a Week 18 showdown with the Lions for the NFC North title "isn't a stretch."

ESPN - No. 5 (Last week: No. 6)

After inexplicably dropping Minnesota out of their top five last week, ESPN bumped the Vikings back up to No. 5 after the blowout win over the Falcons.

Division Watch

The Lions narrowly edged out the Packers in a thrilling Thursday Night Football game, extending their win streak to 11 games. Detroit stays the unanimous No. 1 team in all the land with the victory. With the loss, the Packers drop back in the consensus rankings, though only slightly.

Under interim head coach Thomas Brown, the Bears got wrecked by an ailing 49ers squad, bringing their losing streak to seven games ahead of a Monday night showdown with the surging Vikings.

Below shows where NFC North teams rank in the compilation of power rankings. We averaged out the rankings into one number for clarity.

Detroit Lions

Average ranking: No. 1 (Last week: No. 1)
Highest ranking: Unanimous No. 1
Lowest ranking: Like the past several weeks, look above

Green Bay Packers

Average ranking: No. 6.75 (Last week: No. 6)
Highest ranking: The Athletic - No. 4 (Preposterous)
Lowest ranking: SI - No. 8

Chicago Bears

Average ranking: No. 23.75 (Last week: No. 23)
Highest ranking: CBS - No. 22
Lowest ranking: ESPN - No. 25