NFL Power Rankings, Week 7: Vikings Hold Off Bears to Keep Hope Alive

The Vikings needed to beat the Bears on Sunday to keep their playoff hopes alive. It wasn't easy or pretty, but they got it done, thanks largely to a dominant defensive performance. This team theoretically has the talent to get back into the playoff hunt, even at 2-4, but they'll need to play much better on offense to have a shot at pulling off an upset over the 49ers on Monday night.

Let's take a look at this week's national power rankings to see if the Vikings rose at all.

Conor Orr, SI.com: No. 27 (No change)

The Vikings set the tone in their win over the Bears by pummeling Justin Fields from the blind side. There weren’t enough designed quarterback draws in the world to offset a handful of players who were able to scream off the edge with regularity. Jordan Addison has now scored in all but two of his games this season and, while I’m not sure how he was able to get behind the Bears’ defense with that much free space on Sunday, his wherewithal to seek and secure the ball was perfect.

Josh Kendall, The Athletic: No. 26 (Down 5 spots)

Who’d you beat?

: Panthers, Bears

The Vikings’ victims have a combined record of 1-11. That kind of sums it up. And the Bears ended Sunday’s game with backup quarterback Tyson Bagent. Kirk Cousins is second in the league in passing yards (1,679), but it hasn’t mattered. Justin Jefferson is out until at least the Nov. 12 game against New Orleans and could be out a lot longer. Every Minnesota game has been decided by one possession, but that shouldn’t change the fact that this team should be a seller at the trade deadline.

Eric Edholm, NFL.com: No. 25 (No change)

The good news is that the Vikings are now 1-0 without Justin Jefferson this season. The bad news: The offense didn't really have much to do with Sunday's 19-13 win in Chicago. The hope was that Jordan Addison, T.J. Hockenson and maybe Alexander Mattison could each help absorb some of Jefferson's production, and they did, at least to some extent — but the offense really labored outside of the impressive touchdown drive right before halftime. In six second-half possessions, Minnesota gained a grand total of 36 yards. That left the team's fate in the hands of the defense. Say the words "backup QB" to a Vikings fan and watch the color leave that face. Chase Daniel, Cooper Rush and Matt Moore are recent QB2s who have beaten Minnesota, and it looked for a second like Tyson Bagent would join the illustrious club before the defense forced two critical second-half turnovers.

Frank Schwab, Yahoo! Sports: No. 22 (Up 1 spot)

The Vikings' season was possibly saved by Creed. That might be the ultimate "desperate times call for desperate measures" story.

Bleacher Report Staff: No. 25 (Down 2 spots)

The Minnesota Vikings came into Week 6 a desperate 1-4 team short their best playmaker clinging like grim death to rapidly fading postseason hopes. They left Chicago with a win, thanks in large part to the team's best defensive performance of the season. But if Week 6 was any indication, Minnesota's playoff hopes are just about done. Yes, the Vikings got the victory. But without Justin Jefferson, Minnesota had just 220 yards of offense against one of the league's worst defenses. Even Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins said the team didn't play well offensively.

ESPN Staff: No. 25 (No change)

Lesson learned:

The pendulum swings on one-score games.

During the 2022 regular season, the Vikings were famously 11-0 in one-score games. This season, they are 2-4. And yet there's reason to believe the quality of the two teams has been roughly the same, at least before receiver Justin Jefferson's hamstring injury last week. ESPN's FPI ranks the 2023 Vikings at No. 15 in the NFL. Their 2022 FPI ranking was No. 16. In truth, the 2022-23 Vikings have been an extreme example of the difference a handful of plays can make on a game and a season. They ranked No. 5 last year in the NFL's "luck metric," a measure of win probability added by plays such as dropped interceptions and fumble recoveries. Through six weeks of 2023, the Vikings rank No. 32.

-- Kevin Seifert

Pete Prisco, CBS Sports: No. 26 (Up 2 spots)

Winning at Chicago may delay any of that talk of selling off parts at the trade deadline. They face a tough one against the 49ers this week.

Mike Florio, ProFootballTalk: No. 25 (Up 2 spots)

Next Monday night vs. the 49ers could get ugly.

David Helman, FOX Sports: No. 23 (No change)

Not a memorable win, but it was fun to see Brian Flores draw up such a stifling game plan against an offense that had been red-hot the previous two weeks. I'm just not sure I buy that the Vikings can maintain their current level of play and expect to win most weeks – particularly not against their next opponent, the 49ers.

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