Every Vikings’ Week 9 Power Ranking You’ll Ever Need
Credit: Brad Rempel-Imagn Images
For the first month-plus of the season, the Minnesota Vikings were the darlings of the NFL. All it took was a bye week, two losses, and a closer-than-it-should’ve-been win against the Indianapolis Colts for the league’s commentariat to do the whole “I don’t want to play with you anymore” bit from Toy Story 2.
What exactly are the experts saying on the 6-2 Vikings? You could track down the what and the why, or hey, maybe we can do that for you. So here’s your one-stop shop for taking the league temperature on where the football world stands on the Vikings.
The Athletic
Rank: 7
Last Week: 8
What They’re Saying: “[Justin] Jefferson notched a 118.8 passer rating Sunday night with a 22-yard completion on a double pass that required him to throw the ball 40 yards across the field to Aaron Jones. He’s also leading the league in receiving with 783 yards, and his 16.3 yards per reception are the most among any player with more than 35 catches this season.” — Josh Kendall
Bleacher Report
Rank: 6
Last Week: 8
What They’re Saying: “The Vikings are 6-2, but with each passing week, my confidence in them as a legitimate Super Bowl contender wanes. That’s because Sam Darnold is starting to poke out of Sam Darnold.
Minnesota has no shortage of offensive firepower. Adding Cam Robinson at left tackle was a smart move. And Minnesota’s aggressive defense was all over the Colts on Sunday night.
But Darnold turning the ball over brings back far too many unpleasant memories. If he keeps it up, the Vikings aren’t beating teams like the Lions, the Eagles or even the Commanders.” — Gary Davenport
Bleeding Green Nation
Rank: 9
Last Week: 10
What They’re Saying: “Minny was able to bounce back after two straight losses. Playing against Joe Flacco, who turns 40 in a couple months, certainly helped.” — Brandon Lee Gowton
CBS Sports
Rank: 7
Last Week: 9
What They’re Saying: “The defense got back on track against the Colts after a few tough weeks. That will be this team’s calling card in the second half of the season.” — Pete Prisco
ESPN
Rank: 6
Last Week: 9
What They’re Saying: “At this point, the Lions are in the driver’s seat in the NFC North. The Vikings have already lost to them once, and they have a worse conference record if it comes to that tiebreaker. But beating the Packers, and sweeping the season series, could well be key to them securing a wild-card berth. The Vikings have already won at Lambeau Field and would presumably have the advantage in the second matchup as well.” — Kevin Seifert
FanSided
Rank: 7
Last Week: 9
What They’re Saying: “While Sam Darnold is playing the best football of his NFL career this season, the real difference-maker and MVP for the Vikings in 2024 so far has been running back Aaron Jones.
With Jones, Minnesota actually has someone capable of generating explosive plays either as a rusher or as a receiver out of the backfield, which wasn’t the case when Alexander Mattison was the team’s No. 1 running back in 2023.
The Vikings have surprised a bunch of people this year by getting off to a 6-2 start, and the veteran running back has played a large role in the success that the team has been able to achieve so far.” — Adam Patrick, The Viking Age
Fox Sports
Rank: 4
Last Week: 6
What They’re Saying: “Getting back on track following a two-game slide, the Vikings displayed offensive efficiency and defensive suffocation, which makes them a challenge to face down the stretch. If Sam Darnold can eliminate the red-zone turnovers and remain patient as a game manager from the pocket, the Vikings can play the kind of complementary football that produces wins in the playoffs.” — Bucky Brooks
NBC Sports Bay Area
Rank: 6
Last Week: 5
What They’re Saying: “Sam Darnold’s going to make his boneheaded mistakes, as he did in this game. But if you have the defense to stabilize you, like they do, those picks won’t be backbreaking. Overall a decent night for the journeyman.” — Taylor Wirth
New York Post
Rank: 6
Last Week: 7
What They’re Saying: “The Brian Flores-coordinated blitz-heavy defense turned Joe Flacco into a pumpkin, holding the Colts to six offensive points and zero red-zone trips in a 21-13 victory. Flacco was sacked five times, including three in the last two minutes. Sam Darnold tossed three touchdown passes – none, surprisingly, to Justin Jefferson – and only six incompletions. Jefferson completed a 22-yard pass.” — Ryan Dunleavy
NFL.com
Rank: 6
Last Week: 7
What They’re Saying: “Sunday night’s win over the Colts marked a return to form for the Vikings’ defense to the level we’d seen prior to their Week 6 bye. They allowed the Colts a mere six offensive points, all on field goals, with Indianapolis’ only touchdown coming on a (controversial) scoop and score. There likely was some adjustment around the arrival of Cam Robinson, who took over at left tackle with less than a week’s worth of practice, but Darnold’s play has flatlined recently. They’ll need him to pick things back up as the Vikings hit the road for the duration of November.” — Eric Edholm
NFL Spin Zone
Rank: 7
What They’re Saying: “When the Minnesota Vikings are rolling, they are a fun team to watch. The Vikings have all of the elements to be a spoiler in January, at least when it comes to the offensive side of the ball. But when you see the defense come out and play like they did against Joe Flacco and the Colts?
It gives you more than just spoiler vibes.
Brian Flores knows how to scheme it up and after a couple of duds from the Vikings’ defense in consecutive games, they balled out against Indianapolis.
And Sam Darnold continues to be impressive this season with three more touchdowns. It wasn’t a flawless performance from Darnold, but with what we’ve seen in the first half of this season, we can confidently say the Vikings are going to be a factor. The sample size has grown to the point that this is clearly not a fluke or anything.
Darnold has a stellar group of skill players and a coach who is setting him up for success. I’d expect this team to hang with almost anybody.” — Sayre Bedinger
PFF
Rank: 9
Last Week: 10
What They’re Saying: “The Vikings got back to winning ways with a 21-13 victory against the Colts on Sunday night after back-to-back losses. Sam Darnold demonstrated the good, the bad and the ugly of his game, while the Vikings defense just reminded everyone how effective they are. Minnesota is third in EPA per play allowed (-0.134).” — Thomas Valentine
Pro Football Network
Rank: 4
Last Week: 3
What They’re Saying: “It wasn’t pretty watching the Minnesota Vikings this week, but they largely controlled the game against the Indianapolis Colts. The turnovers will be the biggest concern, and Minnesota’s offense is going to need some time to click with Cam Robinson arriving to replace Christian Darrisaw at left tackle.
The Vikings have a nice run of games here to put things on the right track, which is a huge plus. The defense remains one of the best in the league and stopped the rot a little against the Colts.
Minnesota’s next three games are not likely to be big tests, but they have four good offenses coming up in the final six weeks. The schedule eases off a little in the second half of the season, but this is still a top-12 remaining strength of schedule, which means there can’t be too much room for error.” — Ben Rolfe
Pro Football Talk
Rank: 8
Last Week: 10
What They’re Saying: “With three winnable road games, they have a chance to keep pace with the Lions.” — Mike Florio
The Score
Rank: 5
Last Week: 6
What They’re Saying: “The Vikings got back in the win column by smothering Joe Flacco and the Colts in prime time, ending a two-game skid.” — The Score Staff
Sporting News
Rank: 8
Last Week: 9
What They’re Saying: The Vikings rebounded from their two-game skid by ripping into the Colts at home with their swarming defense and Sam Darnold overcoming a rough night with clutch pass plays. — Vinnie Iyer
Sports Illustrated
Rank: 6
Last Week: 6
What They’re Saying: “I am still blown away that, at the end of this game, Mike Tirico queued up Cris Collinsworth to say with absolute certainty that Sam Darnold will not be the quarterback of this team in 2025. Obviously, that’s why you draft J.J. McCarthy, but that revelation went largely unnoticed amid a Sunday Night Football victory. Darnold is good! We don’t know how McCarthy is healing! We don’t know, really, anything about him at all. Why is this team so hell-bent on hitting the rookie contract advantage when success is already here at this moment?” — Conor Orr
Sportsnaut
Rank: 7
Last Week: 9
What They’re Saying: “On a night when Sam Darnold turned it over 3 times and kicker Will Reichard missed two field goals, the Minnesota Vikings still pulled out the win. It moves this team to 6-2 and that’s not even the best news. The upcoming Vikings schedule – at Jaguars, at Titans, at Bears, vs Cardinals, vs Falcons, vs Bears – gives this team a viable shot at having 11 wins in early December. Now, the offensive line is still a concern and we’ve seen how this defense looks against great quarterbacks, but the Vikings are definitively one of the best NFL teams in 2024.” — Matt Johnson
USA Today
Rank: 6
Last Week: 5
What They’re Saying: “This is no inconsequential bridge season with QB Sam Darnold. Management has sent a very clear signal it’s committed to winning now after importing LT Cam Robinson and RB Cam Akers to patch some holes. And getting T.J. Hockenson back into the lineup Sunday night is akin to making a major move … which Minnesota did for the Pro Bowl tight end two years ago.” — Nate Davis
Yahoo! Sports
Rank: 9
Last Week: 10
What They’re Saying: “Sunday was a needed rebound, but the Vikings didn’t look great especially on offense. Sam Darnold can’t get into a turnover slump. He had three bad ones against the Colts. That’s been his issue through his career, and seeing him revert to that version of himself was troubling.” — Frank Schwab
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