Week 7 Is About Proving the Vikings Aren’t the NFC North’s Pretenders
Credit: Shaun Brooks-Imagn Images
The Minnesota Vikings might have taken a rest with their bye week, but the NFC North sure didn’t. The Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, and Green Bay Packers didn’t just all win on Sunday, they crushed everyone in their path. After the final scores came in, the three teams combined for 116 points while allowing just 38 in return. Suddenly, the Vikings find themselves in the NFL’s biggest, baddest division, and everyone’s taking notice.
The NFC North is the first division since the 1970 merger in which every team has 4+ wins through the first 6 weeks of a season 👏🙌 pic.twitter.com/6sK9KSkrY9
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) October 15, 2024
And if that weren’t enough…
The NFL leader in point differential is the Minnesota Vikings at +61.
Then the Detroit Lions at +60, the Bears at +47, and the Packers at +41.
Every team in the NFC North has a better point differential than every other team in the league.
— Benjamin Solak (@BenjaminSolak) October 14, 2024
Each team is on-pace for at least an 11-win season, but we know it’s not going to happen like that. One of these teams is a pretender. It almost has to be the case, even one of these teams drops out of the playoff race simply from the other NFC North teams beating up on them.
Conventional wisdom says it’s the Chicago Bears. At 4-2, they’re already (just barely) on the outside of the playoff picture, with NFL.com putting their playoff odds at just 32%. While they’re 12th in the NFL with 24.7 points per game, they’re also 24th in the league in yards per game, and while Caleb Williams is a talented, No. 1 overall pick, he’s still a rookie QB.
But if you’re a long-time Minnesota sports fan, you’ve got doomerism embedded deep in your soul. You may ask yourself: What if it’s the Vikings that are the pretenders?
It’s not like we haven’t seen it before. Vikings fans still have Paul Allen’s “NOOOOOO!” burned into their memories from the 2003 Vikings going from a 5-0 start to missing the playoffs at 9-7.
Meanwhile, the Lions are still regarded as Super Bowl contenders, giving us very little reason to doubt that status. Green Bay is 4-2 despite losing Jordan Love for two weeks, and one of their losses in Week 4 to the Vikings, where a hobbled Love almost came back from a 28-0 deficit.
And say what you want about Chicago, their defense is fifth in scoring (16.8 points per game) and seventh in yardage (292.0). You can get by in the NFL with a young quarterback and a defense like that, particularly when that QB has weapons like D.J. Moore, Rome Odunze, and Keenan Allen at his disposal.
So are the Vikings the pretenders?
In fairness, their defense has been able to match Chicago’s elite unit. They’re 3rd in scoring defense (15.2) and 14th in yards allowed (330.2), despite being tied or in the lead for all but three minutes or so of the season. Kevin O’Connell and Brian Flores are quickly getting a reputation as the best offensive/defensive coaching team in the league. As with Chicago, it’s a formula you can work with.
But there’s a real possibility that by the end of the season, Minnesota will have the worst quarterback in the division. It’s possible the cracks are already showing in the Sam Darnold Rennaisance. Over his last 90 minutes of football, Darnold is 23-for-47 for 338 yards, two interceptions, and two fumbles. The turnover bug is especially concerning, as those were a big part of what sank Darnold in both New York and Carolina.
Two nearly-blown leads also raise some alarm bells surrounding Minnesota, which is why their upcoming matchup with the Lions might be their biggest game of the season.
No one can cast doubt on the Vikings’ schedule so far. The San Francisco 49ers are 3-3, but are coming off a Super Bowl trip and most believe they’re still contenders. Meanwhile, Green Bay is 4-2, and the Houston Texans are 5-1, with Minnesota annihilating them 34-7 in their only loss. But if Detroit comes into their house and puts anything near the wallop they just did to the Dallas Cowboys at JerryWorld, it’s possible there’ll be a line from the NFL commentariat to declare Minnesota frauds.
If that label gets slapped on the Vikings, it’ll be hard to beat the rap, even if they resume stacking up wins. Their next opponents are the 1-4 Los Angeles Rams, the 3-3 Indianapolis Colts, the 1-4 Tennessee Titans, and the 1-4 Jacksonville Jaguars. Minnesota might have three signature wins so far, but Sunday is going to be their last chance for a “Prove-It” game for a month or more.
Week 7’s showdown is vitally important for the Vikings, as a win will show that they weren’t some bizarre, early-season fluke. Even if they do fall to 5-1, it’s important that Minnesota give Detroit a strong showing, with a competitive game that’s decided by one-score, with no major mistakes from Darnold or second-half defensive collapses. Anything less will turn the Vikings from the NFL’s darlings to a team everyone, including their own fans, is watching for the shoe to drop.
Up Next