NFL Power Rankings, Week 17: Vikings Reeling After Loss to Packers
With a lot on the line, the Vikings fell flat on their face on Monday night against the Packers. Their offense was shockingly inept, and it led to a disappointing home loss against their division rivals.
The loss makes this week an interesting one. Their upcoming game against the Bears is essentially meaningless, as the Vikings are locked into the NFC's sixth seed for the playoffs. Some starters figure to sit out for the game, though it's unclear how many. The biggest priority is getting everyone healthy and ready to try to make a deep run in the playoffs.
But after their performance on Monday, it's difficult to believe this team is capable of making such a run.
Here's where the Vikings sit in the power rankings this week.
SI.com MMQB: No. 7 (No change)
"For a team whose only 'quality win' of note this season came against the Cowboys, this felt like a much-needed wake-up call ahead of the postseason. Kirk Cousins stunk (16-of-31, 122 yards, TD, INT), the ground game was lost without Dalvin Cook (57 team rush yards) and the Vikes’ offense couldn’t take anything even resembling an advantage from the three turnovers and solid effort produced by their defense. Oh, and Kirk? That’s nine straight Ls on Monday Night Football."
NFL.com: No. 9 (Down 1 spot)
"The Vikings have to be wondering where they truly stand amongst the league's power players after a humbling 23-10 loss to the Packers that decided the NFC North for Green Bay. Minnesota's offense – playing without star running back Dalvin Cook – looked utterly lost, managing just 139 yards and seven (yes, seven) first downs all night. It was the team's fewest number of first downs in a game since 1971. That it came in this spot, against this opponent, at US Bank Stadium, serves as a major red flag for a Vikings team that entered Monday night fancying itself a Super Bowl contender. Kirk Cousins must live with this as well, a prime-time stinker for a highly paid quarterback whose had far too many of them. Cousins, now an outrageous 0-9 on the Monday Night Football stage, will continue to be doubted in money games like these. Now even more so."
ESPN.com: No. 8 (No change)
CBS Sports: No. 8 (No change)
Bleacher Report: No. 8 (No change)
"Yes, Kirk Cousins is still winless on Monday night. But expecting him to block for himself feels rather unreasonable. Given how the Vikings O-line looked against Green Bay, apparently expecting anyone to block for Cousins is unreasonable. The Vikings are a very good team. But in Week 16, they didn't look close to capable of going into New Orleans, San Francisco or even Green Bay and getting a playoff win. At least there are no playoff games on Mondays."
Sporting News: No. 9 (No change)
"The Vikings don't want to be forgotten in the NFC playoff picture with their ticket punched. But their loss to the Packers brought up more skepticism against Kirk Cousins and their defense."
Yahoo! Sports: No. 9 (Down 1 spot)
"Plenty will be said about Kirk Cousins playing poorly in that moment, and it’s all deserved. But what about Mike Zimmer? The Vikings called timeout to punt in the second half, and if you thought that would be the worst decision of the night, Zimmer decided to punt trailing by two scores with less than four minutes left. That’s inexcusably bad game management from an NFL coach."
