Vikings continue ascent up the power rankings, still behind Packers in some

Minnesota stretch their win streak to four games with the overtime victory in Chicago

Nov 24, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell looks on against the Chicago Bears during the second quarter at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Bartel-Imagn Images / Daniel Bartel-Imagn Images

The Vikings needed overtime to finally put away a Bears team they at one point held a 14-point lead against. While the scoreline reflects a close game against a floundering Bears team in the midst of a five-game losing streak, it was one of the best performances from Sam Darnold and the Vikings offense.

Despite the positive offensive showing and win, some national pundits still found reasons to drop the Vikings in their rankings, while others still have the Vikings below the Packers.

Here are a collection of power rankings from across the NFL media landscape...

SI.com - No. 5 (Last week: No. 6)

The Vikings jumped into SI's top-5 this week after big performances from Aaron Jones - 22 carries, 106 yards and one rushing touchdown - and Jordan Addison - eight catches, 162 yards and one receiving touchdown - helped the Vikings improve to 9-2.

CBS Sports - No. 5 (Last week: No. 6)

Like SI, CBS Sports bumped the Vikings into their top-5 as Minnesota continues to keep pace with Detroit, trailing by just one game, thanks in big part to going undefeated in their three-game road trip, with wins over the Jaguars, Titans and now the Bears.

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

ESPN rounds out the outlets slotting the Vikings into their top-5 teams, jumping up just one spot from last week. Kevin Seifert gave credit to the Vikings defense that has "bamboozled" opposition QBs all season long.

NFL.com - No. 6 (Last week: No. 5)

Because of the close win that "never should have gotten to overtime" the league were the only outlet that dropped the Vikings this week, moving them down one spot and out of their top-5.

FOX Sports - No. 6 (Last week: No. 7)

Minnesota continue climbing in FOX Sports' rankings, moving up one spot, in part because of the way "they handled adversity" on Sunday against the Bears.

PFT - No. 6 (Last week: No. 7)

Mike Florio noted that the Vikings could continue to "fatten up their record" with a three game game homestand ahead of tough contests against the Seahawks, Packers and Lions to close out the season.

The Athletic - No. 6 (Last week: No. 7)

The Athletic was one of two sites that still have the Vikings (6) below the Packers (5) in their weekly rankings. However, strong performances by the offense continue to see the Vikings climb, moving up one spots, in The Athletic's rankings.

Yahoo! - No. 7 (Last week: No. 10)

Yahoo was the biggest mover of the week, comes with the territory of having Minnesota inexplicably at No. 10 last week, moving up three spots to No. 7, which is still one spot behind the Packers.

Division Watch

The Lions blanked the Colts in the second half of a rather standard, at this point, 24-6 win for the unanimous No. 1 team in the league. Green Bay put on a show against perennial powerhouse San Francisco, blowing the doors off the preseason Super Bowl favorite in a 38-10 win. The Bears held tough against the Vikings but stretch their losing streak to five games with the overtime loss to Minnesota.

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

Detroit Lions

Average ranking: No. 1 (Last week: No. 1)
Highest ranking: Unanimously ranked No. 1
Lowest ranking: Look above

Green Bay Packers

Average ranking: No. 6.375 (Last week: No. 7.75)
Highest ranking: The Athletic - No. 5
Lowest ranking: NFL/CBS/FOX/PFT - No. 7

Chicago Bears

Average ranking: No. 22.625 (Last week: No. 22.25)
Highest ranking: FOX - No. 20
Lowest ranking: PFT - No. 25