Vikings drop in consensus power rankings after Week 18 defeat

Minnesota enters the playoffs as the consensus No. 3 team in the NFC

Detroit Lions fans cheer against Minnesota Vikings before a third down during the second half at Ford Field in Detroit on Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Vikings suffered a 22-point loss to the Lions on national TV to close out the regular season. Now, they'll have to head out to L.A. on Monday night for a wild-card game against the Rams. The Vikings fell off in the consensus power rankings but not by much despite the beating they took on Sunday.

Below is a compilation of where the Vikings place in power rankings from across the NFL media landscape...

SI.com - No. 4 (Last week: No. 4)

Minnesota held steady at No. 4 in SI's power rankings, the only one of our gathered power rankings that didn't move the Vikings after the loss. Some positive spin comes from Sports Illustrated, who say they "didn't see a blowout" but a Lions team that "got the proper bounces," as well as "a less critical eye from the officiating crew."

The Athletic - No. 5 (Last week: No. 2)

The Vikings dropped three spots in The Athletic's power rankings to No. 5, coming in as the third best NFC team behind the Lions (No. 1) and the Eagles (No. 4).

PFT - No. 5 (Last week: No. 3)

Florio dropped Minnesota two spots wondering if Darnold's dismal performance on Sunday was a "car hitting a pothole or a chariot becoming a pumpkin."

FOX Sports - No. 5 (Last week: No. 3)

The Vikings dropped down two spots to No. 5 in FOX's weekly rankings as well, behind the NFC rivals the Lions (No. 3) and Eagles (No. 4).

NFL.com - No. 6 (Last week: No. 4)

The Vikings dropped down two spots in the league's power rankings to No. 6, behind the Lions (No. 2) and the Eagles (No. 4).

CBS Sports - No. 6 (Last week: No. 4)

Minnesota fell to No. 6 in CBS' rankings, though still ranked as the third-best NFC team.

Yahoo! - No. 6 (Last week: No. 5)

Like CBS, Yahoo had the Vikings dropping to No. 6, saying, "One game doesn't change the fact that Sam Darnold has a great season."

Division Watch

Detroit goes into the postseason, while injured, riding the high of destroying a fellow double-digit win team, and the one that was rivaling them for the No. 1 seed in the conference. Green Bay lost Christian Watson for the season and saw Jordan Love leave early in their loss to the Bears. That's not great news for a team heading to Philadelphia to take on the Eagles this weekend.

Detroit Lions

Average ranking: No. 1.667 (Last week: No. 3.25)
Highest ranking: The Athletic/PFT/SI.com/Yahoo - No. 1
Lowest ranking: FOX/CBS - No. 3

Green Bay Packers

Average ranking: No. 8.5 (Last week: No. 7.625)
Highest ranking: SI.com - No. 7
Lowest ranking: FOX - No. 10

Chicago Bears

Average ranking: No. 24.5 (Last week: No. 25)
Highest ranking: PFT - No. 23
Lowest ranking: The Athletic - No. 27

Next up

Los Angeles Rams

Average ranking: No. 9.5
Highest ranking: FOX - No. 8
Lowest ranking: Yahoo/PFT - No. 11

NOTE: ESPN did not post updated power rankings at time of publication. If they do post them, we will add back into our list.