NFL Power Rankings confirm suspicion that Vikings remain underrated mostly because of Sam Darnold

The Minnesota Vikings have had a ton of success this season in going 8-2, but five of their wins have come against the AFC. They beat the New York Jets in London while also sweeping the AFC South with their final win being against the Tennessee Titans this past Sunday 23-13. Head coach Kevin O'Connell […]

Tyler Forness — NFL & College Football News Writer
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Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold (14) runs into position to pass during the first quarter against the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024.
Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Minnesota Vikings have had a ton of success this season in going 8-2, but five of their wins have come against the AFC.

They beat the New York Jets in London while also sweeping the AFC South with their final win being against the Tennessee Titans this past Sunday 23-13. Head coach Kevin O'Connell is 11-4 all-time against the AFC with season sweeps in both 2022 and 2024. It's become a constant for the Vikings and any win is a good win.

Was the win over the Titans enough to vault them in the latest NFL power rankings? Well, some analysts aren't quite sold on this team led by Sam Darnold.

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ESPN's NFL Nation

Last week: 8
This week: 6

Preseason hot seat: GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah
Current temperature of hot seat: Cold

Adofo-Mensah is the general manager of a team that has surprised the NFL by starting 8-2 despite the season-long loss of rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy (knee). His 2024 draft hasn't helped much, similar to the 2022 and 2023 drafts, but Adofo-Mensah's free agent class — including linebackers Jonathan Greenard, Andrew Van Ginkel and Blake Cashman, along with cornerback Stephon Gilmore — has been fantastic. There was never a high likelihood that Adofo-Mensah would be fired this winter, but the team's performance raises the chances that he will receive a contract extension. — Kevin Seifert

Yahoo! Sports' Frank Schwab

Last week: 11
This week: 10

The Vikings have five games left against teams that are at least .500, and two games against the Bears, who won’t be an easy out. The Vikings are in great shape, but there are some tests ahead.

CBS Sports' Pete Prisco

Last week: 7
This week: 6

Sam Darnold got back on track and played a solid game against the Titans. They needed to see that after two below-average games.

NFL.com's Eric Edholm

Last week: 6
This week: 6

Kevin O'Connell gave Sam Darnold a postgame vote of confidence, both to the media and to Darnold himself in the locker room victory speech. KOC called it a game he'll remember for a long time for the struggle; not too many teams turn it over three times, fail to score a touchdown and win on the road. Sunday was the first of three straight road games for Minnesota, and almost all of the Vikings' remaining opponents are still in contention. This week's foes, the Titans, are only nominally in contention, but they have caused some issues for opposing quarterbacks this season. Minnesota could be in a vastly different situation if J.J. McCarthy hadn't been injured in August, but that's neither here nor there now. The Vikings know they have to throw their full weight behind Darnold if they're going to shake this post-bye malaise. He's really their best shot, warts and all, but it's nice to know the defense can still bail out the offense.

USA Today's Nate Davis

Last week: 8
This week: 7

They're a league best 5-0 against the AFC. If only those wins didn't count for so little in the tiebreaker department.

The Sporting News' Vinnie Iyer

Last week: 8
This week: 6

The Vikings restored some steady play for Sam Darnold on the road, and their defense had no trouble with a very limited Titans offense. They can strengthen their wild-card position in the NFC North with the Bears and Cardinals up next.

Bleacher Report's NFL Staff

Last week: 8
This week: 7

    The Vikings feel like a team that could win 13 games and then fall flat in the Wild Card Round.

    Darnold has been an above-average starter this season, but he continues to make a handful of questionable decisions every week. The secondary is turnover-dependent and a potential liability against the quarterbacks it can expect to face in the playoffs. — Knox

    Sports Illustrated's Conor Orr

    Last week: 5
    This week: 6

    Sam Darnold was the third-best performer against the Titans this season, which doesn’t feel significant until one realizes that the Titans are the second-most zone-heavy team in the NFL. Darnold has shredded man coverage this season but has struggled against teams that play a higher load of zone. Much like we’re talking about Jayden Daniels seeing a lot of deep coverage looks, teams adjusted to Darnold, caused a bit of a squeeze statistically, and now we see him coming out the other side like good quarterbacks do. 

    The Ringer's Diante Lee

    Last week: 10
    This week: 11

    Every bit of Minnesota’s 23-13 victory over Tennessee felt like an exercise in closing out a win as quickly as possible. Despite converting just five of its 14 third-down attempts, Minnesota’s offense possessed the ball for more than half the game. Quarterback Sam Darnold gave this offense a reprieve from the dangerous throws that turned into interceptions in Jacksonville last week, and that kept the Vikings from having to sweat this one out.

    To me, the Vikings clearly aren’t Super Bowl contenders, but the NFC North is still theoretically in play for them, and they’ve banked enough early-season wins to feel safe about their spot in the playoff hunt.

    Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio

    Last week: 8
    This week: 7

    The Vikings are simply not fun to watch.

    The Athletic's Josh Kendall

    Last week: 8
    This week: 7

    Seat temperature check: Cold

    Is there one knock on Kevin O’Connell? Of the 10 head coaches hired in 2022, he’s the winningest and one of only two with a winning record. He moved to 28-16 Sunday. O’Connell survived Kirk Cousins’ season-ending injury last year. He’s thriving this year after J.J. McCarthy’s season-ending injury. He was smart enough and secure enough to hire Brian Flores as his defensive coordinator. Honestly, find a person who will say something bad about him.

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