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The Minnesota Vikings have lost two straight and four of their last five to drop to 6-6 on the year. That's not good enough for a playoff spot, but they are just a game behind the Seattle Seathawks for he last Wild Card spot, along with three other teams. As a result, the consensus in Internet power rankings land is that Minnesota is as mediocre as their .500 record indicates.
The SB Nation, ESPN and FOX power rankings all have Minnesota in a pretty average place. SBN and ESPN placed the Vikings at 17th, the same place SBN had them last week and only a spot lower than ESPN had them. FOX had Minnesota 17th a week ago, but Sunday's loss to the Packers pushed them two spots down to 19th.
That the Vikings are mediocre without decent quarterback play is pretty impressive, but then again, they have Adrian Peterson, who is about five steps above impressive. Just ask SBN:
17. Minnesota Vikings (LW: 17, 6-6): Adrian Peterson is so ridiculous. The 6.2 yards per carry would be one of the highest averages in NFL history. Jim Brown holds the all-time record at 6.4. And AP is doing this off of a torn ACL.
Did Peterson's torn ACL make him better? No, that's ridiculous. The more plausible explanation is that he's a freak and torn ACL's don't slow him down. He is a machine.