Take this with a grain of salt from the Washington Post this morning.
===

Solid playoff teams
9. Minnesota Vikings (2-1)
10. Denver Broncos (1-2)
11. Seattle Seahawks (2-1)
12. Washington Commanders (2-1)
13. Indianapolis Colts (3-0)

Nobody expected Daniel Jones to open the season playing like an MVP candidate for Indianapolis, but here we are. Indianapolis is off to a 3-0 start fueled by Jones’s clean passing and timely scrambles, along with running back Jonathan Taylor’s explosive ability.

The Vikings validated our (relatively) high ranking of them by blowing out the Bengals, 48-10.
===
Why take it with a grain of salt?  Check out his order and some rationale for the top:

Top contenders
1. Baltimore Ravens (1-2)
2. Buffalo Bills (3-0)
3. Green Bay Packers (2-1)
4. Detroit Lions (2-1)
5. Philadelphia Eagles (3-0)

Baltimore still at No. 1 despite two losses? Yes. But hear me out.

This is where these power rankings diverge, sometimes considerably, from those that are simply regurgitations of win-loss records. These rankings are more indicative of what a team will do the rest of the season, not what they have done so far in a three-game sample.

The Ravens’ two losses are by one point to the Buffalo Bills (which required some heroics by Bills quarterback Josh Allen and an uncharacteristic but pivotal fumble by Baltimore running back Derrick Henry) and one possession to the Detroit Lions (who played a virtually flawless game and benefited from another uncharacteristic Henry fumble), two of the four strongest teams in the NFL, per our ratings.

If you think that’s totally off the mark, consider that my power ratings set the spread for the upcoming game between the Ravens and Chiefs in Kansas City at Ravens -2, when the Vegas line is Ravens -2.5. In other words, the sportsbooks are even more bullish on Baltimore than I am.

Besides, the Packers’ loss to Cleveland underscored how fragile the top of the NFL can be. Green Bay’s banged-up offensive line left Jordan Love little chance against the Browns’ relentless pass rush. Still, the Packers remain part of an elite cluster alongside the Bills, Lions, Ravens and Eagles, all of whom have shown they can win ugly or pull away for big victories.

Strong challengers
6. Kansas City Chiefs (1-2)
7. Los Angeles Chargers (3-0)
8. Los Angeles Rams (2-1)

In the hunt for playoff spots
14. San Francisco 49ers (3-0)
15. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-0)
16. Arizona Cardinals (2-1)

Average teams
17. Pittsburgh Steelers (2-1)
18. Jacksonville Jaguars (2-1)
19. Houston Texans (0-3)
20. Dallas Cowboys (1-2)

Below-average teams
21. Chicago Bears (1-2)
22. Las Vegas Raiders (1-2)
23. Cleveland Browns (1-2)

Rebuilding phase
24. New England Patriots (1-2)
25. New York Giants (0-3)
26. Miami Dolphins (0-3)
27. Atlanta Falcons (1-2)
28. Cincinnati Bengals (2-1)
29. New York Jets (0-3)
30. Carolina Panthers (1-2)
31. Tennessee Titans (0-3)
32. New Orleans Saints (0-3)

Alec Lewis
@alec_lewis
·
12m
The Vikings' rushing attack through three games in 2025:

— EPA/rush: 0.10 (2nd)
— Success rate: 49.3 (3rd)
— Yards/carry: 4.8 (10th)

The Vikings' rushing attack in 2024:

— EPA/rush: -0.06 (18th)
— Success rate: 39.6% (17th)
— Yards/carry: 4.1 (16th)

Dustin Baker
@DustBaker

A team led by Kevin O'Connell, a former QB pass-happy playcalling merchant, is running the football at a Top 5 clip per playcalling percentage.

I repeat: A team led by Kevin O'Connell, a former QB pass-happy playcalling merchant, is running the football at a Top 5 clip per playcalling percentage.

To not only sign this unknown guy like Minnesota did, but have him perform like this is kind of unreal. 26 years old, very athletic. Bull strong, long arms. Active as hell. Great leverage. Some times guys are late bloomers and get a chance. One of my faves on D now. To see him listed in Jeff Simmons territory is amazing:

....looking good, bro. Not sure what happened in Week 1 against Green Bay, but your mojo is back. 224 yards rushing. Jared Goff is criminally underrated. 7 sacks and allowed NONE. In Baltimore. Going for it on 4th down. Scored on 98 and 96 yard drives. And on D, their sacks came all from their own draft picks: 1st round through 6th round. Hate them for sure, but impossible not to be impressed by what they've put together there. A well oiled machine. Hard not to be a little envious.

Meanwhile, I'm trying to remember Minnesota beating a Superbowl contending team on the road like this in such an impressive manner. What is it, 7 QBs have started in 3 years for the Vikings?

Being a long time Viking fan, I certainly have "kicker fatigue", but lets give a shout out to Reichert.  59 yarder at Soldier Field and then a 62 yarder vs. the Bengals.  Looks solid so far!

Defensive tackle Javon Hargrave is expected to be available in Dublin after playing only 11 snaps vs. the Bengals because of a rib injury. 
Tight end Ben Yurosek, the undrafted rookie, might not play due to a knee injury. O’Connell said only two players, tight end Gavin Bartholomew and running back Ty Chandler, will not join the team on the trip to Dublin and London for the next two games.


O’Connell’s film review confirmed he liked what he saw from Carson Wentz, who completed 14 of 20 passes for 173 yards and two touchdowns in his first Vikings start. Wentz will start again Sunday with J.J. McCarthy dealing with a sprained right ankle.

“Very sharp fundamentally,” O’Connell said. “There’s quite a few reps where the ground is the quarterback’s friend from a standpoint of keeping the foundation of your base; balance and body position in the ground so you can make quick decisions. I thought he progressed [through reads] multiple times. I thought he threw with anticipation.”

McCarthy is out of the walking boot now. O’Connell said Monday that the question of whether McCarthy will retain the starting job once he’s healthy “doesn’t require an answer.”

“First and foremost, he’s got to get healthy,” O’Connell said. “I don’t think it’s one of those things where ... he’s healthy the night before a game we’re going to throw him out there.”

O’Connell noted that McCarthy missed practice the week before the Falcons loss, adding, “When you’re in the phasing of building up 10,000 reps and 10,000 hours that it takes to play at a really high level, which we know J.J. McCarthy is going to do, you can’t cut corners on that.”

Addison returns
Receiver Jordan Addison will return to the field this week from a three-game suspension stemming from a 2024 drunken driving arrest. The 2023 first-round pick was a consistent standout on the practice fields during training camp. An adjustment to the NFL’s suspension rules this season allowed him to return to the team facility after one week, but he could not practice or play until this week.

“It’s phenomenal to get him back,” O’Connell said. “I know he’ll be in great shape. He’s been able to be in the building and in meetings and stay sharp mentally, so it’ll be just getting him a full week of work.”

https://www.vikings.com/news/donovan-jac...rgery-2025

Apparently his locker is next to JJ so he caught the injury bug

Has anything more stupid been done in recent memory in the NFL? Why aren't they being eviscerated by the media? Its insanity.

A: Harrison Smith

"Harrison Smith returned to the Vikings’ defense on Sunday and—poof—it once again became an amoebic machine of terror. This is Brian Flores’s vision, one that allows players to make their own determinations presnap. It just necessitates that those players happen to be available. And, man, was Harrison Smith available Sunday.

I left the Vikings-Bengals game wondering if this was one of the single greatest individual defensive plays I’ve seen in the past few years. Watch everything that Smith does leading up to the interception.

In short, Smith cut off each of Jake Browning’s first two reads. That was before he backpedaled out and tipped the eventual attempt to Isaiah Rodgers—who returned 87 yards for a touchdown.

When I passed the play around to a few coaches, the response I liked the most was simply the emoji of a goat. No added context. And, honestly, none needed.

Over the first two weeks of the season without Harrison Smith, the Vikings were eighth in EPA and ninth in opponent play success rate. With Sunday’s demolishing of the Bengals factored in, the Vikings are now first in total EPA and fifth in opposing play success rate."

- Conor Orr, SI.com

Oct 5 in London...not to look past the Steelers in Dublin, but...these are the Packer killers, now.

The Browns’ defense is legitimate
While the Browns almost certainly will not be relevant to the playoff race, their fast, bruising, complex defense could make them a spoiler all season long. Cleveland claimed its first victim Sunday with a stunning, 13-10 victory over the Green Bay Packers, who entered as a burgeoning juggernaut on 10 days’ rest. The Browns did not score until the fourth quarter, but their defense kept them within reach. They won, ultimately, because Shelby Harris blocked the Packers’ go-ahead field goal try with 27 seconds left and then rookie Andre Szmyt nailed a 55-yarder as time expired.

The Browns' defense harassed Jordan Love throughout their upset win over the Packers. 

No matter how the final sequence played out, Cleveland’s defense had proved it will be a force this year. Myles Garrett is an unblockable menace off the edge. Coordinator Jim Schwartz is still one of the best defensive play callers in the NFL. Rookie linebacker Carson Schwesinger, a second-round pick, is a sideline-to-sideline missile and a demon on the blitz.

The Browns have high-end individual talent, and the pieces fit together. They shut down Joe Burrow in Week 1 and mostly stifled Lamar Jackson in Week 2 despite the Baltimore Ravens’ 41 points. On Sunday, they limited the Packers to 3.8 yards per play and held Jordan Love to 183 passing yards. Cleveland may be a flaming dumpster of an organization, but its defense is — no kidding — a Super Bowl-caliber unit.