NFL Power Rankings: Vikings ‘Higher’ After Creed Song & Win at Bears
O’Connell on Keys To Finding Offensive Success Without Jefferson, Pressuring The Opposing QB Well and More
The Vikings are singing a different tune this week thanks to some stifling
defensive plays, a critical 2-minute drill on offense and, an addition to the pregame music inside their locker room.
Inspired by the MLB’s Texas Rangers – who are currently two wins away from reaching their first World Series since 2011 – Minnesota’s players decided to switch up what they would listen to before a pivotal road game at Chicago on Sunday. It worked, as the Vikings defeated the Bears 19-13 to earn their first division victory of the season and fifth consecutive over Chicago.
Which group did the team add, you ask? I’ll let quarterback Kirk Cousins explain:
“[Center] Garrett Bradbury in the locker room pregame took a clip from the Texas Rangers and made sure that Creed got played before we went out on the field, and I felt like that may have made the difference. We got that going for us,” Cousins said during his postgame press conference. “The Rangers have been playing Creed, and they’re rolling in the playoffs. We thought we’d mix up the genre a bit, get some Creed in there. Garrett made sure it happened and it was well-received.”
“They’ve got quite a catalog, but we started with ‘Higher’ this week. We didn’t want to overstep our bounds,” Cousins quipped. “Next week maybe we can see what we go to from there.”
The victory helped the Vikings (2-4) climb the ladder in a few lists in this week’s Power Rankings.
Here’s a look at where the Vikings rank heading into Week 7:
Cousins: It Feels Really Good To Get A Road Win In The Division
No. 25 (no change): Eric Edholm, NFL.com
The good news is that the Vikings are now 1-0 without Justin Jefferson this season. The bad news: The offense didn’t really have much to do with Sunday’s 19-13 win in Chicago. The hope was that Jordan Addison, T.J. Hockenson and maybe Alexander Mattison could each help absorb some of Jefferson’s yards, and they did, at least to some extent – but the offense really labored outside of the impressive touchdown drive right before halftime. In six second-half possessions, Minnesota gained 36 yards. That left the team’s fate in the hands of the defense. Say the words “backup QB” to a Vikings fan and watch the color leave that face. Chase Daniel, Cooper Rush and Matt Moore are recent QB2s who have beaten Minnesota, and it looked for a second like Tyson Bagent would join the illustrious club before the defense forced two critical second-half turnovers
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