Power Rankings Compilation, Week 3

After an impressive victory against Carolina, I'd put the 1-2 Vikings around #17 on my personal power rankings -- good enough to be a highly ranked 1-2 team, but not quite enough to crack the top half. A victory this week against Tennessee, which is ranked in the top 5 in most polls, could be enough to vault the Vikings all the way into the top 10.

Not surprisingly, it's all about Gus Frerotte in this week's polls. ESPN.com's Kevin Seifert says:

19. Gus Frerotte is an improvement at quarterback. Now the Vikings have to keep him upright for 14 games.

Fox Sports' Adrian Hasenmayer says:

15. I Gus Frerotte can simply play the part of an NFL QB, this team can hope again. The Vikes won't have to adjust the offense very much with Frerotte, but just having a dependable deep ball should open up lanes for RBs Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor.

Yahoo.com's Michael Silver says:

15. In Gus they trust?

For now, yes.

SportingNews.com's Vinnie Iyer themed his week 4 polls around each team's "old guys," so it's not surprising that he would invoke the name of Gus as well:

19. They have many 10-plus year vets in key roles, including Ryan Longwell, Darren Sharper and Pat Williams. But the spotlight is on the 37-year-old under center, Gus Frerotte, to guide the team into the playoffs.

Because I want to add an eighth poll to my list, here's Ryan Stetson of Covers.com:

18. Next up on Minnesota's shopping list: A legit wide receiver.

We already (supposedly) got one of those. And we just (momentarily) figured out our quarterback situation. One glaring weakness at a time.

And here's the splash of cold water in your face, courtesy of SportsLine's Pete Prisco:

23. The move to Gus Frerotte paid off against Carolina. But let's see how he does against that nasty Tennessee defense.

Pete ranked the Vikings at #22 last week -- they won a game, in commanding fashion, and went down in his rankings. Remember, this is the same guy who thought the Vikings were the 24th best team in the league back in June. And this after we finally got a quarterback, Quarterback, QUARTERBACK to actually contribute to the team.

And here's the unnamed USAToday.com power rankings:

20. Back in the win column as the Gus Frerotte era has begun -- again.

#18 last week. #20 this week. A win ain't what it used to be.

SI.com's Dr. Z says:

18. They beat Carolina by 10 and looka here, seven places lower. Is this fair? [Carolina's #11] Is this just? Now you look! Indy beat the Vikes. Chicago beat Indy. Carolina beat Chicago. In the old days I'd solve this ring around the rosie by setting up ties in the standings, but copouts are not favored by the new administration, which comes armed with cuffs and billy clubs.

Just traversing this argument makes my head hurt. Yes, it makes sense that if Team A beats Team B, Team B beats Team C, and Team C beats Team A, someone has to be ranked lower than a team they beat. I get it.

But seriously...Carolina at #11?

My "WTF of the week" also goes to Dr. Z for ranking the Patriots at #6. He says "Let's not write them off after one weirdie, OK?" and that' s fine. But after barely beating the Chiefs and Jets -- teams that the '07 Patriots would have thrashed by at least 20 points each, they got slammed by the Dolphins. New England's far from the worst team in the league, but they're only borderline top 10 material, and certainly not on the edge of the top five.

The overall Viking average is 18.375 for these eight polls, a little lower than what I'd predicted. Take out Pete "I hate the Vikings" Prisco, and it goes up to 17.7. Not bad, and about what they deserve.

Now, here's hoping Philly loses and Washington beats Dallas so the sportswriters and pollsters can stop wetting themselves over how great the NFC East is.