NFL Week 16 Power Rankings

No. 18 (up 1 spot): Frank Schwab – Yahoo! Sports

How does Kirk Cousins throw for just 87 yards against a Bears secondary that had everyone out due to COVID-19? That was one ugly win on Monday night.

No. 19 (down 1 spot): Pete Prisco – CBS Sports

They kept the Bears around Monday night, but found a way. They face a tough closing stretch of the season to try and lock up a playoff berth.

No. 19 (up 1 spot): NFL Staff – Bleacher Report

If the season ended today, the Minnesota Vikings would be in the playoffs.

After downing the rival Bears in Chicago, the Vikings have won two straight and four of six to reach 7-7 and take up residence, at least temporarily, in the NFC’s seventh and final playoff spot.

The bad news is that the Vikings didn’t much look like a playoff team Monday night. Kirk Cousins may have improved his woeful record on Mondays, but he did so completing just half his passes for 87 yards. Minnesota tallied just 193 yards of offense for the game.

That may have been good enough to beat the lowly Bears, but come next Sunday, the Vikings will be hosting the Los Angeles Rams. After that comes a trip to Green Bay.

In other words, unless the Vikings figure out a way to up their level of play in short order, their stay on the right side of the playoff cutoff line isn’t going to be a long one.