Week 5 NFL Power Rankings: Bills soar past stagnant Titans, Steelers

14. Minnesota Vikings (+4)

I think the Vikings are a really good team, but they took a little bit of time to adjust to a new offense that didn’t understand how to emphasize the strengths of that roster.

There is a chance that the Vikings are going to get to add Danielle Hunter to the pass rush at some point this season, and the cornerbacks are going to get healthy eventually. In the meantime, the past two games have been huge for reminding us what the Vikings might be.

In the last two games, the Vikings “Big 3” have put up these numbers:

Justin Jefferson: 11 receptions, 278 yards, 1 TD

Dalvin Cook: 310 rushing yards, 3 TDs

Adam Thielen: 11 receptions, 143 yards, 2 TDs

That is outstanding and that level of production can still bring this team to the NFL playoffs.

13.San Francisco 49ers (-3)

I was ready to rank the 49ers inside the top-10 again this week, but then Kyle Shanahan made a move to change quarterbacks and it through me for a loop.

See, I thought that Nick Mullens was someone that they trusted and someone that this coaching staff had faith in, so that made me believe that Mullens was going to be a solid option for them. However, they switched to C.J. Beathard with the game on the line and it worked well enough, but it makes me concerned that they aren’t really committed to either guy.

Long term I have no problem with that, but having quarterbacks scared that someone is going to come take their job if they take a risk, isn’t going to yield good results. All of the confidence that I had in the 49ers ability to go .500 without Jimmy G and all of the good will built up from the New York Giants game just went completely out the door.