Vikings Rumors: Tip-Top Playoff Odds, A Player Demoted, and The Purple Sky Staying Put
Since we’re officially into the portion of the year when Vikings rumors are ramping up, we’ll be highlighting some of the purple rumblings.
The “Vikings Rumor Wrangle” is a series that keeps readers informed on what’s being whispered about in Vikings Land. In this iteration, we discuss Minnesota’s playoffs odds according to the model on The New York Times/The Athletic, a Viking being demoted, and how the sky isn’t falling (as many thought ahead of the Week 9 win).
Vikings Rumors: 11.06.2024
Rumor #1 — The Vikings are Sitting on Excellent Odds to Make the Playoffs
A 6-2 record has that effect, doesn’t it?
The New York Times/The Athletic has a predictive model for which teams are going to waltz into the postseason. Scroll down to the #9 spot and you’ll find the Minnesota Vikings. They’re projected to finish with an 11-6 record and have an 84% chance of getting into the final dance.
Dig into the numbers a bit more and you’ll see that the Vikings (apparently) have a 19% chance of claiming the NFC North. Basically anyone would have taken those odds at the beginning of the season.
When it comes to a 1st-Round bye, the Vikings have a 9% chance. Winning the Super Bowl — yes, the Super Bowl — stands at a 5% chance. Add it all together and fans should be feeling good about those numbers.
Rumor #2 — A Vikings Playmaker Has Recently Been Demoted
A tumble down the depth chart for Ty Chandler.
In Week 9, the talented Vikings playmaker didn’t earn any carries for a Minnesota offense that was committed to running the ball. Even worse, there were no targets sent in his direction. Instead, Cam Akers got the nod to be the RB2, turning 6 carries into 46 yards for an impressive 7.7 yards-per-carry average. Does Minnesota have a new hierarchy among the running backs?
For the season, Chandler has 44 carries for 151 scoreless yards. The 3.4 yards-per-carry average is uninspiring, to say the least. Even more damning is that he hasn’t earned a single touch in consecutive weeks. The last time Chandler got touches in the offense was coming out of the bye in the Detroit game. Chandler had 2 carries go for 4 yards.
Sunday night, Sam Darnold targeted ten different Vikings players. Justin Jefferson feasted — 7 catches for 137 yards and an eye-popping 19.6 yards-per-catch average — but the goal was clearly to get a lot of pass catchers involved.
All five receivers got at least a single target. All three tight ends got at least a single target. Just two of the three running backs — Aaron Jones & Cam Akers — got targets in the passing game. To their credit, Jones and Akers turned a collective 6 targets into 6 catches for 25 yards. So, not huge yardage (the screen game didn’t work) but there’s something to be said for catching the ball every time.
Missing within all of that is Ty Chandler. The third-year player doesn’t lack for speed or talent, but he has struggled in 2024 after showing some promise to finish off the 2023 season. In theory, Chandler should be able to contribute given that he’s so explosive but he is currently an afterthought for the offense.
Rumor #3 — After Some Wailing and Gnashing of Teeth, The Vikings’ Sky Isn’t Falling
Admittedly, things weren’t always pretty in Week 9. Will Reichard left six points on the field — possibly due to injury — while Sam Darnold was involved in turning the ball over a trio of times. Oh, and the interior of the o-line got demolished several times. Much to improve upon.
Nevertheless, the point remains: the sky isn’t falling in the way it did back in 2016. Consider what’s to come for the Minnesota Vikings:
- Week 10: at Jaguars, 12:00 p.m.
- Week 11: at Titans, 12:00 p.m.
- Week 12: at Bears, 12:00 p.m.
- Week 13: Cardinals, 12:00 p.m.
As discussed in the above-linked TVG piece (read here), there’s a lot of mediocrity coming up (with the Jags and Titans closer to outright futility). Put simply, Minnesota has no business losing in the coming weeks. Yes, going on the road for three-straight weeks is a tough ask, but if it needs to happen then the opponents might as well be the Jaguars, Titans, and Bears.
Brian Flores’ defense got back on track against Indianapolis and Kevin O’Connell’s offense now has its full array of weapons. Any chance the special teams can bounce back, giving Minnesota a top-to-bottom complete team that can hang with basically anyone?
At the end of the day, anything can happen in the NFL. Any given Sunday, as they say. The current outlook, though, should be one of cautious optimism since the Vikings are sitting on a strong 6-2 record and moving into some very winnable weeks.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference helped with this piece.
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K. Joudry is the Senior Editor for Vikings Territory and PurplePTSD. He has been covering the Vikings full time since the summer of 2021. He can be found on Twitter, as a co-host for Notes from the North, and as the proprietor at The Vikings Gazette, a humble Vikings Substack.