The Vikings are one of five undefeated teams remaining in the NFL after a 22-10 victory on the road over the Carolina Panthers.
Minnesota returns back home to take on the New York Giants on *Monday Night Football *this week.
Let's see where the experts placed the Vikings on their power rankings lists heading into Week 4.
The Vikings continue to prove people wrong -- including this Game Picks idiot -- winning with whoever suits up on game day. Sunday's triumph at Carolina belonged to Everson Griffen, Marcus Sherels, Andrew Sendejo, Eric Kendricks, Kyle Rudolph and Kevin McDermott (that's the punter, folks). The defense sacked Cam Newton eight times, holding an offense that averaged over 31 points per game last year to 10. Kelvin Benjamin didn't catch a ball. Read that line again.
Vikings #3— **NFL.com**
The Vikings lead the NFL in sacks and have allowed the third-fewest points (13.3) this season. Quarterbacks *Kyle Rudolph and Shaun Hill have played well, but it is the defense that has carried the Vikings to their 3-0 start. *
Vikings #4— **ESPN**
Vikings #3— **SB Nation**
The Vikings continued to roll without three of their best offensive players on Sunday, and they did so against the defending NFC champs. Sam Bradford has taken hold of the offense, and Minnesota's defense is arguably the second best in the league.
Vikings #3— **FOX Sports**
Take a look at the most talented team in the NFC.
Even without *Adrian Peterson. Even without two starting offensive linemen. Sam Bradford threw a few perfect passes and — even against the defending conference champs — the Vikings pulled away.*
Why? Because Mike Zimmer's defense swarmed Cam Newton from the second quarter on. It picked him off three times, sacked him eight times and made his afternoon a living nightmare in the run game.
That sounds an awful lot like the way last year's Super Bowl champions won games. I'm on board.
Looking ahead:* These Vikings might eat Eli Manning alive.*
Vikings #3—Bleacher Report
Defense and coaching are great, offense is good enough. But here's hoping they don't need a field goal in the playoffs. Or an extra point.
Vikings #3— Pro Football Talk
*This is shaping up as the nastiest defense in the league. It's responsible for scoring 16 points and has 15 sacks and nine takeaways. *
Vikings #3— **USA Today**
The defense has made the leap. It has potential Pro Bowlers at almost every position, and it's finally coming together. The offense wasn't good on Sunday, and it didn't matter. The Vikes also *have a fantastic head coach. This is one of the best teams in the NFL.*
Vikings #4— **Yahoo Sports**
*This is a team that will be carried by the defense. That was a special game at Carolina. *
Vikings #3— **CBS Sports**
No Stefon Diggs, no Adrian Peterson, no Riley Reiff — no matter. Coach Mike Zimmer has managed to make his players believe that they still can manage to win games even without the players they've lost. It's working so far. New QB Sam Bradford and the defense are leading the way, and going to Carolina and beating the defending NFC champs was extremely impressive under the circumstances.
Vikings #3— **Washington Post**
