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For the second time in three weeks, a Vikings quarterback earned the top rating from ESPN for his play.
It was Case Keenum's turn this time after he led Minnesota to a 34-17 win over Tampa Bay on Sunday.
Keenum completed 25 of 33 passes for a career-high 369 yards. His three touchdown passes tied a career high, and his passer rating of 142.1 was the second-best of this career.
The performance earned Keenum a 94.6 rating from ESPN, which wrote:
The Vikings Keenum has played just two games, but only Tom Brady has a higher Total QBR thus far in 2017. Not bad for Sam Bradford's backup. On Sunday, the Bucs dialed up a blitz on 14 of Keenum's dropbacks — only two QBs faced a blitz more times in Week 3 — and he made them pay. His most valuable play of the day — a 17-yard touchdown pass to Stefon Diggs in the final minute of the first half — was one of three scores Keenum produced versus five or more pass-rushers.
Bradford was the top-ranked quarterback after his Week 1 performance with a mark of 93.9. He threw for 346 yards and three scores against New Orleans.
Vikings Head Coach Mike Zimmer said Sunday that Bradford is day-to-day with a knee injury.
Holler: Plenty of intrigue for NFC North battles
The NFC North has been the odd man out so far this season.
While the seven other divisions around the league have seen at least one intra-division game, the Vikings, Packers, Bears and Lions all have yet to meet up.
John Holler of Viking Update recently wrote that with divisional play starting this week for the NFC North, there is plenty of intrigue surrounding the matchups.
Holler wrote:
*Three games into the season, there has yet to be a game between division opponents. That's going to change this week, as the Packers host the Bears on Thursday and the Vikings host the Lions on Sunday. *
*With the opportunity to bank wins outside their division before getting into the fight for in-division supremacy, a case can be made that all four teams have met or exceeded expectations. *
There is currently a three-way tie atop the division as Minnesota, Green Bay and Detroit are all 2-1. Chicago is 1-2.
Holler said the NFC North could eventually make its case as one of the toughest divisions in the league.
*When all is said and done, maybe history will remember the AFC West and NFC South as the best top-to- bottom divisions in football in 2017, but, with a growing sample size of the NFC North playing outside the division, you can realistically say that – if not for a pair of last-second losses in which the odds said they should win (the Lions and Bears against Atlanta), the NFC North could have a combined record of 9-3. *
