The Vikings are now 1-1-1 entering Week 4 of the 2018 NFL season.
Minnesota has a short week to prepare for the Rams (3-0), whom the Vikings will play on Thursday night in Los Angeles.
Experts from across the internet updated their power rankings, heading into this matchup of defending division champs.
Rank: 9
Last Week's Rank: 3 - **NFL.com, Elliot Harrison**
From time immemorial, the mighty have fallen when losing the turnover battle, no matter the foe. The 1968 Colts -- one of the greatest regular-season teams of all-time -- infamously fell to Joe Namath's guarantee partially because of turnovers. Dan Marino torched the NFL in his second year for the 14-2 Dolphins but fell in the Super Bowl because of two picks. (Not that we especially want to talk Super Bowls when it comes to the Vikings and Bills.)
Rank: 9
Last Week's Rank: 6 - **ESPN.com**
The Vikings ran the ball six times Sunday, tied for the fewest rushing attempts by any team in a game in NFL history. Dalvin Cook was inactive (hamstring) and has just 78 yards on 26 rushes this season (3.0 yards per rush). -- Clawson
Rank: 8
Last Week's Rank: 2 - **YAHOO! Sports, Frank Schwab**
It's hard to trivialize whatever Everson Griffen is going through by bringing it back to football. However, it's still tough for the Vikings on the field to lose — however long it might end up being — a three-time Pro Bowl end who had 13 sacks last season. That's not the most important thing right now, but it matters in a football sense.
Rank: 5
Last Week's Rank: 2 - **Bleacher Report Staff**
After settling for a tie in Week 2, the general belief was that an angry Minnesota Vikings team would take out its frustrations Sunday on the hapless Buffalo Bills. The point spread for the game was north of two touchdowns.
Well, there was most assuredly a hapless team on the field at U.S. Bank Stadium.
It was the Vikings.
In what has to be the most bizarre NFL game in recent memory, the Vikings — a team most saw as a Super Bowl front-runner — got the snot kicked out of them by a Bills team that looked like stinky poo over the first two weeks of the season.
Minnesota's high-octane offense gained the same number of yards (292) as Buffalo's sputtering attack. The Vikings didn't cross midfield in the first half against the Bills defense that entered the week averaging almost 40 points allowed per game.
It was a disaster. It was embarrassing. And it raised a whole bunch of questions about just how good these Vikings really are.
Rank: 12
Last Week's Rank: 4 - **Sporting News, Vinnie Iyer**
What was that? The Vikings' offensive line issues are one thing, but the defense also didn't look ready for Josh Allen. They need to dig deep to start looking as good as their talent dictates.
Rank: 6
Last Week's Rank: 4 - **SB Nation, Rebecca Toback**
Also moving down are the Vikings, who as previously mentioned, badly lost to a team we all thought was the NFL's worst. The Vikings' leading rusher in the game was Mike Boone with just 11 yards. Yup, 11.
Rank: 19
Last Week's Rank: 5 - **Nate Davis, USA TODAY Sports**
Kirk Cousins on pace for 741 passes, which would break Matthew Stafford's single-season record (727). Cousins getting paid per throw?
Rank: 12
Last Week's Rank: 7 - **Mike Florio, Pro Football Talk**
The Vikings draw a short-week short straw, facing the Rams in L.A. four days after the Rams played at home.
