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The Vikings lost their Week 4 matchup against the Detroit Lions 14-7 at U.S. Bank Stadium and will head to Chicago to take on the Bears on Monday Night Football during Week 5.
The Bears are 1-3 after losing 35-14 to the Green Bay Packers on Thursday night at Lambeau Field. It was announced on Monday that the Bears will start rookie Mitch Trubisky at quarterback in place of offseason free agent acquisition Mike Glennon.
The experts released their Power Rankings lists heading into Week 5 on Tuesday morning.
We'll take a look at where the Vikings (2-2) rank after four weeks:
17 (Down 8 Spots): Elliot Harrison -**NFL.com**
Large shift down for the *Vikings, with Dalvin Cook's season-ending injury a huge factor. The hard-fought loss to the pesky Lions on Sunday didn't help matters. Case Keenum failed to muster the magic — The Keenum Magic! — he'd harnessed the week before versus the Bucs, and that's what ultimately wore his defense out. Those guys were out there all day, as the Vikings' offense only held the ball for 23 minutes and lost three fumbles. This is almost exactly what happened in Keenum's first start this season, when Minnesota's defense was forced to stay on the field against the Steelers far too long. That's three tough, close losses in a row to Detroit.*
17 (Down 6 Spots): ***ESPN.com** *
Kyle Rudolph* and Dalvin Cook are hurt, which means the Minnesota offense might not be as explosive moving forward, but the defense is still intact. The Vikings are allowing 19.0 points per game this season and 19.8 since 2014, sixth-best in that time.*
11 (Down 6 Spots): Frank Schwab –**Yahoo Sports*** *
With Dalvin Cook *out for the season, it just seems like we're going to be getting the 2016 Vikings all over again. And that's if Sam Bradford comes back soon. Cook's injury was brutal for a promising team.*
13 (Down 6 Spots): Chris Simms –**Bleacher Report**
The Minnesota Vikings are going to be mad at themselves when they go back and watch film from their game against the Detroit Lions. The Vikings were the better team, but they killed themselves with two turnovers at the start of the second half.
The Vikings started the half with a 7-3 lead, and then Jerick McKinnon fumbled. A series later, Dalvin Cook fumbled. Those mistakes were the difference in the game. When you give *Matthew Stafford a short field, he's going to make something happen.*
Cook also appeared to suffer a serious knee injury on the play, which will hurt this team long after Week 4. Missing *Sam Bradford due to injury was another issue. Case Keenum wasn't horrible against the Lions, but he missed some throws and some reads that Bradford would have made.*
This defense is still special, but when injuries and mistakes affect the offense, it's hard to win.
17 (Down 4 Spots):***USA TODAY* Sports**
*A Sam Bradford-Dalvin Cook backfield provided so much hope on opening night. It may never be together again if QB bolts next spring. *
17 (Down 4 Spots): Mark Maske –**Washington Post**
Dalvin Cook's *season-ending knee injury brings what had been an outstanding rookie year-in-the-making to an abrupt, early end. Latavius Murray takes over at RB and the Vikings will attempt to regroup Monday night at Chicago.*
18: (Down 11 Spots): Pete Prisco –**CBS Sports**
When do the injuries stop for this team? They lost rookie runner Dalvin Cook for the year with a torn ACL. Are they jinxed?
18: (Down 7 Spots): Vinnie Iyer –**Sporting News**
First Sam Bradford, and now Dalvin Cook for much longer term. That puts a lot of limitations on an offense that was just starting to explode with Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen. There's too much pressure on the defense now for the Vikings to hold up in the division.
This week: at Bears, where they'll face a rookie QB for a break
