NFL Power Rankings, Week 12: Rams bounce back with win over Bears

7. Minnesota Vikings (7)

After knocking off the Dallas Cowboys on the road the week before, one can only imagine the high level of frustration there would have been surrounding the Minnesota Vikings if they lost at home Week 11 to the Denver Broncos.

All due respect to the Broncos, but this should have been one of those easy wins for the Vikings when seeing how the two teams compare on paper.

Whatever adjustments Mike Zimmer made at halftime after Minnesota found themselves trailing 20-0 to Denver, they certainly worked after the Vikings ended up fighting back in the second half to earn the 27-23 win.

Plenty of players deserve credit on both sides of the football for helping Minnesota rally in the second half, but Kirk Cousins deserves a ton of credit for finishing the second half with three touchdown passes.

Entering Week 11, the Vikings controlled their own playoff destiny hanging on to the No. 6 playoff spot in the NFC, and a loss to the Broncos would have made plenty of other contenders in the conference happy to give them a better chance.

Once again, after some of the previous criticism received by Cousins early on in the year, the Minnesota quarterback continues to step up in times when the Vikings need him the most.