Minnesota Vikings Top NFL, ESPN Power Rankings

MINNEAPOLIS, MN — Hey Minnesota Vikings fans, do you remember how you were feeling on Tuesday, Aug. 30? That was the fateful day in which quarterback Teddy Bridgewater suffered his season-ending injury. Upon learning of the injury, most fans and analysts thought there was little chance the team could return to the playoffs.

And then less than a month later, on Sept. 23, theVikings placed star running back Adrian Peterson on injured reserve after he suffered a torn meniscus against the Green Bay Packers week two.

And those are only a couple of the many injuries the team has been forced to deal with this season. And yet, here they are, going into their week six bye as the only undefeated team in the league, with quarterback Sam Bradford leading the way. And both ESPN and NFL power rankings place the Vikings on top.

POLL: Vikings Are 5-0, How Many More Games Will They Win?

Here's how ESPN profiled the sole undefeated team for this week's rankings:

Is there any doubt Mike Zimmer is the league's front-runner for Coach of the Year right now? He lost his starting quarterback before the season started, yet has the Vikings unbeaten heading into a bye thanks to a defense that is allowing the fewest points per game. The Vikings ranked last in PPG allowed in 2013, the season before Zimmer arrived in Minneapolis.

Both ESPN and the NFL place the New England Patriots behind the Vikings at number two. ESPN put the 4-1 Packers at number nine, while the NFL slots them at number seven.

After the week six bye, the Vikings will play their next game Sunday, Oct. 23 against the 4-1 Philadelphia Eagles.

Photo by Karl Brummer, used with permission