20. Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings have four wins this season, but the NFC North is probably too competitive for them to make any real noise here in the second half of the season. Even with a shocking win against the Detroit Lions a couple of weeks ago, the Vikings didn’t have much margin for error, and a loss against the Bears – in absolutely heartbreaking fashion, on top of it all – is possibly going to put a playoff spot out of reach for this team.
You can’t put anything past a Kevin O’Connell coached team, because they’re known for playing above expectations and winning situationally, but it’s not looking good for Minnesota.
Speaking of, the early returns on quarterback JJ McCarthy have been rough. The Vikings obviously need to continue to let him develop and grow, but the crew calling the game at times was questioning where McCarthy was throwing the ball. The accuracy just wasn’t there against the Bears. He showed some guts late in this game, but has to be better overall.
19. Houston Texans
It really doesn’t matter how you get ‘em, it just matters that you do. The Houston Texans have quietly, almost silently, won three of their last four games after getting a tight one against the Titans on Sunday.
Pardon the terrible puns, it’s part of the deal around here.
The Texans have the #1 defense in the NFL, and that has proven to be quite useful over the last month as they’ve managed to scrape and claw their way back into the AFC Wild Card and AFC South picture. Davis Mills is holding down the fort right now for the injured CJ Stroud, whose concussion against Denver a couple of Sundays ago has become rather concerning.
In the short term, Stroud’s availability (and the quality of his play coming back from a concussion) will be massive for this Texans team. Not that Davis Mills can’t do a good job against better teams, but the Texans have games upcoming against the Bills, Colts, and Chiefs. This is going to be a crucial stretch of games for that team figuring out a way to stay in the mix, or they’ll be buried by the start of December.