NFL Power Rankings: Predicting every team's record after minicamp in 2024

26. Minnesota Vikings: 6-11

Are enough people talking about how substantial the loss of Kirk Cousins will be for the Minnesota Vikings this year? We saw a glimpse last season, but the Vikings made some strong in-season adjustments and actually ended up having a pretty good run there for a while after Cousins was injured.

But now, it’s the Sam Darnold or JJ McCarthy show. The Vikings locked in Justin Jefferson to a monstrous contract extension, so they’ve got weapons for their quarterback to throw to. Not only that, but they’ve got a really good head coach in Kevin O’Connell. The questions for this Vikings team are whether or not the defense can hold up over the course of a 17-game season and how much their quarterback play is going to “cost” them. It wouldn’t surprise me if the Vikings are touching nine wins by the end of the season, and it wouldn’t surprise me if they were flirting with only five, either. 

They’re a tough team to project this year.

25. Seattle Seahawks: 6-11

Just like the New England Patriots (alright, maybe slightly different), the Seattle Seahawks are moving on from the best coach in franchise history. Seattle hired Mike Macdonald away from the Baltimore Ravens, and if he can transform that Seattle defense quickly, this prediction could look ridiculous and foolish in a hurry.

The Seahawks have felt like an overachieving team for the last couple of years. They got some rather unexpected production out of Geno Smith who was in competition for the starting job with Drew Lock just two years ago. How long until the clock strikes midnight on that? Or will it?

This is a team that somehow won nine games last season despite having the 17th-ranked scoring offense and the 25th-ranked scoring defense. Pete Carroll didn’t exactly leave Mike Macdonald a juggernaut, but the cupboard isn’t bare, either. A lot of the Seahawks’ success this year will depend on how well Geno Smith (or Sam Howell) can play.