Minnesota Vikings Week 4 Stock Report

After back-to-back wins over 2014 playoff qualifiers, the 2-1 Minnesota Vikings are now one of only six teams in the NFC with a winning record. 

Week 1's disaster in San Francisco is nothing more than a distant memory. 

The Vikings physically dominated the Detroit Lions and San Diego Chargers in consecutive weeks, holding the two offenses to 30 combined points and beating up quarterbacks Matthew Stafford and Philip Rivers. 

Minnesota's arrow is now pointed directly up. 

In the following slides, we'll take a look at the Vikings' risers and fallers ahead of the club's Week 4 matchup with the Denver Broncos. 

Rising: Pro Bowl Potential of Everson Griffen and Harrison Smith

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Everson Griffen and Harrison Smith shouldn't book trips to Honolulu quite yet, but the Vikings defensive end and safety sure look well on their way to producing Pro Bowl seasons. 

Griffen terrorized the San Diego Chargers in Week 3. He finished with five quarterback hits and 1.5 sacks of Philip Rivers, including one where he spun off the block attempt of the left tackle to get to the Chargers quarterback. 

Griffen now has at least a partial sack in every game this season, and his three total sacks put him on pace for 16. Only two NFC defenders—Aaron Donald of the St. Louis Rams and Jacquies Smith of the Tampa Buccaneers—have more. 

Smith has been even better. 

According to Pro Football Focus, no safety has been better in 2015 than Smith, who has a positive grade stopping the run, covering the pass and rushing the quarterback. He's been the best at his position against the run, and opposing quarterbacks have only completed one pass against his coverage. 

While Smith doesn't have an interception or a sack, he's still producing at elite levels. It's time for the rest of the league to take notice. 

Falling: Hands at Tight End

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Teddy Bridgewater probably wasn't pleased with his tight ends after Sunday. Two big drops killed the second-year quarterback's final stat line.

Kyle Rudolph was the first offender. He dropped a fairly easy catch in the end zone in the first half. Drops happen, but Bridgewater was intercepted on the next play, turning what should have been a touchdown drive into an ugly turnover in the scoring area.

Rookie MyCole Pruitt took his turn in the second half. He had a chance to make a big play down the field on a well-thrown ball by Bridgewater, but the throw clanked off his hands and fell incomplete. 

Overall, Bridgewater finished with just 13 completions and 121 yards passing. Those numbers would have looked significantly better had his tight ends helped him out in the passing game. 

Rising: Adrian Peterson

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The NFL's rushing leader after three games is none other than Adrian Peterson.

After rushing for 134 yards against the Lions and 126 during Sunday's win over the Chargers, Peterson now has 291 on the season. He's on pace for 1,552.

No. 28 looked much like his old self against San Diego. 

According to Pro Football Focus, Peterson broke 10 tackles against the Chargers, including a handful on his 43-yard touchdown run. He gained 93 yards after contact, giving him 157 in three games. 

Peterson had no fumbles over 20 carries. 

More important, he's almost single-handedly powering the Vikings offense. Over the last two games, Peterson has produced 318 of Minnesota's 634 total yards.  

Falling: Xavier Rhodes

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Xavier Rhodes isn't falling because he left the Chargers game with a scary head injury. He's listed here due to an uncharacteristically poor first half. 

The Vikings cornerback allowed three catches for 79 yards against the Chargers. Two stood out. Late in the half, Rhodes lost Malcom Floyd deep on a 3rd-and-long. The play gained 39 yards. Soon after, Keenan Allen got behind Rhodes for a 34-yard touchdown. On the latter play, Rhodes took a shot to the head from safety Andrew Sendejo, allowing Allen to walk into the end zone. 

It's still unclear if Minnesota's top cornerback will play on Sunday. The Vikings need Rhodes healthy and competitive against Peyton Manning and the Broncos. 

Rising: Mike Zimmer's Pass Rush

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The Vikings have gotten back on track for a variety of reasons, but not many are as important as Minnesota's revived pass rush. 

A week after hitting Matthew Stafford eight times, Minnesota took aim at Philip Rivers, sacking him four times and hitting him on another dozen occasions. Both Stafford and Rivers left TCF Bank Stadium as hurting quarterbacks. 

"The more you can affect the quarterback, the better your defense is probably going to play," defensive end Everson Griffen said, via Craig Peters of the team's official site. "Our whole plan is to get after every quarterback so they’re not comfortable. If you can disrupt the quarterback over and over, you are going to win more games.”

The Vikings will have their toughest test of the season in Week 4. Peyton Manning is the master of winning in the pre-snap phase, which could negate some of head coach Mike Zimmer's exotic blitzes. He's also quick in getting the ball out of his hands. 

On the plus side, Manning has almost zero mobility, and the Denver offensive line isn't a strong unit. The Vikings could make a big statement by roughing up No. 18.