Look to the fan on your left. Look to the fan on your right. Chances are all three of you have done it again.

You've seen the Vikings win a game and you've gone to their schedule and did what we all know we shouldn't do. You've counted your NFL wins and losses before they've been carefully hatched, bumbled away or fumble-floundered back to you.

The Vikings now have a six-week stretch in which they play four home games — Washington, Green Bay, Carolina and the Jets — and travel only to Chicago after a bye week. You've crunched the numbers and decided you can't see anything other than the 3-5 Vikings becoming the 7-6 Vikings en route to a rematch with the NFC North-leading Lions in Detroit on Dec. 14.

Or maybe you're thinking 8-5. After all, the Packers do have to play at TCF Bank Stadium, not Lambeau Field, where they jumped out to a 42-0 lead before Christian Ponder reportedly got warmed up in that 28-point loss on Oct. 2.

The thought of how pointless NFL predictions are came to mind when Vikings coach Mike Zimmer was asked Monday where he had expected his defense to be at the season's halfway point. The poor guy spoke honestly and still looked like he was passing another kidney stone.

"I have no idea," Zimmer said. "Honestly, I had no idea. I'm not trying to give you the media answer."

Vikings coach Mike Zimmer went the honest route when asked if his defense was where he expected it. “I have no idea,” he said.

That answer could be used heading into every NFL game. As long as turnovers, injuries and human beings remain unpredictable, good luck projecting the next contest, let alone the next five. For gosh sakes, the NFL is at the halfway point of the season and the NFC North already had two significant defenders — Detroit's Stephen Tulloch and Chicago's Lamarr Houston — suffer season-ending knee injuries while celebrating sacks.

"I don't ever go out saying … 'OK, we're going to be this record or we're going to be this good on defense or we're going to be this good on offense,' " Zimmer said. "Each week is a different week in the NFL."

The 32-team league has 16 teams that have beaten opponents that now have winning records and lost to opponents that now have losing records.

The Saints beat a Packers team that had won four consecutive, but lost to a Falcons team that has lost five in a row. The Cowboys won at Seattle, but lost at Washington.

The Colts shut out the Bengals one week and gave up 51 to the Steelers the next week. The Rams beat the Seahawks, but lost by 28 to the Vikings.

The Chiefs and Colts were 0-4 after two weeks. They're 9-2 since then. The Panthers and Texans were 4-0 after two weeks. They're 3-8-1 since then.

As for the Vikings, well, linebacker Chad Greenway was spot on Sunday when he said, "You never apologize for a win in the NFL." But we will offer some perspective for those who still want to make assumptions a week to six weeks ahead of time.

The combined record of the three teams the Vikings have beaten is 5-17 (.227). Also, the only teams without a victory against an opponent with a current winning record are the Vikings, Giants, Falcons, Jets and Raiders. The 1-6 Buccaneers beat a team (Pittsburgh) that has as many victories as the combined total of the three teams the Vikings have beaten.

Another stat that will be gaining attention this week is the Vikings' No. 4 ranking in pass defense. And, yes, the Vikings are improving wonderfully in that area.

However …

They've also spent the past two weeks turning Kyle Orton into Joe Montana at his two-minute best and allowing Mike Glennon to go 10-for-12 for 123 yards and a touchdown to erase a 10-point fourth-quarter lead.

So, yeah, hats off to the Vikings and Zimmer's defense for Sunday's victory at Tampa Bay. But cooler heads will be siding with Zimmer's voice of reason if the hype gets out of hand this week.

"We've played eight games," Zimmer said. "We still have a long way to go to be where I want to get to."

Mark Craig mark.craig@startribune.com