The Vikings' victory over Baltimore on Sunday was necessary and unimpressive. The Vikings did what they had to do against a limited team with few offensive weapons.

The victory sets them up to be 6-2 at the midpoint of the season. It also indicated that they're going to need to be better and healthier in the second half of the season than they are right now.

Case Keenum looked occasionally lost but was bailed out by Kai Forbath's kicking and Latavius Murray's first big game as a Viking.

Murray became the first Viking since Dalvin Cook in Week 1 to rush for 100 yards.

The Vikings' defense was dominant, but with the Ravens lacking healthy receivers and Joe Flacco playing like he sold his soul for that one Super Bowl, the Vikings' defense should have been dominant.

Essentially, the Vikings get two bye weeks in which to prepare for the tough second half - this Sunday in London against the woeful Browns, and then the actual bye.

Watching Keenum play leads to the continuing question: Can Sam Bradford recover from his knee injury, or can Teddy Bridgewater get up to speed after having recovered from his?

The Vikings are one flight away from being 6-2, but they won't get to face many more teams as bad as the Ravens and Browns.

This is my instant reaction blog filed at the end of the game. My full column, most likely on Murray's emergence, will be in the Monday paper and on startribune.com.

You can find my podcasts at MNSPN.com

@Souhanstrib