They returned from their brief Thanksgiving break Monday as one of four NFL teams with nine victories, owners of the second-best record in the NFC and an inside path to a first-round bye in the playoffs.
The 9-2 Vikings, though, are not without their flaws. What's more, they're making no attempt to gloss over them.
Whether because of hard-earned lessons from a 5-0 start followed by a 3-8 finish last year, or because they've taken on coach Mike Zimmer's exacting nature, the Vikings seem in no hurry to tout their Super Bowl credentials at this point. Not with two critical road games coming up, a playoff spot still to be clinched and a few weaknesses to upgrade.
"It doesn't matter if you're 9-2, 11-0 or 2-9, [Zimmer is] going to focus on what we're not doing well," tight end Kyle Rudolph said. "That's just kind of the way we go about things here, and it's always better to go back and make corrections after a win. They're a lot easier to make after wins, but wins don't cover that up."
Special teams was likely at the top of the list after the Vikings' 30-23 victory over the Detroit Lions last Thursday, a game that could have caused the Vikings less anxiety had they not had a field goal and an extra point blocked.
The Vikings also had a 38-yard Marcus Sherels kick return wiped out by a holding penalty, and Kai Forbath's final field-goal attempt of the day was blocked by Darius Slay, though the Lions defensive back was flagged for jumping offside in a desperate attempt to keep the Vikings from building a two-possession lead in the game's final minute.
"We have to get better in that area," Zimmer said Friday. "I don't think it was really the kicker. He didn't really get an opportunity. Like I said, the one we didn't get the ball caught and put on the ground good enough and the other one got blocked. I don't really think it was [Forbath]. We had a couple poor punts. We had a couple good punts. We didn't cover very well — well enough, anyway. In general, we have to be better on special teams."
And while the Vikings have allowed only 12 sacks — tied for the fewest in the league — they've needed some ingenuity to avoid giving up more of them. According to Football Outsiders, Vikings quarterbacks have been pressured on 34.6 percent of their dropbacks this seasons, which is the fifth-highest figure in the league.