As he outlined the Vikings' multifaceted effort to improve their offense this offseason, Mike Zimmer laid out a magic number: 21.
The Vikings, from 2014 to '16, were 20-3 when they scored at least 21 points. It was a modest enough threshold to reach on a weekly basis, Zimmer reasoned, that a team built on a stifling defense should win most games when its offense does its part.
"That's what we're trying to do: score 21 points, however we can do it," he said at his youth football camp May 20. "But I feel good about the things we've accomplished [in the offseason]."
Seven games into the 2017 season, Zimmer's hypothesis appears correct. The only two games the Vikings have lost were the two in which they failed to reach double digits. They had already recorded wins where they scored 34, 29 and 23 points (and just for good measure, one where they only reached 20).
And on Sunday, in a 24-16 victory over the Baltimore Ravens, the Vikings made perhaps their best statement about what they can do when their offense is self-sufficient.
Their reworked offensive line was down to a second-string left tackle and third-string left guard by the end of the day, after Riley Reiff and Jeremiah Sirles left with knee injuries. But before that, the group dutifully opened holes against an erratic Ravens run defense, helping Latavius Murray — who'd run for only 97 yards before Sunday — become the second Vikings running back this season to surpass 100 yards.
"When the O-line puts a hat on their guy and gets me to the second level [of the defense], that's the best feeling in the world for a back," Murray said. "That's all you can ask for. The rest is up to you at the second level. We had a lot of those today."
The Vikings weathered a handful of misfires from Case Keenum in the first half, none more costly than the first pass he threw. Keenum threw deep for Laquon Treadwell after a Danielle Hunter sack forced a Ravens punt, but Brandon Carr tipped the ball before corralling it at the Ravens 2 and returning it to the Baltimore 35.