The Minnesota Vikings returned to the win column on Sunday night after rallying in the second half to defeat a feisty Indianapolis Colts team that had held them scoreless through the first 30 minutes. Minnesota emerged with a 21-13 win as Sam Darnold threw three touchdown passes and showed a few turnovers wouldn’t throw him off the court.

Darnold is a very interesting player to study. After moving the ball up and down the field early on and not having any points on the board, the quarterback didn’t panic. He took a deep breath and started again after the break.

He threw touchdown passes to Jordan Addison, Jalen Nailor and Josh Oliver, and that was enough to overcome two interceptions and sack/strip/recovery returned by the Colts for a touchdown in the second quarter.

Darnold was more than resilient in the game. Despite the interceptions, he was incredibly accurate, completing 28 of 34 passes for 290 yards. There were several points in the game – especially in the first half – when the Colts pass rush breathed fire and hammered Darnold as he tried to get into the pocket. If Darnold wasn’t worth it, he would have been affected by the four sacks he had and the other hard hits he took in the game.

He is not an MVP candidate, as some claimed early in the season when he led the Vikings to surprising – shocking – victories over the 49ers, Texans and Packers. But he is a good, solid quarterback who is a lot better than the player who struggled for the first six years of his career with the Jets and Panthers before taking on a backup role with the Niners.

Give Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Kevin O’Connell credit for bringing him into the fold, making him feel like a worthy starter and then giving him a path to follow to success. This is probably O’Connell’s greatest strength. He knows how to handle quarterbacks and he can lead them to significant improvements by building their confidence and helping them improve their skills. As a result, O’Connell can be significantly better than most head coaches who don’t have those skills.

“My confidence in Sam will be a winning edge for our football team,” O’Connell said.

The Vikings are a solid team at this point in the year, and by the time they face the Bears in Chicago in Week 12, there’s a good chance they’ll have an 8-2 record. Their journey through the AFC South continues over the next two weeks in road games against the Jacksonville Jaguars (2-7) and Tennessee Titans (2-6), and neither of those teams should beat the Vikings.

That also applies to the Bears, a team that has suffered back-to-back brutal losses and fallen to last place in the NFC North. Chicago’s coaching staff is under fire and their starting quarterback is being abused too much at this point in the season.

The Vikings will be tested several times after Thanksgiving, and it will be up to Darnold, Justin Jefferson, TJ Hockenson and Aaron Jones to get the job done on offense while Brian Flores leads an overachieving defense.

That unit has a chance to return to its best form when linebacker Blake Cashman returns from his toe injury. That will likely come against the Jaguars. But even if the team is operating at its highest level, the Vikings aren’t on the same level as the Detroit Lions or possibly a healthy 49ers team.

The Lions are the best team in the NFC and appear to have a significant lead. The Vikings are currently in a bracket with the Packers, Falcons and Eagles, and they need to keep building if they want to find a way to show they can compete with the NFC’s most dangerous opponents.

While Minnesota has done well so far, its biggest tests will come in the final four weeks of the season.