Better health and a forgiving post-bye schedule were always the recipe for the Ravens to bounce back from a 1-5 start, but Sunday’s tilt in Minnesota always felt pivotal.

Not only was it a critical step in the quest to have a winning record by Thanksgiving, but the Vikings were the last opponent with as much as a .500 record that Baltimore would face until the first of two critical showdowns with Pittsburgh come Week 14. Even the Ravens’ harshest critics acknowledged they were better than they looked at their worst a month ago, but it’s still fair to question just how good they are, which made the Vikings a litmus test as they were coming off their best performance of the season last week.

A 27-19 win may not suggest the Ravens are the juggernaut they’ve been at their best in recent regu

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