NASHVILLE, Tenn. — As the Vikings licked their wounds a few weeks ago, they did so knowing they had some winnable games coming up on the schedule. A tour through the lowly AFC South offered a chance to get back on track. No word yet on if the Vikings are petitioning to stay in the division for good. After scrapping their way to wins over the Indianapolis Colts and Jacksonville Jaguars over the past couple of weeks, the Vikings followed a similar script in a 23-13 win over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday afternoon at Nissan Stadium. Though it wasn’t the blowout it looked like it could have been, the Vikings got the job done and boast an 8-2 record as a result. That’s more than enough for coach Kevin O’Connell right now, especially because he knows the Vikings still have much room to improve moving forward. “I know that it would probably be really fun for us to just steamroll the NFL every single week,” O’Connell said. “It’s just not the way it’s going to go, which also, in my opinion, provides a lot of opportunity to grow and get better and understand exactly what happened on some of the plays that they made, either offense, defense or special teams.” It was a bounce back game for quarterback Sam Darnold. He completed 20 of 32 passes for 246 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The most important part of his stat line against the Titans this weekend is that he didn’t throw any interceptions like he did against the Jaguars last weekend. “We weren’t turning the ball over,” Darnold said. “We were able to turn those into points and that was huge for us.” That said, the Vikings still had to overcome a fumble on their opening possession, as running back Aaron Jones dropped a pitch, which led to the Titans going up 3-0 in the early stages. The next time the Vikings got the ball they made a statement. In the face of pressure, Darnold hung in the pocket for as long as he possibly could, then delivered a strike to receiver Jordan Addison in the middle of the field. As soon as he caught the ball, Addison looked like he was shot out of a cannon, racing 47 yards for a touchdown put the Vikings in front 7-3. “It felt good to get rolling,” Addison said. “It gives us a lot of confidence when we start fast.” On the next drive, Darnold shapeshifted into Harry Houdini, getting himself out of harrowing situations on a few separate occasions. He used his legs to buy some time on 16-yard pass to receiver Trent Sherfield, then did it again on a 31-yard pass to star receiver Justin Jefferson. He also used his legs to score a touchdown, plunging into the end zone on a quarterback sneak as the Vikings extended their lead to 13-3. ” I thought Sam was a really driving force behind us offensively,” O’Connell said. “Just really proud of the way he played.” On the other end, the Vikings befuddled maligned Titans quarterback Will Levis with exotic looks before the snap that appeared to break his brain for prolonged stretches. Not only did Levis rarely have any idea where the blitz was coming from, even when he did, he failed to deliver the ball on time. “Our guys up front did a great job stopping the run and then getting after the quarterback,” veteran safety Harrison Smith said. “That makes it really hard. It doesn’t matter what he knows at that point. If he’s got guys putting pressure on him, it’s tough to read things downfield.” The dominant display by the Vikings on defense helped put kicker Parker Romo in position to atone for a missed extra-point attempt earlier in the game. He calmly converted a 40-yard field goal that put the Vikings up 16-3 at halftime. Just when it looked like the Vikings were on the verge of putting the game away for good, they let the Titans right back into it with a play safety Josh Metellus will be thinking about for a long time. Instead of forcing the Titans to punt in the shadow of their own goal post, Metellus misplayed a ball in the air, and Levis found receiver Nick Westbrook-Ikhine for a 98-yard touchdown to cut the deficit to 16-10. As the Vikings walked back onto the field, the offense had a chance to pick up the defense. That’s exactly what happened as Darnold led an impressive march and capped it by hitting running back Cam Akers on a little flare out of the backfield for a touchdown to make it 23-10. “We were moving the ball,” Jefferson said. “I definitely felt like we took a step.” Though the Titans got another field goal to the deficit to 23-13 heading into the home stretch, that held up as the final score as Smith hauled in an interception in the final minutes to put the finishing touches on the win for the Vikings. Now, the Vikings will turn their attention back to the NFC North with a matchup against the Chicago Bears coming up next weekend. “Hopefully, our best football is ahead of us because we’re working towards that while also winning games,” O’Connell said. “I’m proud of our group and now it’s time to go back to work.” Related Articles Minnesota Vikings | Vikings make change at right guard, start Dalton Risner over Ed Ingram Minnesota Vikings | The Loop Fantasy Football Update Week 11: Last-minute moves Minnesota Vikings | The main focus of Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold? Taking care of the ball. Minnesota Vikings | How the Wood Gym in Knoxville helped build Vikings safety Harrison Smith Minnesota Vikings | Vikings at Titans picks: Another quick stop in the AFC South for an easy ‘W’