Should the Vikings' season go according to plan, there will be far more raucous celebrations — to mark two more significant achievements — than the muted ceremony in the home locker room at U.S. Bank Stadium on Sunday.
The Vikings are trying to become the first team to play (and win) a Super Bowl in their home stadium, and the coming weeks could give them chances to rewrite six decades of history fraught with disappointment, all in front of their own fans.
If what they gave their fans on Sunday, though, functions as merely an appetizer for what could be coming, it still was one for the 66,833 in attendance to savor.
In a victory that was as important as it was euphoric, the Vikings beat the Cincinnati Bengals 34-7, drubbing a dilapidated and disinterested Bengals team to improve to 11-3. Case Keenum completed 20 of his 23 passes and threw a pair of touchdowns before giving way to Teddy Bridgewater, who played for the first time since returning from the left knee injury he suffered on Aug. 30, 2016.
The Vikings' most dominant win of the season saw Mike Zimmer's current defense turn in a commanding performance against his former employer. The Vikings prevented the Bengals from making a first down through the first quarter, sacked Andy Dalton three times and scored their first defensive touchdown of the season when Eric Kendricks picked off a pass Dalton threw right at him and returned it 31 yards for a touchdown.
Cincinnati gained just 161 yards for the day. Dalton threw two picks — former Bengals cornerback Terence Newman posted the second one — and the Bengals went just 1-for-13 on third downs.
"It's a good step," wide receiver Adam Thielen said. "It's a step in the right direction. It's a something that we talked about before the season even started. It was kind of the first box that we wanted to check. Win the division, and then now, moving forward, we have to win some more games to get that first-round bye."
The NFC North title, the Vikings' second in three years, means they'll open the postseason at home. They will head to Green Bay on Saturday to face a Packers team that might not have much to play for after losing at Carolina in Aaron Rodgers' return, and they'll finish the regular season at home against Chicago on Dec. 31.