Despite the fact that the Minnesota Vikings now have an 11-2 record, things haven't resonated nationally when it comes to believing they are that good.

When you look at the offense, it's led by Sam Darnold and, while the name isn't the sexiest, his play certainly is. Darnold completed 22-28 passes for 347 yards and a career-high five touchdowns en route to a 42-21 victory. 

The touchdowns were really impressive, as was the Vikings putting their foot on the gas to finish off the Falcons.

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Vikings finally finish a game strong

The Vikings didn't just put away the Falcons, they scored 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter. It was the first time that the Vikings offense really took hold of the game and put a team away.

Head coach Kevin O'Connell had this to say to open his press conference about how he thought the offense grew up a lot on Sunday.

"I think we grew up a lot today offensively and I think Sam Darnold, Justin, J.A. (Jordan Addison), was pretty spectacular to just watch them. It all comes back to little things. Execution and the details at which they came to the game with today."

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Arguably the biggest drive of the game was after the interception by Byron Murphy Jr. where they went 98 yards in seven plays. That made the score 42-21 with 3:38 left in the game and that's when the fanbase started to celebrate, as did the players on the sidelines.

O'Connell was asked later about that comment talking about the offense growing up on Sunday and referenced that same 98 yard drive.

"I think the 98-yard drive is a critical thing that's hard to do, especially with the momentum of you think you're going to be starting at the 20, and you're starting at the 2. You're able to stack together — which I thought the drive was a lot longer. But with the J.O. (Josh Oliver) catch, where we had a few guys available to us on that one, it was only seven plays. To put the ball over the goal line right there, because you just never know. You go three-and-out down there, give them a short field. Kirk, as explosive as they were today, they would find a way to make it a game. I thought it was a critical, critical drive. I think some of the off-schedule plays mixed with some pretty pure execution details, motion landmarks, guys being exactly where they're supposed to be. Sam's feet being 100 percent locked and loaded, throwing the ball on time when he could and when he had guys available, seeing the field, seeing coverage, some unique coverage structures that we've seen throughout the years showed up again. And I just think it's a lot of things that kind of come together. And then the execution of our players. This is 100 percent the players continuing to strive for a total, complete win. I think our defense gave up some yards, but forcing the two turnovers on a day when our offense is able to have 7.7 yards a play, we're going to eventually find our way into the red zone. I thought third down was huge. I don't know where we were. 8 of 12, and 4 of 4 in the red zone via Sam and our skill players making some plays."

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The drives to put a team away aren't something the Vikings have been able to put together with consistency this season. They couldn't do it against the New York Jets or Detroit Lions and the latter ended up taking advantage and getting the win.

However, they did find a way to do so against the San Francisco 49ers and Green Bay Packers by extending their lead to two scores in each game. The fact that they found a way to blow the game open late is something that's been a weakness of O'Connell's teams in Minnesota.

They did take a big step forward on Sunday and it's a warning shot to the rest of the National Football League.

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