LONDON _ The Vikings will fly more than 4,000 miles home on Sunday night, returning to Minneapolis for their bye week, having done what they were supposed to do at Twickenham Stadium: They sidestepped potential catastrophes, against a team that had lost 26 of its previous 27 games, and won.
That was the minimum requirement for the Vikings against the Browns on Sunday, playing five hours ahead of their home time zone in a game that was as much a hassle as it was spectacle, and they can rightly enjoy the reward for meeting it. They head into their bye week with a 6-2 record, a game and a half clear of their pursuers in the NFC North, and are in control of their own destiny before a strenuous second-half schedule.
It will be those final eight games, though, that tell the story about how good the Vikings really are. Sunday's 33-16 win over the Browns didn't add much clarity to that picture.
The Vikings trailed Cleveland 13-12 at halftime despite gaining 247 yards, as two drives resulted in field goals and the Browns set up their initial touchdown with a Joe Schobert interception after Carl Nassib tipped a Case Keenum pass. Keenum finished the day 27 of 43 for 288 yards, but had trouble connecting on screen passes early as the Browns jumped into his throwing lanes to bat passes down.
Cleveland pulled ahead before halftime after Ricardo Lewis beat Xavier Rhodes on a deep ball down the sideline, and Isaiah Crowell gained 38 yards on a screen pass to put the Browns in a first-and-goal situation. Cleveland coach Hue Jackson quickly burned a pair of timeouts before DeShone Kizer eventually scored a one-yard touchdown, leaving time for the Vikings to kick a field goal before halftime, but the Browns led 13-12 at intermission.
Minnesota's third-ranked run defense allowed 115 rushing yards on 22 attempts through the first three quarters, as former Vikings running backs coach Kirby Wilson _ now the Browns' running game coordinator _ drew up a handful of effective calls for Crowell, Kizer and Duke Johnson.
The Vikings' defense stifled the Browns in the second half, allowing just 61 yards in the third quarter and sacking Kizer three different times, while they sealed the game early in the fourth quarter with a touchdown drive that included three penalties in Cleveland's defensive backfield. Everson Griffen got the Vikings' third sack of the day, tying Jared Allen and Jim Marshall's team record with a sack in eight consecutive games. Griffen has 10 sacks through eight games.
