Vikings’ defence smothers Ravens

The Associated Press
Jon Krawczynski

MINNEAPOLIS–Even though he was signed to help the Vikings replace Adrian Peterson, Latavius Murray has been behind nearly from the day he stepped foot in Minnesota.
Plowing through the Baltimore Ravens as he did yesterday should help him catch up in a hurry.
Murray rushed for 113 yards and a touchdown, and Kai Forbath kicked six field goals, to lift the Vikings to a 24-16 victory over the Ravens.
After making the decision to move on from the face of the franchise, the Vikings signed Murray away from the Oakland Raiders to help fill the void.
But ankle surgery kept him out of the entire off-season program, all of training camp, and most of the pre-season and buried him on the depth chart behind Dalvin Cook, lost for the season with a knee injury on Oct. 1, and Jerick McKinnon.
“I just think it was a matter of me just trying to find my rhythm, try to get a groove going,” Murray said after averaging 6.3 yards per carry yesterday.
“I said eventually I know I would have some success,” he added. “I knew I had to continue to keep doing what I do and continue to keep working, and hopefully like today, those big runs will pop.”
Forbath, meanwhile, made kicks of 52, 51, 43, 43, 34, and 32 yards to back another suffocating effort from the defence for the Vikings (5-2).
Minnesota sacked Joe Flacco five times and allowed just 208 yards.
Everson Griffen had two sacks and now has nine for the season.
Justin Tucker kicked three field goals for the Ravens (3-4), including a 57-yarder in the first half.
Flacco completed 26-of-38 passes for 186 yards and a 13-yard touchdown to Chris Moore as time expired.
“Those clichés like ‘worn down’ and ‘gap control,’ it’s just all meaningless chatter,” Ravens’ coach John Harbaugh said after his team gave up 169 yards rushing.
“We’ve got to do a better job against the run and get them stopped,” he stressed.
“They did a good job and we didn’t.”
The nine combined field goals tied an NFL record for most made field goals in a game.
Murray was off to a slow start this season with just 97 yards rushing through the first six games.
But he burst through a big hole in the third quarter, made one cut, and surged to the end zone to give the Vikings an 18-6 lead.
“It’s good to see him going,” said coach Mike Zimmer.
“It adds a dimension on the offence with a guy like Jerick and a guy like him.”
Case Keenum had an erratic afternoon, completing 20-of-31 passes for 188 yards and one interception for the Vikings.
Flacco, who entered the day with a 66.1 rating that was good for 31st in the league, was stuck under 100 yards passing until well into the fourth quarter.
The performance Sunday from the Vikings’ kicker was indicative of his short career here since being brought on last season to replace Blair Walsh.
His six makes were one off the Vikings’ single-game record, and he made two of at least 50 yards in the same game for the first time in his career.
“It’s a big momentum boost,” Forbath said of his two from 50-plus.
“I’m just trying to help the team however I can.”
But Forbath also missed an extra point, hitting the right upright after Murray’s run.
It was his sixth missed extra point in 14 games for Minnesota.
Elsewhere in the NFL, Chicago beat Carolina 17-3, New Orleans downed Green Bay 26-17, Jacksonville dumped Indianapolis 27-0, the L.A. Rams routed Arizona 33-0, Buffalo topped Tampa Bay 30-27, and Tennessee shaded Cleveland 12-9 (OT).
Miami edged the N.Y. Jets 31-28, Dallas bombed San Francisco 40-10, Seattle dumped the N.Y. Giants 24-7, Pittsburgh beat Cincinnati 29-14, the L.A. Chargers blanked Denver 21-0, and New England upended Atlanta 23-7.