The Vikings produced a record, a few seasonal chart-toppers and another key win in Music City over the weekend.

Minnesota (8-2) took out Tennessee (2-8) 23-13 on Sunday for its third consecutive victory. Not only did the Vikings complete a 5-0 regular-season sweep of AFC teams (Texans, Jets, Colts, Jaguars and Titans), they maintained their ground in a competitive NFC North battle.

The Vikings were able to propel themselves to victory thanks in part to a demonstrative defensive outing and a strong performance by Sam Darnold.

Defensively, Minnesota's pass rush couldn't be stopped, as it totaled nine quarterback hits against Will Levis and sacked the second-year QB five times. Andrew Van Ginkel and Pat Jones II combined for seven of those hits and each recorded two sacks.

The Vikings – who are tied for third in the NFL in sacks with 35 – became the first team this season to have three players with at least 7.0 sacks (Van Ginkel has 8.0 while Jones and Jonathan Greenard each have 7.0). Both Van Ginkel's and Jones' totals are career-highs.

Van Ginkel also became the third player since 1982 to have eight or more sacks and at least two pick sixes in a season, joining Jason Taylor in 2006 and Terrell Suggs in 2008. Meanwhile, Jones became the first Vikings defender with at least 2.0 sacks and five QB hits in a game since Brian Robison in 2012.

Offensively, Darnold responded from back-to-back three-turnover games with an impressive afternoon. He completed 62.5 percent of his passes (20-of-32) for 246 yards, with two touchdowns and no interceptions. Darnold also showed off his athleticism on the ground, adding a season-high eight carries for 18 yards and another score. All in all, it led to Darnold being given the highest offensive grade in a game in his career (90.8) from Pro Football Focus.

Lastly, but certainly not least (and definitely not at all surprising), Justin Jefferson broke yet another league record. The star receiver surpassed both Rams Legend Torry Holt and Vikings Ring of Honor member Randy Moss for the most receiving yards by an NFL player in his first five seasons. Holt previously held the record at 6,784 yards (set from 1999-2003), with Moss right behind him at 6,743 (set from 1998-2002).

Sunday's victory gave Minnesota a slight boost in this week's Power Rankings, with the largest jump being two spots. Here's where the Vikings rank going into Week 12:

No. 5 (up 1 spot): Eric Edholm, NFL.com

Sam Darnold was charged with a fumble after his errant pitch on the Vikings third play from scrimmage, and there was a sense of here we go again. But the win over the Titans ended up being a big bounce-back game for the QB, who played pretty darned well for three quarters, until the offense went into a bit of a shell late. Darnold also took a costly fourth-quarter sack that might have been more impactful against a better opponent. Still, the early fumble was his only turnover of the game. The Vikings defense did its job by sacking Will Levis five times and limiting the Titans scoring chances, even with a few coverage busts. Tennessee ran 55 offensive plays; four of them accounted for 182 yards, and the remaining 51 plays netted just 112 yards. It wasn't artwork, but the Vikings won by double digits on the road. Now the meat of their schedule lies ahead. The playoffs are well within reach, but they'll be tested down the stretch.

No. 7 (up 1 spot): NFL Staff, Bleacher Report

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold has struggled with turnovers as of late. He threw five interceptions over his past two games entering Sunday's tilt in Tennessee. When he fumbled on Minnesota's third offensive play of the game, it looked like the Vikes could be in for another mistake-filled affair.

Instead, Darnold threw for 246 yards and two scores. While the Titans made things interesting, the Vikes rolled to their eighth win in 10 games.

After the victory, Head Coach Kevin O' Connell told reporters that his confidence in Darnold was never shaken.

"How he played in those moments was a huge indicator of a guy that had put the work in and was confident and just going out there and doing his job ... and then also overcoming some things around him to make some plays, which was critical for us," O'Connell said.

It was a game where the Vikings needed Darnold's right arm. Playing against one of the NFL's stingier defenses, Aaron Jones and the ground game never got going. Minnesota rushed for only 82 yards and averaged just 2.5 yards per carry.

"The Vikings feel like a team that could win 13 games and then fall flat in the Wild Card Round," Bleacher Report NFL analyst Kristopher Knox said. "Darnold has been an above-average starter this season, but he continues to make a handful of questionable decisions every week. The secondary is turnover-dependent and a potential liability against the quarterbacks it can expect to face in the playoffs."

No. 6 (up 1 spot): Pete Prisco, CBS Sports

Sam Darnold got back on track and played a solid game against the Titans. [The Vikings] needed to see that after two below-average games.

No. 7 (up 1 spot): Nate Davis, USA Today

[The Vikings are] a league best 5-0 against the AFC. If only those wins didn't count for so little in the tiebreaker department.

No. 7 (up 1 spot): Josh Kendall, The Athletic

Is there one knock on [Head Coach] Kevin O'Connell? Of the 10 head coaches hired in 2022, he's the winningest and one of only two with a winning record. He moved to 28-16 Sunday. O'Connell survived Kirk Cousins' season-ending injury last year. He's thriving this year after J.J. McCarthy's season-ending injury. He was smart enough and secure enough to hire Brian Flores as his defensive coordinator. Honestly, find a person who will say something bad about him.

No. 6 (down 1 spot): Conor Orr, Sports Illustrated

Sam Darnold was the third-best performer against the Titans this season, which doesn't feel significant until one realizes that the Titans are the second-most zone-heavy team in the NFL. Darnold has shredded man coverage this season but has struggled against teams that play a higher load of zone. Much like we're talking about [Commanders QB] Jayden Daniels seeing a lot of deep coverage looks, teams adjusted to Darnold, caused a bit of a squeeze statistically, and now we see him coming out the other side like good quarterbacks do.

No. 6 (up 2 spots): Vinnie Iyer, Sporting News

The Vikings restored some steady play for Sam Darnold on the road, and their defense had no trouble with a very limited Titans offense. They can strengthen their Wild Card position in the NFC North with the Bears and Cardinals up next.

No. 10 (up 1 spot): Frank Schwab, Yahoo! Sports

The Vikings have five games left against teams that are at least .500, and two games against the Bears, who won't be an easy out. The Vikings are in great shape, but there are some tests ahead.