Not many people were ready to fully lean in last weekend despite how dominant the Vikings looked. Were the Vikings really that good, or were the New York Giants really that bad? That was the question that seemed to be at the forefront of the conversation.

A much bigger test existed for the Vikings this weekend with the San Francisco 49ers coming to town. That would serve as a much better measuring stick when making judgements about how good this team could be.

The performance the Vikings put together in a 23-17 win on Sunday afternoon at U.S. Bank Stadium proved, yes, they are for real.

In the matchup against the 49ers, who most recently represented the NFC in the Super Bowl, the Vikings looked like the better team from top to bottom. A number of big plays on offense, defense and special teams paved the way for the upset. Or maybe it wasn’t an upset at all.

Nobody on the Vikings seemed to think so anyways. That was evident as head coach Kevin O’Connell stepped to the podium postgame. He reiterated multiple times how much love he had for this particular group that nobody was taking seriously as a contender heading into this season.

Not that it mattered to the Vikings. There was belief within the locker room, and that’s the only thing that mattered.

“It takes a result sometimes for people to see it,” O’Connell said. “I understand that, and I’m very proud of this result today.”

The fact the Vikings never trailed in the game against the 49ers speaks volumes about how they handled their business. They got a blocked punt from veteran fullback C.J. Ham on special teams in the early stages that set up a 22-yard field goal from rookie kicker Will Reichard to make it 3-0. They followed it up by forcing a turnover on downs on defense as edge rusher Andrew Van Ginkel deflected a ball near the line of scrimmage before veteran safety Harrison Smith finished the play with a pass breakup.

The highlight of the game came a few plays later as veteran quarterback Sam Darnold dropped back to pass in the shadow of his own goal post and launched the ball into the heavens. It dropped into the outstretched arms of star receiver Justin Jefferson, who beat double coverage, then weaved his way through the open field for a 97-yard touchdown to put the Vikings ahead 10-0.

“Just trusting Jets to beat his man and also beat the safety,” said Darnold, who completed 17 of 26 pass attempts for 268 yards and a pair of touchdowns. “Just tried to put it out there for him, and obviously he got it and did the rest.”

It looked like the Vikings might be about to put the game away before a costly interception by Darnold on the next drive kept things interesting. Naturally, the 49ers made them pay when quarterback Brock Purdy found tight end George Kittle for a touchdown to cut the deficit to 10-7.

Credit the Vikings for staying aggressive at that point. Instead of putting a leash on Darnold after his interception, O’Connell trusted him to get some points before halftime, and Reichard nailed a 39-yard field goal as time expired to make it 13-7.

“It was huge,” Darnold said. “To be able to go out there and execute that drive at the end of the half was really good for our team.”

After an interception by safety Josh Metellus shortly after halftime, the Vikings took complete control on the very next play as Darnold found receiver Jalen Nailor wide open in the end zone for a 10-yard touchdown that made it 20-7.

Though the 49ers cut the deficit to 20-14 late in the game following a big forced fumble from linebacker Fred Warner, the Vikings responded with a gusty response to essentially put the game on ice.

On that drive, Darnold was without Jefferson, who left the game with a quad injury, fellow receiver Jordan Addison, who didn’t play with an ankle injury, and star tight end T.J. Hockenson, who is still rehabbing a knee injury.

No matter. Whether it was finding veteran receiver Brandon Powell near the sideline or throwing a dart to Nailor up the seam, Darnold made it work during a 14-play drive that took 6 minutes, 46 seconds and helped the Vikings tack on a field goal that stretched the lead to 23-14.

“He’s playing quarterback and playing it at a really high level,” O’Connell said. “Some huge third down conversions, and we were able to kind of piece together some plays there.

After the 49ers got a field goal of their own to cut the deficit to 23-17, tight end Nick Muse recovered an onside kick for the Vikings, and Darnold kneeled out the clock to put the finishing touches on a very impressive win.

“We know what we had going into this season,” Metellus said. “We’ve got to keep putting it on tape. Yeah it’s great we did it twice. Can we do it the rest of this season? I’m excited to see what we do to build upon this.”

What’s next for the Vikings? More of the same as far as their best player in concerned.

“We’ve kind of been saying before this season started that a lot of people didn’t really have us on the list,” said Jefferson, who said after the game that he isn’t overly concerned about his quad injury. “We’re just going to show the world what we have in our building.”