EDEN PRAIRIE — The Minnesota Vikings have already surpassed most external expectations for this supposed rebuilding season, winning games with a method that defies modern NFL convention.

This is the rare team right now that is stressing the need to become more balanced on offense by throwing the ball more rather than the other way around, but it’s not about to apologize for its approach.

Despite Christian Ponder’s paltry 58 yards passing, the Vikings were in control of Sunday’s 21-14 win over Arizona from start to finish and improved to 5-2. That’s more than half of the nine victories they accumulated over the last two years combined.