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MINNEAPOLIS — In its last game, the Ravens’ defense scrambled pregame to come up with a turnover celebration for the “Thursday Night Football” matchup against the Miami Dolphins, so the players returned in Week 10 better prepared, cornerback Marlon Humphrey said.

It’s an example of how the tide has turned for the defense, which was one of the league’s worst through the first six weeks.

“We’ve been planning these celebrations, which means we’re planning to make the plays,” Humphrey said. “And I think that’s a part of the whole thing. You have to believe it; you’ve got to see it during the week. I think that’s another thing that’s changed with our defense. We’re really believing.”

And Sunday the Ravens had opportunities to break out their new moves as they generated three takeaways during a 27-19 road win over the Minnesota Vikings.

Despite the preparation and the on-field success, safety Kyle Hamilton wasn’t happy with his team’s choreographed celebration. The Ravens decided to run laps in the end zone after what they thought was their third interception, a fourth-quarter pick by Roquan Smith. Hamilton didn’t like the celebration or the timing, because the interception was ruled an incomplete pass.

“It was actually my idea so I take the fault, but I just watched [the movie] ‘Coach Carter’ or something," Hamilton said. “I was saying whoever made the play, so, in that case Roquan — and it didn’t even count, and now we’re in the end zone running suicides, and now we’re tired getting back to the huddle — but whoever made the play is kind of walking across the goal line like this [demonstrates the celebration] and just making the other guys run ‘gassers,’ whatever it may be, like a basketball team. But it didn’t even matter."

Even if the execution wasn’t perfect, Hamilton was glad his teammates got to celebrate a few others times. The defense grabbed two interceptions, and Baltimore recovered a fumble on a kickoff return.

Safety Malaki Starks was responsible for the first takeaway when he picked off Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy’s pass, intended for wide receiver Justin Jefferson, in the second quarter.

“I kind of just saw him look opposite, and once his shoulder turned, I knew the ball was going to Justin,” Starks said. “But he just threw it kind of late, you know? But I got there in time and just ... came down with it.”

Flanked by teammates, Starks ran to the end zone. It was his second interception in two games.

One quarter later, Humphrey had his turn.

Starks was nervous from before the play started until Humphrey ran out of bounds.

“I thought we were in the wrong call, and I thought that he thought that he had the middle field safety, and he didn’t,” Starks said. “But he’s also playing with one hand. I saw it happen, and I was like, ‘Please don’t drop it. Please don’t drop it.’ And then he caught it, and then he just kind of stood there for, I don’t know, it felt like forever.”

Humphrey was also nervous. He suffered a finger injury on his left hand on Friday and said he’s never dealt with one like this, so he felt “experimental.”

“I was a little nervous when the ball was up, but I was able to catch it and, the next thing I know, if I get hit, I probably was going to fumble,” Humphrey said. “So I was able to get out of bounds, too.”

Because Humphrey was the first to reach Starks after his first career interception, Starks made sure he was the first to reach Humphrey. It was Humphrey’s first interception of the season and the 20th of his career. Humphrey joked that he’s not sure if he could have caught the ball with two hands, so maybe he’ll just keep wearing a cast.

The third takeaway came on a forced fumble by Keondre Jackson on special teams, a unit that earned major kudos from players on both sides of the ball. Jackson was signed to the 53-man roster Tuesday, and all the young defensive backs gathered around excitedly as he was interviewed after the game.

“We knew he was loose with the ball the whole week, so just trying to get my hand on it, that was big time,” Jackson said. “And then the bottom of the pile, man, it was crazy down there. I’m just sitting down there holding the ball. I knew I had it.”

Jackson celebrated on the sideline with a backflip. He’d pulled that out against the Dolphins, but he was told to wait for a bigger moment.

“He earned that backflip,” cornerback Keyon Martin said. “He landed it this time, too.”

The Ravens have forced seven turnovers in three games after generating just three across their first six contests.

They wanted takeaways to be the defining factor of this defense, and they’re finally on their way. It’s a huge part of playing winning football, outside linebacker Kyle Van Noy said.

“You look at the top defenses in the league, over the course of the season, turnovers have been huge for them,” Van Noy said. “That’s something that we’ve been harping on, and we got to continue to harp on it, continue to capitalize, too.”

In the past three games, the turnovers have shifted momentum and smoothed over other defensive errors.

“It’s weird,” Humphrey said. “Obviously, we had some good turnovers, but there were so many plays we left out there on the table. The fourth-down stop with me, missed the sack.”

Although the Ravens shut down the Vikings’ top receivers, holding Justin Jefferson to 37 yards and Jordan Addison to 35, they gave up 124 yards to Jalen Nailor. However, they made adjustments and held the Vikings to 5.7 yards per catch, the defense’s second-best mark of the season.

The Ravens’ run defense, meanwhile, gave up 6.7 yards per carry, well above the season average of 4.4.

The pass rush had four pass deflections and a sack, but the Ravens struggled to put pressure on McCarthy.

The Ravens wiped out good third-down stops by allowing two fourth-down conversions — but they made three fourth-down stops, including a critical one at the end of the game.

“We’re enjoying the process of getting better,” Van Noy said.

Coach John Harbaugh commended defensive coordinator Zach Orr’s play calling, the coaching staff’s game plan and the players’ ability to stick through the “grind.”

Hamilton said they’re hitting their stride and getting close to regaining their swagger. But they need to fine-tune their celebrations.

“I’m glad that one just got thrown out, though. We will figure something else out,” Hamilton promised.