The Vikings lifted their record to 8-1 thanks to a monster game by Sidney Rice, another stellar game by Brett Favre and Adrian Peterson’s 133 yards rushing and his 2 touchdowns.

The bad news for Vikings fans is that this was a sloppy game from multiple perspectives. The Vikings took too many penalties, stopping themselves far too often. AP had 2 fumbles, though his fumble at the end of a long run was more the result of Philip Buchanon’s making a great play than on AP’s sloppiness.

The coaching staff needs to clean some things up, too. Adrian’s fumbled exchange on a reverse with Percy Harvin shouldn’t have happened because the play never should’ve gotten called. The playcalling on 4th-and-1 at the 12 was pretty stupid, too. Instead of handing the ball to AP or keeping the ball in Favre’s hand, the call was for Jeff Dugan to run right at Grady Jackson.

What’s becoming obvious, though, is that the Vikings have a ton of weapons on offense. Brett Favre went 20 for 29 for 344 yards and he wasn’t the best player on the field. That honor went to Sidney Rice, who had 7 catches for 201 yards, which figures out to being a 28.7 per catch average.

Two of Sidney’s catches were the type that you expect only guys like Andre Johnson, Randy Moss or Larry Fitzgerald to make. One of his acrobatic catches went for 43 yards, the other acrobatic catch went for 56 yards.

Defensively, the Vikings secondary played better this week tackling-wise. They also played a physical game, hitting or hurrying Matthew Stafford over 30 times. Jared Allen played well, Kevin Williams got his 6th sack of the season but the dominant defensive player today was Ray Edwards. Edwards harassed Stafford continuously, sacking him twice. This might’ve been his best game as a pro.

While today’s game might’ve been Edward’s best game, it undoubtedly was Sidney Rice’s best game as a pro. Rice has 2 catches of 43 yards each, with his other long pass going for 56 yards. Each of those catches were Pro Bowl-caliber catches.

The Vikings still havne’t played their best game. They’ve still got things that they need to clean up. It’s obvious that the Saints and Vikings are the only elite teams in the NFC. If the Vikings clean things up, they can definitely play with the Saints.

The Vikings now have a stranglehold on the NFC North. It’s possible this race could be wrapped up with half of December left.

Technorati: Sidney Rice, Brett Favre, Percy Harvin, Adrian Peterson, Ray Edwards, Minnesota Vikings, NFC North, New Orleans Saints, Power Rankings, NFL