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After last week's debacle, I wrote:

Plenty of problems were exposed tonight, and plenty of challenges have emerged -- now we get to see just how resilient this team is.

Answer: Pretty dang resilient.

After a scoreless first quarter, the Vikings jumped out to a two-score lead over the Bengals by halftime, extended that lead by a touchdown in the third quarter, and iced the game in the fourth quarter. Between missteps by a sloppy Bengals club, an impressive defensive effort headlined by the return of Antoine Winfield, a productive afternoon for Adrian Peterson, and a solid special teams performance, the Vikings looked darn good today.

And of all the factors that lifted the Vikings to a 20-point win over Cincinnati, the defense deserves a huge amount of the credit. One unforgettable scene from today's game: Antoine Winfield dropping what should have been an intercepted pass, and proceeding to do several push-ups between his drop and the next play. Good to have you back, Toine. The man's presence was felt in a big way, as Carson Palmer only managed 94 yards on 25 pass attempts. Chad Ochocinco got into the endzone in the second quarter to bring the Bengals within a field goal, but as far as offensive highlights go, there weren't many for Cincy beyond Ocho's 15-yard score.

Sure, Cedric Benson put up some impressive numbers -- 16 carries for 96 yards -- but nearly half of those yards came on a single carry, and for the most part, the rush defense was solid. All told, the Bengals could only manage 210 yards of total offense, while getting flagged 11 times for 85 yards. The Vikings made their share of unforced errors (nine penalties for 69 yards), but the Purple didn't make any mistakes that were too costly.

On the offensive side, Adrian Peterson rebounded nicely from a rough night in Arizona, finishing the game with a combined 137 yards through the air and on the ground. He also scored twice, including a dive into the endzone for a touchdown in the third quarter that would clinch the victory for the Vikings.

Brett Favre continued to struggle a bit, completing just over 50% of his passes while tossing a touchdown and an interception. The absence of Percy Harvin couldn't have helped matters for Brett, who never targeted his other favorite receivers -- Shank and Rice -- with any sort of consistency this afternoon (though it should be noted that one of Sid's four receptions was a nine-yard touchdown in the first quarter that lifted the Vikings to a 10-0 lead). It was a shame that Brett couldn't get into a rhythm for the second game in a row, but then again, that doesn't matter a whole lot when everything else is going right for the Vikings. And that was the case today.

Jasper Brinkley made three tackles today in relief of E.J. Henderson, but the real story was the emotional lift provided to this defense through the return of Antoine Winfield. After nine tackles and a few push-ups, Antoine had given everyone a reminder -- as if we needed it -- of just how valuable he is to this defense. You would have never guessed this guy had been sidelined for as long as he was, since he didn't miss a beat out there.

By the way, something that will probably go under the radar but deserves mention is the performance from the special teams. Aside from a penalty or two, it was near-perfect. Longwell went 3/3, Cincy averaged three yards per punt return and under 20 yards per kickoff return, and Kluwe was kicking the ball nicely out there. For a group that has sometimes struggled to rebound from a tough 2008 season, the special teams looked good today.

But Antoine Winfield and Adrian Peterson will headline this game, and rightfully so. Winfield was simply tremendous, and Peterson's pair of touchdowns helped him break a single-season team record for rushing touchdowns. This week was about rebounding from a setback, and both of those guys did just that.

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If the Vikings were going to have a game that needs to be forgotten immediately, I'm glad it came now rather than later. Because this was an ugly, tough-to-watch, all-around terrible game.

After jumping out to a 7-0 lead, the Vikings shut down for the night. Arizona completely took control. The problems were numerous, the gaffes were many, and the game was easily the ugliest of the year for the Vikes.

Take the ingredients of a Vikings win: Get an efficient game out of Favre, get a variety of receivers involved, feed the playmakers, get a productive performance from Adrian Peterson, pressure the opposing quarterback, and make good tackles. None of that happened today. That's the recipe for an embarrassing loss.

Actually, embarrassing puts it too mildly. Favre threw a pair of interceptions -- which, this season, is completely out-of-character for him. A few additional passes probably should have been intercepted. Adrian Peterson was flummoxed by a Cardinals defense that took advantage of a battered Vikings offensive line. Sidney Rice -- Favre's most reliable target this season -- was hardly seen. It seemed like he might have been left behind at the airport. And Shiancoe too, who was also completely absent from the passing attack. Ignoring those two guys is how you lose football games. The Vikings' inability to utilize these weapons was, to put it kindly, confusing.

So with nothing going well on the offensive end -- outside of the opening drive -- the defense was going to have to dominate this one for the Vikings to have any chance. But in a variety of ways, this defense wilted. Kurt Warner barely felt a rush, Anquan Boldin caught a pair of touchdowns before the Vikings even knew what hit them, and incompetent tackling resulted in too many big-gainers for the Cardinals offense. Speaking of guys who could have been left behind at the airport, where was Jared Allen? The Cards did a tremendous job on him.

Things get worse. E.J. Henderson's done for the year. Don't need to wait for the injury report to figure that out. An absolutely devastating and gruesome leg injury in the fourth quarter, after the result of the game was no longer in doubt. What a shame. Doesn't take a doctor to tell you that he has a long road back to the football field. At this point, we just need to hope that he'll be able to return next season at full strength, with his full ability intact. The injury he suffered could, at the very worst, be a career-threatening one. We'll keep you posted.

After taking a 7-0 lead, the Cardinals outscored the Vikings by a 27-10 margin. On top of all the problems I've mentioned, Arizona controlled the field position battle. Hard to cut into a lead when you're deep in your own territory. Hard to cut into a lead when your third down efficiency is horrendous and Favre is getting battered.

Adjustments need to be made. The tackling desperately needs to improve in the weeks ahead, and Antoine Winfield's sure tacking was desperately missed. Warner had all day to throw the ball -- the defensive line wasn't applying anything even resembling a rush on him. The Vikings will once again find themselves without E.J. Henderson, putting pressure on Chad Greenway and Ben Leber to step up. The lack of production from Adrian is frightening. The lack of throws to the best targets in the receiving corps is concerning.

The Vikings leave Arizona as a battered team that will be missing its best linebacker for quite some time. They come home with a lot of changes that need to be made for them to be a competitive team next Sunday -- some related to player execution, others related to game planning. But amidst the endless list of problems from tonight, there's a chance for redemption in front of a friendly crowd next week. Plenty of problems were exposed tonight, and plenty of challenges have emerged -- now we get to see just how resilient this team is.

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If teams have an answer for this offense, we have yet to see it.

Adrian Peterson's numbers lagged once again this afternoon. He finished the evening averaging just 3.4 yards per carry, and if you take away his longest run (15 yards), the picture becomes grimmer for Peterson. Oh yeah, he also coughed up a fumble that brought a premature end to the Vikings' opening drive of the game. And oh yeah, he coughed it up again in the second half as the Vikings were driving in Chicago territory -- but the Vikings retained possession after a Brad Childress challenge. All told, this is a game that Peterson needs to immediately forget.

But Brett Favre made up for it. And then some.

Favre is clearly having one of the best seasons of his career -- and many analysts are calling it his best ever. Anyone of the opinion that Favre is playing his best football yet certainly got plenty of ammunition from today's game, as Favre controlled the Chicago defense. When the first half had reached its conclusion, he had gone 20/31 while racking up 256 passing yards and three touchdowns. He hardly slowed down in the second half, finishing the game near the 400-yard mark through the air.

He's throwing a lot of passes for a 40-year-old arm to handle. But he's holding up remarkably well. And the impact he's made on three guys -- Shank, Harvin, and Rice -- has been MVP-worthy (particularly his impact on Rice's production). Predictably, those guys posted big numbers this afternoon. But Bernard Berrian and Chester Taylor were also key receivers for Brett, and five receivers (Shank, Harvin, Rice, Berrian and Taylor) finished the game with five or more catches. A first in franchise history, if you're keeping score at home.

Last week, we saw the efficient Brett Favre as he picked apart the Seattle defense and finished the game with a completion percentage near 90%. This week, we saw the more explosive Brett Favre. And yet, he remained accurate (you could count his poor throws on one hand), his interception mark for the season remains at three, and the Vikes did a good job of controlling the time of possession battle -- in spite of Adrian's slippery hands.

Of course, there was a smattering of other concerning issues that occurred on the offensive end. Too many penalties for my liking -- Big Mac was nailed for an ineligible man downfield penalty that nullified a touchdown near the end of the first half (though the Vikings scored two plays later), and the Vikes' first offensive drive of the second half turned into a penalty fest. Four penalties on that drive, including another one that nullified a touchdown -- though in fairness to Bernard Berrian, who was called for holding, it was a questionable call.

On the defensive side, the Vikes had some trouble handling Jay Cutler during the early stages of the game. He was throwing for a high percentage and had some time to throw the ball -- but as the game went along, the pressure gradually became more intense until it became suffocating. One drive in particular stands out. Chicago briefly showed some life to start the second half, as a long kickoff gave the Bears the ball inside the Vikings' 10. Here's how the ensuing drive unfolded: Forte runs for no gain, Cutler gets sacked for a loss of two yards, Jared Allen draws a false start from Orlando Pace, and Fat Pat sacks Cutler for a loss of five yards. Robbie Gould nailed a field goal to salvage a disaster of a drive, but the defense was dominant. Matt Forte was a complete non-factor.

The Vikings even finished the game with a couple rare interceptions -- one coming from Cedric Griffin in the endzone, the other coming from The Mullet. Jared hilariously threw the ball forward after making the pick, so he made a boneheaded play mere seconds after an awesome play. No harm done, though.

One more downside of the game before I get back to the positives: The kickoff coverage gave up some big returns. Danieal Manning had a 44 yard return, and Johnny Knox was responsible for the 77-yard return that I referenced earlier.

But Favre's outstanding performance easily overshadows any of the concerns surrounding penalties or the kickoff coverage. He's spreading the ball around effectively, he's making his receivers better, and he's absolutely killing teams that make stopping Adrian Peterson their top defensive priority. How well did he play today? The old man came 10 yards shy of setting a career high for passing yardage in a single game. That's how well he's playing. An offensive showcase this evening, as the Vikings finished with 527 total yards of offense.

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When Tarvaris Jackson is getting some third quarter playing time, and it's not because Brett Favre has been knocked out of the game, you know the Vikings have controlled the game and are winning convincingly. That was the case this afternoon, as the Vikings dominated the Seahawks in the first half and cruised to an easy win.

Sure, there were a few early stumbles, and the game remained scoreless after the first quarter. And for such a decisive win, Adrian Peterson's production was surprisingly limited by a Seattle defense that was committed to stuffing the run. But Brett Favre delivered one of his most efficient performances since becoming a Viking, completing a combined 19 passes to Visanthe Shiancoe, Percy Harvin and Sidney Rice. And the defensive effort by the Vikings was tremendous. The numbers tell the story of just how good this team was on defense.

The Vikings finished the game with 28 first downs; the Seahawks managed just 10, and many of those came after the result of the game was no longer in doubt. Seattle went 1/10 on third downs, but even more importantly, they finished the game with four rushing yards on 13 attempts. Their leading rusher, Justin Forsett, finished the game with nine rushing yards on nine attempts. If you want to see the story of this game, just look at the box score.

Matt Hasselbeck was fairly productive -- when Seattle actually had the ball. And the Seahawks didn't have the ball for long. The Vikings offense was on the field for over 42 minutes, finishing within striking distance of possessing the football for 75% of the game. Such dominance in a team's time of possession would normally imply an outstanding performance on the ground, but today, Favre was brilliant in controlling the tempo of the game.

If anything, Adrian Peterson's performance was below-average (by his standards). 24 carries for 82 yards, and he had a number of carries that either went for no gain or actually lost some yards. Seattle was completely focused on stopping the run, but they paid the price in the form of Favre's 213 yards and four touchdowns. This game just displays that teams need to pick their poison when facing the Vikings: Concentrate resources on stopping Adrian, and they risk Brett having a big day through the air. You can either get beat on the ground by the most exciting running back in the game, or you can get beat through the air by an MVP candidate. Your choice.

And on that note, I should add that the MVP chant was loud and clear at the Metrodome today. We knew Brett would be a great addition to this offense -- but I doubt anyone anticipated Brett being so efficient.

After Sidney caught a jump ball in the endzone from Favre, the win was sealed and T-Jack entered the game for about a quarter of playing time. Aside from a pass that probably should have been picked but somehow ended up in the hands of Sidney Rice, the mistakes were few and far between for Action Jackson. His final stat line: 6/8, 77 yards and a touchdown. He picked up right where Favre left off, in terms of running an efficient offense, controlling the ball, and controlling the pace of the game. Tarvaris did a nice job out there.

The 9-1 Vikings are at home against Chicago next weekend -- the 10-0 Saints are at home against the Patriots next Monday. The race for homefield has accomplished the unthinkable: We'll become Pats fans next week.

This wasn't quite the dominant performance some were expecting, but the Vikings nevertheless overcame some stumbles to avoid yet another dramatic finish -- and they came out of the bye week with a solid win.

What went wrong for the Vikings today? Simple: Unforced errors. Too many penalties (though some, most notably a roughing the passer call which ultimately gave the Lions seven points rather than three, were horrible calls), a turnover by Adrian Peterson as he sprinted his way toward the endzone (with Sidney Rice missing an opportunity to recover the fumble), too many dropped passes (I'm looking at you, Bernard Berrian), and a couple promising drives early on that failed to land any points for the Vikings.

But if the negative aspects of this game were mainly things the Vikings inflicted on themselves, that could almost be considered a positive. It gives Chilly something to bug his players about. It proves that this team still has progress to make, despite its 8-1 record and its commanding lead in the NFC North.

On the positive side, Sidney Rice was absolutely spectacular. His outstanding season continued today with seven receptions and 201 yards -- so he was responsible for well over half of Brett's 344 passing yards. The passing game headlined this one, though Adrian did land himself a spot on the highlight reel with an amazing 22-yard touchdown run in the first half that gave the Vikings a 10-0 edge. Still, his fumblitis remains an issue.

It's tough to say much more about this game -- the Vikings probably should have took control earlier than they did, but even during some of their first half stumbles, they never seemed to be legitimately in danger of losing the game (T-Jack even got in the act after a Favre-to-Dugan touchdown sealed the deal). Brett Favre continues to stretch the field while limiting his mistakes and avoiding turnovers. Kevin Smith posed some problems for the Vikings defense, but the D nevertheless played well enough to win. Only the various unforced errors and miscues ever put the result of this game in doubt -- and when the result of the game was in doubt, it wasn't in doubt for long. The Vikings controlled the game more than the score would indicate.

The missed opportunities in the first half to put the Lions away early, along with the penalties, give the Vikings something to build off of in future weeks. And indeed, this was hardly a perfect performance. But 27-10 looks the same in the standings as 45-0, and Sidney's brilliance easily overshadows any of the downers from this game.