It's an unclean sweep of Lions for Vikings

Any question about just how big the differences are between the NFC North champion Vikings from 2008 and the 2009 edition destined to repeat as division champs might have been answered in the team's games against Detroit the past two years.

Last season, the Vikings swept the woeful (and eventually winless) Lions by an unimpressive total of six points. This season, the Vikings swept the still feeble Lions (1-8) by the combined margin of 31 points.

And in neither game did the Vikings play their best. That included a 27-10 victory Sunday before an announced crowd of 63,854 at the Metrodome that left the Vikings (8-1) behind only New Orleans (9-0) for supremacy in the NFC. It also gave the Vikings a 4-0 record against division opponents as they began the second half of their season.

"It feels good to be 8-1, but we're trying to be 15-1," Vikings tight end Visanthe Shiancoe said. "We're taking it one step at a time, one brick at a time to build this building, because we are building an empire here."

That talk is a bit premature, but the Vikings certainly have an offense that ranks among the NFL's best. Three years after coach Brad Childress caused guffaws throughout the Twin Cities by claiming the West Coast offense could kick the behind of opponents when executed properly, Childress is now frequently getting the last laugh.

Sunday's offensive highlights included Adrian Peterson's 133 rushing yards on 18 carries and two touchdowns, Brett Favre's season-high 344 yards passing and one touchdown with no interceptions, and Sidney Rice's 201 receiving yards, a figure that left him 9 shy of Sammy White's franchise single-game record set in 1976.

The Vikings had five plays of 40 or more yards. Among the highlights were a pair of 43-yard passes by Favre to Rice in the second quarter and a 56-yarder in the fourth that set up the Vikings' final touchdown. Rookie wide receiver Percy Harvin turned a short fourth-quarter gain into a long reception when he bounced off linebacker DeAndre Levy and proceeded to dash 40 yards.

Peterson contributed a 22-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, and appeared destined to be headed toward a 61-yard score later in the quarter when Lions cornerback Phillip Buchanon caught him and punched the ball out from behind at the Lions 18. Detroit recovered the ball in the end zone. That was the second lost fumble charged to Peterson; the first came when Harvin was unable to hang on to a pitch from the running back on a reverse in the first quarter.

"We didn't do a great job of holding on to the football," Childress said. "I thought we did a great job of moving the football up and down the field, but the ball has to come with you. That is incumbent on what you are doing. We had a chance to put some distance in there and not be sweating as you go to the locker room. It's not for lack of trying."

Said Favre: "I know there are a lot of things we've got to correct. Obviously we only got 10 points on 300 yards [in the first half]. However, you look at it I think we can score more points."

Areas of concern for Childress will include a 3-for-11 conversion rate on third down -- the Vikings were only 6-for-22 on third down against the Lions this season -- and a season-high 13 penalties for 91 yards. The Vikings entered the game as fifth-least-penalized team in the NFL and had been called for only three infractions in a 38-26 victory at Green Bay in their final game before the bye.

"The penalty thing is disturbing to me," Childress said.

Given the Vikings' success, and Detroit's lack of it, it wouldn't have been a stretch to believe that Childress' players wouldn't have been at their most focused on Sunday. Although having only a seven-point cushion in the third quarter seemed to be an indication that was the case, Childress didn't see it as an issue.

"I thought our guys were loose, but I learned a long time ago they don't have to be sitting there rocking in the chair to play good football," he said. "They were loose, they were fresh. The question is, would you say we were too loose? We were too loose with the football, I know that. But certainly played decently on the defensive side. There are just some things we have to tighten up. Improving is the key. You want to continue to ascend."

The Vikings will resume working on that goal Wednesday after getting today off. Rice, for one, is looking forward to the opportunity to continue making a productive offense that much better.

"We're doing a decent job, but we have lots of room for improvement," Rice said. "There's a lot of things we can still work on. Had a couple of missed assignments out there today, and hopefully we're going to continue to fight to try to get to that level to get to the team that we want to be."

Judd Zulgad • jzulgad@startribune.com