Sidney Rice had four catches for 76 yards total in his first two games after returning from hip surgery. But Rice looked like the Pro Bowl receiver from 2009 in Sunday's 38-14 victory against Buffalo. Rice caught five passes for 105 yards and made two acrobatic touchdown catches. The best news for the Vikings is that he didn't experience any major problems or setbacks with his right hip after landing awkwardly on both touchdown catches. "Whenever the ball is in the air I feel like it's mine so I'm going to make every effort I can to make a play on it and come down with it," he said. The degree of difficulty on his 31-yard catch between two Buffalo defenders was extremely high, but Rice's right leg whipped backward on his diving 6-yard touchdown in the second quarter. "I didn't feel any pain," Rice said. "I seen on the replay how my leg came all the way up to my shoulder. I was a little surprised. But I didn't feel any pain and it didn't bother me after the game so I was happy about that. I saw the replay on the big screen and I was like, 'All right.'" Those were the kind of plays that Rice executed regularly in becoming an elite receiver last season. Asked if Sunday's performance felt like 2009, Rice said: "Not quite. I'm still not there but I'm going to keep pushing, working hard every day in the training room and out here at practice. Hopefully everything continues to progress."