After a terrific Week 9, in which they extended their lead in the NFC North without ever setting foot on the field, the Minnesota Vikings will try to get back to the business of winning football games when the struggling Detroit Lions invade the Metrodome on Sunday.

With losses by the Bears, Lions, and Packers last week, the 7-1 Vikings picked up a half-game on each, drawing closer to a second consecutive NFC North title that would seem to be wrapped up for them with a pretty bow at this stage.

Minnesota confirmed its division front-runner status prior to the bye, when the NFL-viewing public tuned in in large numbers to watch Brett Favre engineer a 38-26 win against his former team, the Green Bay Packers, at Lambeau Field.

After receiving boos from a majority of the Lambeau faithful upon his entry to the field, Favre completed 17-of-28 passes for 244 yards, four touchdowns, and no turnovers committed or sacks absorbed in the 38-26 win over the team that employed him from 1992 through 2007. The win was the 98th of Favre's career at Lambeau, but the first in a uniform other than that of the Packers.

Favre, who threw four touchdowns without an interception for the first time since Nov. 14, 2004, when he (coincidentally enough) did so against the Vikings at Lambeau Field, has now posted a passer rating of 100 or better in four of his last five games. The grizzled 40-year-old ranks among league leaders in touchdown passes (16), passer rating (106.0), and completion percentage (68.0) as the season's second-half commences.

The Vikings will this week start a three-game homestand against Detroit, which has lost 11 straight games at the Metrodome since last winning there in 1997. Should they beat the Lions and Seahawks in their next two, it is conceivable that Minnesota could wrap up the division officially on Nov. 29, when Chicago comes calling.

In addition to their negative recent history in Minnesota, the Lions enter Sunday's contest trying to get past a poor stretch of football that has included five consecutive losses since the team's lone win, over the Redskins in Week 3.

Detroit looked close to snapping that skid last week in Seattle, taking a 17-0 lead into the second quarter before the Seahawks got busy.

Matt Hasselbeck (39-of-51, 329 yards, 1 TD) began carving up the Detroit secondary with ease in what would become a 32-20 Seattle win, as the Seahawks scored 25 unanswered points and officially ended the Lions' upset bid on a Josh Wilson 61-yard interception return for a touchdown in the final minute.

The Lions' eight meaningful possessions for the rest of the day ended thus: one field goal, two punts, and five interceptions from rookie quarterback Matthew Stafford.

Stafford, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 Draft, is just 36-of-75 (48.0 percent) for 371 yards with two touchdowns and six interceptions since returning from a knee injury that sidelined him for two games. Additionally, Stafford's frustration seemed to spill over last Sunday when he was spotted in a heated sideline discussion with top wideout Calvin Johnson.

This week, Stafford will be trying to snap the team's 16-game road losing streak, with the Lions' last such win coming on Oct. 28, 2007 against the Bears, and will also be trying to end a 16-game road losing streak in November, with Detroit's most recent away win during the month coming against the New York Giants all the way back in 2000.

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