The Vikings' 30-24 victory over the Cardinals Sunday snapped a four-game losing streak and kept them tied with the Lions for first place in the NFC North while opening up a two-game lead over the Packers. But the Way We Hear It, the Vikings still have an awful lot to fix before they can be considered a legitimate contender again.

Minnesota’s offensive woes have been well-documented, but with almost half of the Vikings' points against Arizona coming on a 104-yard Cordarrelle Patterson kickoff return and a 100-yard Xavier Rhodes interception return, it’s not as if the Vikes really answered any questions on offense.

In fact, nothing’s improved at all since the somewhat surprising resignation of offensive coordinator Norv Turner almost three weeks ago. The 20 points against Washington included a touchdown on a 33-yard drive following a fumble recovery, and 17 points against the Cardinals came on a 44-yard TD drive following a 23-yard Marcus Sherels punt return.

According to our sources, Turner left over philosophical issues with head coach Mike Zimmer that went back almost a year regarding exactly what the best strategy is to overcome deficits on the offensive line.

While Zimmer, Turner and offensive line coach Tony Sparano all shared a link to the Cowboys, Turner is a Jimmy Johnson guy, while Zimmer, Sparano and interim offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur all share ties to Bill Parcells.

We hear it was Parcells' influence causing Zimmer to prefer five- and seven-step drops to try and make plays down the field that Turner believed were impossible given the holes in the O-line.

Turner has moved on somewhat amicably and the offensive woes remain with Sparano and Shurmur, but that may not be the biggest problem the Vikings face.

When Minnesota hit 5-0, some were looking for comparisons of the Vikings defense to the great defenses of all time.

Through its first five games, Minnesota allowed 12.6 points per game. In the last six, it has given up 22.6. Through the first five weeks, the Vikings had 19 QB sacks and 10 takeaways. Over the past five weeks, they have another 10 takeaways but just seven QB sacks.

Most notably, the Vikings defense seemed to disappear in the second half of a huge upset loss at Chicago on Monday night and again a week later in overtime versus the Lions.

Minnesota has lost a few starters to injury on defense but by current league standards, they’ve actually been fairly healthy.

Offensively, Minnesota was scoring 23.8 points a game when it was 5-0 and has scored 17.2 while going 1-4 since.

A report early this week trumpeted the possible return of Adrian Peterson as soon as a Christmas Eve trip to Lambeau Field to play the Packers, which would most likely help the offense, but the way we’re hearing it the defense is actually a greater puzzle right now and just as big an issue.