"He's the reason I'm the player I am today," Hutchinson said. "I had to go up against him every day in practice; you block him every day in practice, then you go into a game, and it's almost slow motion."

Sunday night, Randle was inducted into the Vikings' Ring of Honor.

"I think he epitomizes what the Ring stands for," Hutchinson said. "(He's) a guy who played for a team for a decade, 11 years, is one of the all-time sack leaders."

Hutchinson practiced against Randle in Seattle, where Randle played for the Seahawks from 2001 until his retirement after the 2003 season.

"You had to bring it to practice every day, because he was like Adrian (Peterson): there's only one speed," Hutchinson said. "I'm very happy for him. It's an unbelievable thing for the city and for him, a guy who lives here. I see no reason why he wouldn't be first ballot going into Canton next year."

That he's even a consideration is remarkable, given Randle's humble start. He played at Trinity Community College in Athens, Texas, before transferring to Texas AM University at Kingsville.

The Vikings signed Randle as an undrafted free agent, and he went to the Pro Bowl in 1993, after recording 11 1/2 sacks. When he retired, Randle had racked up 137 1/2 career sacks, an NFL record for a defensive tackle.

But Randle was remembered for being one of the league's most colorful players.

Vikings center Matt Birk recalled a funny run-in with Randle during his first training camp. Birk was eating in the dining room when Randle came up to him.

"He comes up to me and says, 'Today, I'm going to take your soul,' " Birk said. "I figured he could be just the guy to do it."

When he was introduced before Sunday's kickoff, Randle received a rousing ovation from the sellout crowd.

Williamses update: Sunday afternoon, Fox Sports reported that players facing four-game suspensions related to StarCaps likely will be penalized Tuesday.

The Vikings are moving forward until they hear otherwise.

"Right now, I know I'm playing Football in Detroit," Kevin Williams said, "and I will continue to think that."

Fox Sports also reported that if the appeals are rejected and the suspensions are imposed, legal action could take place quickly, with the lawsuits alleging that the NFL knew StarCaps contained a banned diuretic and failed to share the information with players and the NFL Players Association.

Kevin Williams, Pat Williams, and New Orleans Saints players Deuce McAllister, Charles Grant and Will Smith are among those facing the suspensions, along with Atlanta Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jackson and Houston Texans long snapper Bryan Pittman.

"It's something we don't know what's going to happen, and we feel we'll probably know something in the next few days," Frazier said. "We figure with four games left, they will tell us something. We got our fingers crossed, and we're hoping for the best.

"Hopefully, we don't have to play without them, but who knows."

Ellis Wyms and Fred Evans are the top backups to the Williamses.

Sharper sharp: Vikings safety Darren Sharper knows what it means to be in first place in the NFC North at the start of December.

"It is big, but this is what coach (Brad) Childress came here for," Sharper said. "All the free-agent acquisitions we had and the veteran team we had returning was for games like this: To be in first place at the start of December. But like Coach said after the game, 'It doesn't mean anything if we don't go next week and beat Detroit. We have to keep the mentality that we're still playing for first place."

The Vikings' goal-line stand in the second quarter helped lift the Vikings into first place, and Sharper credited that stand to the play of the defensive line.

"Our defensive line on that goal-line stand was unbelievable," Sharper said. "For them to slow down a team that has a good offensive line and a good running back, you don't see that happening too many times in the NFL. When you're on the one-inch line and they don't get it, I think that took the wind out of their sails and it changed the momentum of the game."

Sharper helped keep momentum tilted toward the Vikings with his third-quarter interception, his first of the season.

"It's been so long I kind of didn't know what to do with it," Sharper said, jokingly. "They tried to pump me to the middle (so they could) try to hit the sideline shot. I just stayed where I need to be. Coach always preaches that sometimes the ball just hits you in the face if you stay where you need to be. It worked on that play."

Cook rebounds: Ryan Cook had a modest goal when he learned that he would return to the starting lineup at right tackle.

"I didn't have any penalties," said Cook, who was replaced in the starting lineup by Artis Hicks against the Jacksonville Jaguars. "That was first on my list."

Cook got the start because Hicks wasn't cleared to play because of an arm injury that kept him out of practice last Wednesday and Thursday.

But Cook played a solid game, helping the Vikings rack up 178 rushing yards and providing solid protection of quarterback Gus Frerotte.

"It felt good," Cook said. "I just did what I was called upon to do.

"I didn't have any loss of confidence to be honest with you," Cook said. "I just prepared as if I was going to start the game knowing the uncertainty with Artis."

Cook said he found out 10 minutes before kickoff that he would start.

Frazier upset by penalty: Vikings defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier is known for his cool demeanor. But even Frazier was furious after cornerback Benny Sapp was flagged for a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty on a third-down play that the Vikings stuffed for a loss.

"Boy, you don't want any penalties period, especially when you're off the field," Frazier said. "I was extremely upset. Extremely upset, and I let him know about it, and can't happen again.

"I really thought about asking coach to take him out. It was a critical situation."

But Frazier settled down, and said he was proud that Sapp rebounded with a solid game.

"Sapp played a good game for us. He played a lot," Frazier said.

Oops, twice: Vikings defensive end Ray Edwards was called offsides twice in the first half, negating two sacks by teammates. In the first quarter, Brian Robison had a sack wiped out by Edwards' penalty. Then Kevin Williams had a sacked negated by Edwards in the second quarter.

Tillman struggles with Berrian: Charles Tillman had a rough day matched up against Bernard Berrian. Tillman gave up a 99-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter. He left Berrian wide open when he cut inside and Berrian kept running straight down the left sideline.

Later in the second quarter, Tillman used a horsecollar tackle to bring down Berrian, resulting in a 15-yard penalty. That moved the Vikings down to the 22-yard line and Minnesota capped the drive with a quarterback sneak for a touchdown by Gus Frerotte.

Allison out: Vikings receiver Aundrae Allison was on the inactive list for the first time this season. Allison said it was "part of the game plan" and that it wasn't a disciplinary move because he didn't do anything wrong leading up to the game.

Allison has been quiet of late, catching just one pass for minus-1 yard in the four games since catching three passes for 32 yards at Chicago on Oct. 19.

Receiver Robert Ferguson was on the active list after being inactive the previous four games.

With Allison out, the Vikings were expected to rely on Bernard Berrian as the primary punt returner.

Briefly: The Vikings wore throwback uniforms, replicas from the mid-1970s.

Adrian Peterson limped off the field with fewer than 11 minutes remaining in the third quarter. He appeared to be favoring his left leg. Peterson was able to return to the game on the team's next possession. But Peterson was again banged up at the bottom of a pile early in the fourth quarter. He was able to return after a couple of plays.

Vikings fullback/tight end Jeff Dugan doesn't have a catch or a run. But he has an interesting distinction. The Vikings are 4-0 when is active and just 2-5 when he is not. On Sunday night, Dugan was active.

Sean Jensen, Rick Alonzo and Bob Sansevere contributed to this report.