Sure, it was an ugly loss, and now 9-3 Cincinnati is coming to the Metrodome, but Williams believes the Vikings have everything under control. He's not worried about a team that features the NFL's No. 1-ranked scoring defense and a tough, physical offense powered by bruising running back Cedric Benson.

"I've played against great backs and great players, and he ain't one of them," Williams said.

So, after the deflating Arizona loss on Sunday night in front of a national television audience, have the Vikings lost their confidence?

"That (expletive) ain't going nowhere," Williams said. "Everybody loses games. We ain't 2-10; we're 10-2. We ain't worried about the Bengals. Ain't nobody losing no juice here."

Yeah, but the Bengals are pretty tough, right? They've got physical linemen on both sides of the ball.

"I ain't scared of no man, trust me," Williams said. "This is not the Detroit Lions, a game they almost lost. So we ain't worried about it."

The Bengals are coming off a 23-13 win over Detroit on Sunday and facing some tough questions of their own, mainly about their consistency and how they will match up against an elite team after a string of so-so performances against lowly opponents.

The Vikings represent a big challenge for the Bengals, who have scored more than 20 points just once in their past five games.

Cincinnati likes to pound the Football and beat an opponent into submission. Benson had 36 carries for 110 yards against Detroit.

Earlier this season, Benson broke Baltimore's 39-game streak of not allowing a 100-yard rusher. Minnesota has a streak of 35 games.

If the Vikings take their self-confidence cues from Williams, a renowned trash talker, they'll be just fine.

"The Arizona game is gone," Williams said. "We ain't worried about that. We lost. We chalked it up. We've moved on."

The Vikings have shown the ability to bounce back from losses in the past. They haven't lost consecutive games since the start of the 2008 season, when they opened 0-2.

When the Vikings suffered their first loss this season at Pittsburgh, they were the victims of a bad tripping call on Jeff Dugan and a couple of unfortunate turnovers in the fourth quarter. They walked away from that game feeling like they were the better team.

In some ways, maybe it's fitting that the Vikings will get a chance to rebound against Cincinnati, the organization that kick-started Brett Favre's career.

On Sept. 20, 1992, at Green Bay, Favre took over for injured starter Don Majkowski, who was knocked out of the game by Tim Krumrie in the first quarter. The Packers trailed 17-3 in the second half, but Favre threw two touchdown passes in the final 4:11, rallying his team for a 24-23 win.

Favre has started every game of his career since then, and he's looking forward to seeing how his 282nd career start goes, not only for him but for the team.

"It's easy when things are going well to say the right things, do the right things. 'Well, our defense is playing great, our offense is awesome.' Even if that's not really the case," Favre said. "But when you lose, it's a heck of a lot easier to start pointing fingers or (question) what we're doing from a scheme standpoint or how we practice or how we meet, all that stuff. I haven't seen that."

Vikings running back Adrian Peterson wants to bounce back after Arizona stuffed him for 19 yards on 13 carries. The team as a whole didn't play much better, falling flat in a big game.

"You can't do that when you are trying to make the run to get into the playoffs," Peterson said. "Here in December, these last games are so crucial. You have to make sure that you stay focused. Playing a team that is 9-3, Cincinnati, it will be a good way to bounce back and beat those guys."

Peterson said the running game wasn't going at Arizona because of a collective problem, one the Vikings can't afford.

"It was lackadaisical attitude," Peterson said. "With that, you can have that effect that trickles down to the entire team. I feel like that is all it was."

Coach Brad Childress said the performance was "a complete step out of character," from the two interceptions thrown by Favre to the defense getting picked apart by Kurt Warner. The best way to move forward, according to Childress, is to own up to the problem and play more physical Football.

It's tough to admit it, center John Sullivan said, but the Vikings weren't the most physical team on the field last week.

"That's something in the long run that I'm accountable for," Childress said. "Part of the accountability part is identifying it, and having everybody own it -- coaches, players, -- and learn from it going forward. I have no reason to believe that our group won't do that."

It's possible a smash-it-up game against the Bengals might be just what the Vikings need to re-establish themselves as a hard-nosed team.

"This is our style of Football," defensive end Jared Allen said. "We like to line up and get physical. We like to line up and hit people, and we like stopping the run. This might be one of those 1930s-type of games."