Of the many words written and spoken about the Green Bay Packers' loss to the Minnesota Vikings in Favre Bowl II on Sunday, the most telling was something Packers coach Mike McCarthy said as he was conducting his day-after autopsy with the media.

"It's about winning 1-on-1," McCarthy said.

Read between the lines and that comment means: If you strip away the schemes and game plans and get down to the basics of blocking and tackling, the Packers simply weren't good enough to win the one-on-one battles.

Indeed, now that Green Bay has lost twice to Minnesota in remarkably similar games in different settings, it is apparent the Vikings are the superior team. Even though the regimes running the two NFC North franchises started at roughly the same time, the Vikings have more talent on their roster in 2009.

Nowhere is that more evident than on the line of scrimmage, a disparity that shows most in the sack totals. In Minnesota's two wins, Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers was sacked a staggering 14 times and Vikings quarterback Brett Favre wasn't sacked once.

That difference is too great to be explained by the fact Favre still has a hair-trigger release and Rodgers, like many young quarterbacks, still holds the ball too long. Rather, the Vikings beat the Packers on the field twice this season because they have been beating them during the offseason for several years.

As all Packers fans know, general manager Ted Thompson believes in building through the draft. No problem there. Using the draft to stock the foundation is sound thinking in the NFL. However, Thompson uses the draft almost to a fault, and that's where Minnesota has gained the upper hand in this rivalry.

If you're wondering why Minnesota is 7-1 and the Packers are 4-3, it's simple. The Vikings are using every means at their disposal to build their team and the Packers are not.

Thompson's drafting hasn't been great, but it has been above average. By eschewing free agency and splashy trades, however, he has ended up with the youngest team in the NFL for four years. Despite a solid talent base, the Packers lack stars and still have weak areas that good teams can exploit.

The Vikings, on the other hand, have used every available avenue to acquire talent and have a starting lineup with seven difference-making players -- Favre, tailback Adrian Peterson, wide receiver Percy Harvin, guard Steve Hutchinson, defensive tackle Kevin Williams, defensive end Jared Allen and cornerback Antoine Winfield -- and no glaring holes. Their array of offensive weapons rivals New Orleans for the best in the NFL.

Looking at how the Vikings were built, that comes as no surprise.

Of their 24 starters (including specialists), 12 came via the draft, eight were unrestricted free agents, one was a restricted free agent, one was a street free agent, one arrived in a trade and one was claimed on waivers. Drafting for quality and not quantity, the Vikings have done well with five first-round picks and five second-round picks in the lineup.

The Packers have acquired 15 of 24 starters in the draft, including four first-rounders and four second-rounders, but the major difference is their reliance on street free agents (four) and their refusal to take big-money risks in free agency. The only two unrestricted free agents in the starting lineup are cornerback Charles Woodson and nose tackle Ryan Pickett and they were signed in 2006, Thompson's second year.

The biggest difference between the teams on the field is in the number of elite players each has, and it is telling to see where those playmakers came from.

Other than Woodson, Thompson has acquired three players -- Rodgers, wide receiver Greg Jennings and safety Nick Collins -- who could be considered elite and all three came in the draft. For the Vikings, Peterson, Harvin and Williams were first-round draft picks, Favre and Winfield were unrestricted free agents, Hutchinson was a restricted free agent and Allen was a trade acquisition.

The bottom line? The Vikings spent money and traded draft picks to bring in high-end veterans, yet still drafted as well or better than the Packers. No wonder they're running away with the division.

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