Division lead at stake for Bears, Vikings
Peterson poses bigger challenge in a bigger game
By Vaughn McClure | Tribune reporter
10:04 PM CST, November 24, 2008
The five sacks and four interceptions all looked good on paper, but the Bears fully understood what they were up against when they demolished the Rams on Sunday: a bad team.
That won't be the case this Sunday, when the Bears travel to Minneapolis to face a Minnesota Vikings team that has won three of its last four.
Both are 6-5 and tied atop the NFC North. A Bears win would give them a 2-0 record against the Vikings this season, significant in terms of the division title.
"They've got a very good team, a team I believe is better than the team we just played," defensive end Alex Brown said Monday. "We've got to be ready."
Brown was speaking for the team as a whole, but the onus may fall on his side of the ball.
Sure, the defense dominated the Rams, but it faced an offense without its best player in running back Steven Jackson and that lost starting quarterback Marc Bulger to a concussion minutes into the game.
Adrian Peterson and the Vikings pose a much tougher challenge.
"He's a monster," Brown said of Peterson. "He runs hard. His offensive line, I don't think they get enough credit. They play really well and he runs off the blocks from them. They get play-action off of it.
"We've got to do our job. I believe that defense starts with the defensive line. If we can have a pretty good day, we should have a good chance to win."
The Bears haven't had much success slowing the Vikings since Peterson's arrival.
The league's second-leading rusher in just his second season, Peterson has amassed 423 rushing yards and seven touchdowns in three meetings with the Bears.
When the teams squared off last season at the Metrodome, he was held to 78 yards on 20 carries but still managed to score the game-winning touchdown.
"We don't want to look back at last year," end Adewale Ogunleye said. "[The] first game we played against him, he licked us really well (224 yards). The second game, even though he didn't do as well, he still ran the ball well.
"I think, for us, all 11 guys have got to tattoo him. We've got to be on top of him. Wherever he gets the ball, he's got to feel us. If he's going down, we've got to try to hit him and not let him get any easy yards. Because he's the type of player that if we give him a little bit of hole, he'll ski right through and run by our safeties. We've seen that."
The Bears' run-stopping ability was the defense's strongest link until the Packers and Ryan Grant exposed some holes two weeks ago.
One can bet the Vikings will study that film and figure out how to do the same with Peterson and tag-team partner Chester Taylor.
Not to mention the Vikings have a veteran quarterback in Gus Frerotte, who has turned out to be an upgrade from Tarvaris Jackson.
True, Frerotte threw four interceptions when the teams met in Week 7, but he also helped the Vikings rack up 439 total yards to the Bears' 327.
And don't forget about ex-Bear Bernard Berrian at receiver.
Bears coach Lovie Smith knows his team understands the Vikings' capabilities, just like he knows they understand the significance of this showdown.
"You could say [this is] the biggest game we've had in our division in a long time," Smith said.
"They're a good football team. They've been playing well, especially here of late. We know them well. They know us well. Should be a heck of a game."
vxmcclure@tribune.com
