CHICAGO (AP) -- The Detroit Lions and St. Louis Rams are atop the NFC, the San Francisco 49ers are near the bottom and almost everybody else is fighting for second.

The Vikings are starting to roll, the Packers are struggling and the Bears are showing signs of life for the first time in years.

What, exactly, is going on in the NFC these days?

"The game is getting closer and I think teams are more evenly matched than they were before," Minnesota Vikings coach Dennis Green said. "I don't think parity is a bad word. It means the playing field is more level."

That parity will be on full display at Soldier Field on Sunday, where Green's Vikings (5-4) play the Chicago Bears (4-5). Though the Vikings came within a missed field goal of the Super Bowl last year and the Bears were, well, awful again, it's Minnesota that comes in with something to prove.

Chicago, which has already matched its win total for all of last year, has beaten both Minnesota and Green Bay on the road for the first time since 1991. The Bears easily beat the Vikings at the Metrodome, scoring three touchdowns off five turnovers.

"This is an animal that's injured and angry. Its pride is hurt," Bears defensive coordinator Greg Blache said. "They're going to try to get after us, and we have to go in with the same intensity.

"We can't go in there being Christians. We have to be the lions on Sunday and get after their butts."

Though the Vikings returned almost everyone from last year, they struggled early, losing three of four games to division opponents and dropping to the bottom of the NFC Central. It wasn't until Green benched Randall Cunningham for Jeff George that the Vikings seemed to find their groove, and they're 3-0 since then, including a big win over Dallas on Monday night.

Win Sunday and the Vikings can get a little closer to Detroit and a little further from the rest of the division before their bye week.

"Yeah, our offense is beginning to explode with Jeff George at the helm. But overall as a team, we've buckled down. We've rallied around each other," linebacker Dwayne Rudd said. "We've done a lot of individual speaking to each other and we want to get on track right now. Winning three games in a row, that's a huge thing."

But that still doesn't answer the question of why the NFL has been turned upside down this year. Bears coach Dick Jauron, who played for eight years, said the league has always been competitive, but injuries and retirements have highlighted that this season.

Look at Denver, he said. John Elway retired, Terrell Davis got hurt and the Broncos went from Super Bowl champs to 3-6. Or Green Bay. Reggie White retires, and the Packers defense drops to 21st in the NFL.

"Those kinds of things occur to take one of the teams that was in the top ranks of the league to bring them back down closer to the rest of the league," Jauron said.

Free agency has made a huge difference, too, Green said. Instead of struggling while young players develop, teams can go out and buy what they need. Washington, one of the worst teams in the league last year, traded for former Minnesota quarterback Brad Johnson and now the Redskins are tied for the lead in the NFC East.

The Bears, who didn't even know what a pass rush was last season, signed Clyde Simmons as a free agent in the offseason. They now have 25 sacks, seven more than all last year, with Simmons' five sacks leading the team.

"That is what the system was meant to do," Green said. "There are some new teams on the block, and it is up to those in the middle to catch up to them."

And sometimes, Bears offensive tackle Blake Brockermeyer said, it's just a cyclical thing. The NFC has been the dominant league with the best teams for almost 20 years now, and it was only a matter of time until fortunes turned.

Now, Brockermeyer said, it's the AFC that's stronger _ though that doesn't mean an NFC team can't win the Super Bowl _ and that trickles down to the divisions. In the 1980s, everyone in the NFC Central was chasing the Bears. For most of 1990s, it was the Packers.

This year, it's wide open.

"It's a tough division to play in," Bears receiver Bobby Engram said. "Every week when you strap it on with somebody in your division, it's going to be a hard-fought game whether it's Tampa Bay, Green Bay or anybody."

MINNESOTA Season schedule and results

CHICAGO Season schedule and results

September 12 @Atlanta W 17-14 September 19 Oakland L 17-22 September 26 @Green Bay L 20-23 October 3 Tampa Bay W 21-14 October 10 Chicago L 22-24 October 17 @Detroit L 23-25 October 24 San Francisco W 40-16 October 31 @Denver W 23-20 November 8 Dallas W 27-17 November 14 @Chicago 1:00pm ET November 28 San Diego 1:00pm ET December 6 @Tampa Bay 9:00pm ET December 12 @Kansas City 8:20pm ET December 20 Green Bay 9:00pm ET December 26 @NY Giants 1:00pm ET January 2 Detroit 1:00pm ET

September 12 Kansas City W 20-17 September 19 Seattle L 13-14 September 26 @Oakland L 17-24 October 3 New Orleans W 14-10 October 10 @Minnesota W 24-22 October 17 Philadelphia L 16-20 October 24 @Tampa Bay L 3-6 October 31 @Washington L 22-48 November 7 @Green Bay W 14-13 November 14 Minnesota 1:00pm ET November 21 @San Diego 4:15pm ET November 25 @Detroit 12:40pm ET December 5 Green Bay 1:00pm ET December 19 Detroit 1:00pm ET December 26 @St. Louis 1:00pm ET January 2 Tampa Bay 1:00pm ET

Records source: STATS, Inc.

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