Minnesota offense vs. Chicago defense

	VIKINGS OFFENSE
	Ranking in the NFL:
	Run	17
	Pass	4
	Tot. Yds.	6
	Scoring	9
	Int's allowed	12
	Sacks allowed	24
	BEARS DEFENSE
	Ranking in the NFL:
	vs. Run	24
	vs. Pass	24
	Total yds. allowed	27
	# of Ints.	6
	# of Sacks	25
	Turnover differential	-12

The tale of two halves swung in the Vikings' favor last Monday when they started playing physical up front. At the start, Dallas' undersized defensive line thoroughly whipped Minnesota, making it virtually impossible for QB Jeff George to complete a pass in the first half. In the past two games, Minnesota has managed just 12 yards passing in the first quarter -- a stat that must change this week.

It will be imperative for the Vikings to come out and play with emotion from the opening kickoff on Sunday because they can't rely on many more comeback victories, especially on the road. George displayed terrible pocket awareness in the first half, often bracing for sacks and throwing off his back foot.

LOT Todd Stuessie is coming off his worst performance of the season and must elevate his game against Chicago RDE Van Tuinei, who started last week in place of Russell Davis. Tuinei put good pressure on Brett Favre last week and is the type of undersized edge rusher that gives Stuessie problems.

Another matchup in the trenches to keep an eye on is LDT Jim Flanigan versus ROG David Dixon. In Week 5, Flanigan rang up a pair of sacks against Dixon because he was able to get quick penetration with his inside swim move. Dixon must work to get his hands on Flanigan before he has a chance to get in the backfield.

Chicago also shook up its secondary against Green Bay, starting Terry Cousin in place of Tom Carter. Both players will be on the field against the Vikings' multiple-receiver sets and it will be interesting to see how Carter responds to last week's demotion. The Bears came away with three interceptions against Randall Cunningham in the first meeting between these teams but look for them to struggle against the more decisive George.

Against Dallas, Minnesota made a critical error by going away from the running game on their opening series. For some reason the offensive line became passive after blowing up huge holes for RBs Leroy Hoard and Moe Williams, who combined for 38 yards on the first five plays of the game.

Chicago has not played the run particularly well all season but they put forth their best effort of the season last week, holding Dorsey Levens to 79 yards on 26 carries. Bears NT Mike Wells, who had six solo tackles last week, is playing the run about as well as any defensive tackle in the league and his double-teams should free MLB Sean Harris to make plenty of plays.

Chicago was shredded by RB Robert Smith (12 att., 107 yds,) in the first meeting but should fare better against a between-the-tackles runner like Hoard.

Chicago's offensive line did a tremendous job of protecting Miller, as he was sacked just once all day. Look for the Vikings to come after Miller with more blitzes than he saw a week ago in an attempt to rattle the inexperienced veteran.

As was the case with their offense, Minnesota's defensive line played lethargically in the first half against the Cowboys, which forced the secondary to hold coverage too long. Defensive coordinator Foge Fazio ignited his unit in the second half, as NT Jerry Ball's knockout shot of Troy Aikman all but sealed the victory.

Despite the emergence of Marcus Robinson and steady play from Bobby Engram, the Bears passing attack will again miss Curtis Conway. Without Conway, the passing game is becoming overly predictable because not enough receivers are getting involved. Conway's work underneath really opened up the offense in Week 5, which means TE Ryan Wetnight must make an impact on Sunday.

The Vikings' secondary held up fairly well in coverage last week, especially late in the game, but numerous drops by Cowboy receivers helped their cause. One thing that this unit must improve on is their ball skills. The Vikings dropped at least four interceptions against the Cowboys and those are the types of plays that made this unit successful a year ago.

Smartly, Miller took some shots downfield, and while he didn't connect on many, the attempts prevented the Packers from using SS LeRoy Butler near the line of scrimmage. The Vikings' tackling was atrocious in the first half on Monday night. FS Orlando Thomas was the main culprit, blowing a pair of open-field tackles on Emmitt Smith's two touchdown runs. Thomas, who is that last line of defense for the Vikings, not only took poor angles to the ball carrier, he also failed to wrap-up on numerous occasions, opting instead for the big hit.

Chicago's line did a nice job of springing RB Curtis Enis into the secondary last week and he will be too powerful for Thomas to bring down if he doesn't break down and get into Enis' legs. If the Vikings come out flat, look for the Bears to have success running the football with their new four-man backfield rotation.