Chicago Bears Face a Must-Win Situation Against Minnesota Vikings

The Chicago Bears (7-3) are tied with a red-hot Green Bay Packers team for the NFC North Division with several teams looking towards the two wild-card playoff spots with six games left to play.

With three division games and a tough schedule to finish out the season, the Bears must win at home against the Minnesota Vikings Sunday to keep their playoff hopes alive.

The Vikings (6-4) may not have one of the best quarterbacks running their offense in Christian Ponder, but running back Adrian Peterson looks to have returned to form after 171 rushing yards against the Detroit Lions before last week's bye.

While the Bears are ranked as one of the top run defenses in the league, the Bears showed weaknesses in last Monday's loss at San Francisco.

And while Frank Gore didn't run for 100 yards, Peterson is a little more versatile and can be utilized in the passing game.

While this defense is older, it still has plenty of talent to do what it needs to do. But the concerns are of an offense that ranks second to last in passing yards per game.

There are also many worries over the offensive line, which has not done a very good job of protecting quarterbacks Jay Cutler and Jason Campbell.

Many are hoping that Cutler's return will help the offensive production. But if he keeps getting hit like he has this season, another injury will be very likely. And this late in the season, you want your team to have everyone at full strength as the playoff push gets more heated.

After game one of two against the Vikings, Chicago hosts a very good Seattle Seahawks team that has one of the toughest defenses in the league and a dangerous offense that has a lot of untapped potential in rookie quarterback Russell Wilson.

The Bears then go up to Minnesota before hosting the Packers in what could be a game that decides the division champion. After that, two road games at Arizona and Detroit.

But it starts with Sunday at home against the Vikings. The Bears have to win that game before looking ahead to the rest of the season.