Sunday Night Showdown: Do or Die for Bears and Vikings

As soon as the clocks ran out in Saint Louis and Jacksonville on Sunday, Bears and Vikings fans everywhere breathed a momentary sigh of relief before setting their sights on a huge game looming in the near future. Both teams' playoff hopes hang in the balance, and the stakes rarely get any higher in the NFL today.

The magnitude of this game can't be underestimated. While the winner can build upon the momentum that they gained with convincing road wins this past week and focus on winning one more divisional game to potentially lock up a playoff spot, the loser will face an uphill battle in the coming weeks and must hang their playoff hopes on the outcome of other division games as the season comes to a close.

Truly, I think that this is what NFL football is all about; a true NFC North showdown of epic proportions. This division has been hard for me to wrap my head around all season, and both of these teams have won and lost some games they shouldn't have.

Despite the unpredictability of both teams, I think that there are some things that both teams need to predict and address accordingly this week if they want to come out of Sunday night's game with a 7-5 record.

1. The Battle in the Trenches

This will likely to be a much lower-scoring affair than the last time these teams met, and I know it gets said a lot, but I think it is especially true this week that whichever team manages to dominate the line of scrimmage for four quarters will win this game, period.

Both teams possess solid running backs and physical offensive lines, but just as importantly, both teams rank near the top of the league in run defense.

As a Bears fan, I was overjoyed when I heard that the "Williams Wall" might be forced to sit this game out, but it appears both All-Pro defensive tackles will be active on Sunday.

The Bears have been fortunate enough to avoid any major injuries to their front seven so far this year and the team's depth at the defensive tackle position might help wear down Minnesota's running game.

In the first meeting between these two teams, Adrian Peterson rushed for 121 yards, but nearly half of his total came on one long TD run.

The other reason to expect a low-scoring game won at the line of scrimmage is because both teams' passing games have been subject to a great deal of scrutiny in recent weeks.

For the Bears, Orton's injury and the lack of a consistent downfield receiving threat might make it hard for them to produce through the air. If Jared Allen plays this week, the Bears will also have to account for his pass rush, which is one of the league's deadliest.

For Minnesota, Gus Frerrotte's checkered performance this season has been marked by 12 interceptions, including four against the Bears' sub-par and injury-ridden secondary in Week 12.

2. Special Teams

If you look at the Vikings special teams performance this season, it's easy to see how they've managed to disappoint so many fans and analysts this year who saw them as a possible Super Bowl contender in the preseason. The truth is that their special teams play has been their Achilles' heel all season long. It killed them in losses to the Bears and Bucs, and almost killed them in close wins over the Saints and Packers.

The Bears special teams has failed to live up to expectations this season, and Devin Hester has not been the only problem, but I would look for the Bears' special teams to come up with a big play again this week.

If I were Brad Childress, I might consider keeping the defense on the field in fourth down situations instead of fielding a punt return team this week and risk losing the ball again. 

At the end of the day, the Bears have relied on special teams too much this season and the Vikings seem to have overlooked that phase of the game completely, so it's difficult to predict based on what they have done so far this season, but I would certainly look for special teams to play a big part in the outcome Sunday night.

3. Finishing

Both teams have struggled all year long with finishing games up strong. The Bears have had a tendency to squander double-digit leads late in the fourth quarter this year. The Vikings have also had trouble holding onto leads and capitalizing on opponents' errors.

Both are coming off easy wins, but I wouldn't expect either team to roll over and die like the Jaguars and Rams did this past weekend, but the key for the coaches will be having the sense to put the nail in the coffin late and not become complacent in their play-calling, possibly enabling the other team to mount a comeback late in the game. 

The winner this week may not be the best all-around team in the division, but they will certainly be the most likely to go to the playoffs. The NFC North hasn't gotten much respect or attention this year because of their mediocre records, but I think that whoever wins this division has a good chance to surprise people in the post-season.