Minnesota Vikings: 5 Steps to Beating the Chicago Bears in Week 6

After feeling the high of their first win, the Minnesota Vikings come back down to the reality that they are still 1-4 and the underdog in their Week 6 matchup with the Chicago Bears. In spite of that fact, the Vikings could certainly walk away with their second straight win this season on prime time this Sunday night in front of the whole nation.

Despite winning the NFC North title in 2010 and being considered a preseason favorite to contend with Green Bay and do it again, the Chicago Bears have seen their struggles this season and enter this week a very beatable team.

Matthew Stafford, Calvin Johnson and the rest of the Detroit Lions exploited many lapses in the Bears' systems and improved to a record of 5-0 on Monday Night Football only a few days ago.

It will be up to this rising Vikings team to exploit those same holes, and maybe some new ones, if they want to walk away with their second victory this season.

Here are five steps the Vikings can take to beating the Chicago Bears in Week 6.

Exploit Bears' Offensive Line, Get to Cutler

Jay Cutler has been publicly crucified for his lack of trust in his offensive line, but honestly, who can blame him at this point? He's been sacked more than any QB in the NFL, this year and last.

It was that same offensive line that allowed the Green Bay Packers to knock Cutler out of the NFC Championship game and essentially lost them the game by continuing to offer no protection to the backup QBs either.

Against Detroit, Cutler played pretty well in spite of his terrible offensive line. It wasn't enough, though, because his receivers dropped some solid passes as the timing was thrown off by the Lions pass-rush.

The Lions have a very good defensive line, but statistically the Vikings are superior. Led by Jared Allen's league-leading 8.5 sacks, the Vikings defense has totaled 16 sacks, four forced fumbles, six interceptions and, most importantly, only allowed their opponents to 382 rushing yards.

Allen is well on his way to breaking Michael Strahan's single-season sacks record, and on pace to reach his 100th career sack before he reaches 30 years of age. Clearly an early favorite to win the NFC's defensive MVP, Allen will be able to blow past this porous offensive line and put Cutler on his face.

The key for the Vikings, though, will be for other players like Kevin Williams, Brian Robison and Everson Griffen to do the same as Allen, and put some serious pressure on Cutler. Even if they can't bring him down for sacks, throwing off the Bears' offensive rhythm will be essential for the Vikings in this game.

Minimize Matt Forte's Production

Even though the Bears' front office doesn't seem to realize it, Matt Forte is Chicago's best offensive playmaker.

Forte is not only the top RB on the team, he is also Chicago's leading receiver. Jay Cutler loves to sling the ball out to Forte in the flats—probably because that's the only thing he can do with that pitiful offensive line. Regardless, Forte is a playmaker and the Vikings need to account for that.

Containing Forte on the ground shouldn't be an issue for such a dominant Vikings defensive line. Like I said, they've only allowed opposing teams to rush for 382 yards this season.

Accounting for Forte and the TEs in the passing game, however, is a whole different animal. The RB leads the Bears in not only receptions, but receiving yards as well, with 345 (11.5 per reception).

The Vikings defense has allowed over 1,300 yards to opposing QBs, struggling particularly against underneath routes to RBs and TEs—this was completely evident in their first game against San Diego.

This area of the Vikings defense might be the team's Achille's heel. They must account for Forte if they want a chance at winning this game.

Keep It Rolling with the Defensive Secondary

While the Vikings defense has given up 1,359 yards through the air, the defensive secondary has steadily and quietly improved from week-to-week, and that became very apparent against the Arizona Cardinals.

Second-year corner Chris Cook is finally starting to come into his own as a solid bump-and-run corner, after missing most of his rookie season from multiple knee injuries. Cook has faced three of the league's best receivers in the last three weeks and played very well against all three.

Last week, Cook held Larry Fitzgerald to four catches for 66 yards and no touchdowns. Similarly, Cook played very well against Dwayne Bowe and against Calvin Johnson, despite allowing Johnson one touchdown.

Cook has matched up against some of the league's best in three consecutive weeks. Given the fact that the Bears possess no threat like that of the Lions, Cardinals or Chiefs, he should put up for a pretty solid day against Devin Hester, Johnny Knox or Dane Sanzenbacher (who?).

Along with Cook, FS Husain Abdullah has emerged as one of the most underrated safeties in all of football. Abdullah and SS Jamarca Sanford have both proven to be very effective against the run, and Sanford showed his utility against the pass against Arizona when he intercepted two passes from Kevin Kolb.

The Vikings lacked veteran Antoine Winfield against Arizona, and likely will against Chicago as well, but his backup Asher Allen has stepped up and played the best game of his career against the Cardinals—also adding an interception. If Allen can replicate that kind of production against a much weaker Bears receiving corps, he will give the Vikings secondary a much needed boost to stop opposing pass-production.

If the Vikings secondary can play as well against Chicago as they did Arizona, they should allow Jared Allen and Brian Robison plenty of time to get to Jay Cutler and disrupt any offensive production they may have.

Play Devin Aromashodu over Bernard Berrian

Plenty of Minnesotans don't realize that it was Devin Aromashodu who burned CB Antoine Winfield for a touchdown in overtime of the Vikings matchup with the Bears at Soldier Field in 2009. That loss ended up keeping the Vikings from earning home-field advantage in the playoffs, and arguably their trip to the Super Bowl.

Grudges aside, happenstance (and Mike Martz) forced Aromashodu out of Chicago and he was given a fresh start with the Vikings. Aromashodu has already made some nice plays for the Purple, and has 120 receiving yards on only four catches.

He is not the team's leading receiver, but Aromashodu has been a breath of fresh air for the Vikings offense as he emerges as the only real deep-threat. Likewise, Aromashodu replaced other former Bear Bernard Berrian last week against the Cardinals when Berrian was ruled inactive.

Berrian will be active once again for the Vikings this week in Chicago, but with the fans and the media already against him, it's tough to imagine him in Minnesota for much longer.

With only four receptions, Aromashodu has been far more productive than Berrian and is definitely worth giving the No. 3 receiving spot.

Aromashodu will want to put up a big game against the team that didn't want him and prove to them that he was worth it. The Vikings are finally starting to realize his utility and are getting him on the field more, which has definitely worked in their favor because, unlike Berrian, he actually catches the ball when thrown to.

I'm starting to envision Aromashodu more and more as a sort of poor man's Dwayne Bowe, and he could prove very useful against a struggling Bears defense.

If the Vikings play Aromashodu over Berrian, they will not regret it. He could be the boost their passing game needs.

Feed Adrian Peterson the Ball

Well, it seems like Bill Musgrave finally figured out that he has the NFL's best running back at his disposal. Peterson had three touchdowns in the first quarter of the game against the Arizona Cardinals. The RB seemed invincible, as no Cardinal tacklers could bring him down—even rookie stud Patrick Peterson was driven back six yards on an AP run into the end zone.

Peterson is really living up to his nickname "Purple Jesus," as he is truly the savior of this franchise.

Peterson, like Forte, is his team's most important player on offense. The difference for the Vikings, though, is that they have Percy Harvin to change things up. This deathly duo is enough to give plenty of defensive coordinators headaches.

In the three games previous to last week, Musgrave didn't give Peterson enough touches—when he did, opposing teams left eight men in the tackle box. Running the ball seemed impractical with the way defenses matched up against the Vikings.

With the emergence of receiving targets Percy Harvin, Michael Jenkins, Devin Aromashodu and Visanthe Shiancoe in the passing game, however, more room has opened up for Peterson to run the ball.

Finding the right balance is always a key for an offensive coordinator, but making sure Peterson gets his touches will be paramount this week as they face a feeble Bears defense.

Last week against Detroit, the Bears defense allowed a very mediocre Jahvid Best to rush for 163 yards and a key touchdown. If Best can put up that kind of production against the Bears, Vikings fans should be salivating about seeing AP rush against them.

Not only is Pro Bowl defensive end Julius Peppers suffering from a knee injury, long-time captain and face of the Bears franchise Brian Urlacher has no faith in his fellow teammates for the way they played against the Lions.

Either way, the Vikings could very well shock this Bears squad if they come out with a high-octane offense that they proved they can be against the Cardinals, and with the same defensive consistency that they have shown in the last few weeks.

If the Vikings can put the Bears away in this game, they will have the same 2-3 record and will have put the Bears in the basement of the division. There is perhaps no more meaningful game on the docket this week, and this epic showdown will be a great one on a national stage. With so much to lose for both squads, this game could end up deciding the fate of the season for one of these squads.

If the Vikings can follow these steps, they should be able to walk away with a victory in Chicago.

Thanks for reading.

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