Bears Game Day: Jeffery catches forge 20

With the regular season winding down, the Chicago Bears' game Sunday at Minnesota was vital to their hopes of overtaking the first-place Detroit Lions in the NFC North.

The Bears (6-5) needed to beat the last-place Vikings to keep pace with the Lions (7-5), who beat the Packers (5-6-1) on Thanksgiving. Detroit owns the tiebreaker, having beaten the Bears twice this season, so a loss at Minnesota would in essence leave the Bears two games behind with only four to play.

Meanwhile, the Vikings (2-8-1) are coming off a tie with the Packers last Sunday and figure to once again feature reigning league MVP Adrian Peterson against the Bears' league-worst run defense.

It will be the Bears' last visit to the Metrodome, with the Vikings set to exit the facility after this season and play at the University of Minnesota's stadium while their new stadium is being built.

The Bears had a tough time defeating the Vikings 31-30 in Week 2 at Soldier Field. It took a touchdwon pass from Jay Cutler to tight end Martellus Bennett with 10 seconds left to pull out the win. Peterson hasn't forgotten.

'Losing that game in the last seconds...it was tough, you know,' Peterson said. 'We had opportunities offensively to put it out of reach, to not even put it on our defense. And that's the way I feel like any offense should look at it. We had the opportunity to seal the deal, get it done. So offensively, being able to take advantage of those opportunities when you have the lead...to be able to seal it and not give that opposing team a chance to win (is key).'

With Cutler still rehabbing a high-ankle sprain, Josh McCown will be making his fourth start of the season. McCown set a franchise record with 36 completions last weekend against the Rams. His passer rating this season is 100.8. The Bears will be counting on running back Matt Forte, who suffered a hyper-extended knee in the loss to the Rams. He was expected to play against Minnesota.

Defensively, the Bears are hoping that the addition of veteran four-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Jeremiah Ratliff in spot duty can help stem the tide of yards allowed this season. Entering Sunday's game, the Bears were allowing 376 yards a contest and were on pace to allow the most yards in franchise history.

Injuries to Lance Briggs, Charles Tillman, Henry Melton, Nate Collins, Stephen Paea, D.J. Williams and others have taken their toll defensively. Safety Major Wright tweaked a hamstring during practice on Friday and is inactive, with Craig Steltz set to step into the lineup.

While the Bears have won seven of the last eight against the Vikings, the home team has won 19 of the last 23. The Vikings lead the all-time series 53-50-2.

Twitter@kicker34

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