Bears-Vikings Preview

Here's my preview of today's Bears-Vikes game at frosty Soldier Field in Chicago:

Who Has the Edge?

Offense
In a season of "biggest games", this will again be Rex Grossman's biggest game of the season as he tries to bounce back from another poor performance. Just as importantly, offensive coordinator Ron Turner must rein in and change up his playcalling. As everyone has duly noted, Grossman must make better decisions and throws, but Turner needs to temper his desire to go deep and focus more on the intermediate routes to Muhsin Muhammad and TE Desmond Clark that the team had success with early in the season. Turner also needs to change some of the routes that the receivers run. As evidenced by last week's game against the Patriots, opposing teams know that the quick slant and skinny post are coming now, to the point where cornerbacks like Asante Samuel are jumping those routes and getting interceptions. This offense was at its best earlier in the season when TE Clark was heavily involved. In the first seven games, Clark averaged almost four catches per game and was among the league leaders in receiving yards for tight ends. In the past four games, Clark has a total of seven catches and one TD. The Bears must also continue to run the ball effectively, even though it will be difficult to run on the NFL's #1 run defense. The Vikings will try to run, run, and run some more with Chester Taylor, especially with deep threat WR Troy Williamson inactive due to inconsistency. Runs and short passes will be the order of the day for them. Edge: Even

Defense
Another game, another injured strong safety for the Bears. Chris Harris will replace Todd Johnson (sprained ankle) today, and he will have to be solid in run support. With Marcus Robinson the only real deep threat active for Minnesota today, Harris shouldn't be tested in coverage too much, which is a good thing. Stopping Chester Taylor and getting an improved pass rush from the recently much-maligned defensive line will be the main goals for the Bears defense today. The Vikings, like every other Bears opponent, will try to get after Grossman every chance they get. Their #1 run defense will also try to stuff the Bears' running game, though DT Pat Williams (questionable) may be somewhat limited. Edge: Bears

Special Teams
The Bears' special teams unit will have to clean up their mistakes from last week's game against New England, the first game where the unit has had multiple notable breakdowns. Former Patriot Bethel Johnson has been average on kickoff returns, while Mewelde Moore has been better on punt returns, with a 71-yard TD return to his credit. Edge: Bears

Coaching
Either Turner needs to rein in his game plan, or Lovie Smith needs to do it for him. The Vikings were the first team to successfully rattle Grossman with pressure, now they'll have to do it again. Edge: Bears

Intangibles
It was an interesting week leading up to this game, with a little war of words between Vikes safety Darren Sharper and Grossman, as well as more controversy stirred up by Bears backup RB Cedric Benson. Sharper acted as though he'd never said a bad word in his life when he talked about what Grossman said to the Vikings after Grossman threw the game-winning TD pass in their meeting earlier this season. Meanwhile, Benson continues to try to create conflict when he should just shut his mouth and take advantage of the carries that he does get. The Bears' defensive line also took offense to newspaper articles that questioned their lack of a pass rush in the past few games, it'll be interesting to see how they respond in this game. Edge: Bears

Prediction
The Bears will win... ugly. Bears 20, Vikings 9