Bears vs. Vikings: Minnesota rides Adrian Peterson to upset

The Vikings took advantage of two Jay Cutler interceptions to help them win the game. Cutler’s first pick set up the Minnesota offense inside the Chicago 10 yard line, while the second was returned for a touchdown by Harrison Smith. Smith’s score proved to be the difference in the game, as it gave Minnesota a 21-7 lead.

The victory improved Minnesota’s record to 7-6 and pulled the Vikings to within a game of Chicago in the NFC North.

Cutler completed 22 of 44 pass attempts for 260 yards.

In addition to losing the turnover battle, the Bears were penalized 10 times for 80 yards. The mistakes helped Minnesota pull off the win despite being outgained 438-248.

Peterson now has 1,600 rushing yards on the season, and has gone over 100 yards rushing in seven straight games. On Sunday, he padded his stats with a long run of 51 yards against a team that had been giving up just 103 yards rushing per game. He twice put the ball in the end zone from the 1-yard line in the first quarter.

And with the way Peterson won’t be denied right now, week 17 might be for the NFC North title -- and a home playoff game.

With the Bears scheduled to play the Packers next Sunday, the NFC North could potentially be all sorted out by end of that game. If Green Bay wins, it’ll clinch the division for the Packers, as they would hold the tiebreaker over the Bears in the event that both teams finish 10-6.

The loss also puts some pressure on the Bears to even win the wild card, as they’re now only one game ahead of the Vikings, Washington Redskins and a surging Dallas Cowboys team that beat the Bengals, 20-19, on Sunday.

Other than Peterson, the Bears’ defense did its part, but they were put into some tough situations in the game. The Bears had nearly 200 more total yards than the Vikings, but turnovers gave the Vikings easy points in a game that only featured four scores.

With the injuries continuing to pile up in Chicago, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to view the Bears as a true contender this season. With three losses in their past four games, it’ll be a true test of Lovie Smith’s roster to avoid collapse and make the postseason.

Cutler has left the game today with what is believed to be a neck or shoulder injury and not a concussion, but the Bears are starting to fall out of the playoff race anyway.

The Bears fall to 8-5 while they wait to find out the extent of the injury to Cutler. They’ll also hope that if he doesn’t miss any time, he has better games than this one.

Peterson has now rushed for nearly 150 yards and a pair of touchdowns against the often-praised Bears defense, as the Vikings lead, 21-7. With six more rushing yards in this game, Peterson will have rushed for 1,100 yards in his last seven games. He’s also approaching 1,600 yards on the season.

Fantasy Impact: Many fantasy owners were concerned about Adrian Peterson’s knee coming into the season, but the Vikings’ running back is on pace to have the best statistical season of his career in 2012. He has been one of the biggest value picks in fantasy football and should end the season as the top-ranked running back.

Many thought it would be curious to see what Chicago would do when they got in field goal range without their kicker, but Cutler looks to be in no danger of making that happen any time soon.

He still has three quarters to pile up yardage against the Bears, so stay tuned.

For more fantasy info, head over to the SB Nation Fantasy War Room 4-8:30 p.m. ET Monday through Thursday and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday. Check out SB Nation’s own Fantasy Football game, Pick 6!

Since becoming Chicago’s full-time kicker early in the 2005 season, Gould has played in every single game for Lovie Smith’s team. That’s not particularly surprising given that kickers don’t take the usual beating of other players on the roster, but it reflects the consistency that Chicago has typically had at the position of late.

One of the most reliable kickers in the league, Gould has made roughly 86 percent of his field goal attempts during his eight-year career, one of the best marks in NFL history. He’s 21-of-25 (84 percent) over the first 12 games of this season.

The Bears handled the Vikings just two weeks ago, but Adrian Peterson managed to find running room against a touted rush defense. Minnesota is also 5-1 at home this season and desperate to avoid a third straight division loss.

Minnesota is a starkly one-dimensional team on offense, and Peterson is simply a force of nature out of the backfield. No one really knew what to expect out of the veteran running back after he tore his ACL last December, but he made his way back for the start of the 2012 season and has ripped through the league again. The Vikings are third in the NFL averaging 154.9 yards per game, and that’s been largely done on the back of Peterson. With 1,446 yards through the first three quarters of the season, he’s well on his way to his second rushing title.

Sunday, Dec. 9, 1 p.m. ET

Minneapolis, Minn., Mall of America Field

Chicago has been highly successful against Minnesota in the last three seasons, going 5-0 both straight up and against the spread over that period. Neither team has met expectations recently: The Bears are 2-4-1 against the spread in their last seven contests, and the Vikings are 1-5-1 ATS over the same period, and 3-6-1 ATS in their last ten home games.

The total is set at 39. Chicago has gone over the total in four of their last five road games, and the Vikings have hit the over in 10 of their last 15 home contests.

After a hot start, the Minnesota Vikings (6-6) have faded from contention for the NFC North crown. The Vikings have lost four of their last five games, including a 23-14 defeat last week at Green Bay. When Minnesota last faced Chicago two weeks ago at Soldier Field, the Vikings came away 28-10 losers.

Chicago is the experts’ favorite to win Sunday. At Yahoo, both experts that have made picks selected Chicago to win. The consensus at CBS Sports is harder to find, as two of their eight experts took Minnesota. ESPN has not yet made selections. Nevertheless, the Bears get most of the expert support.