Pick your poison Bear coaches: Trust your third ranked rushing defense to stop Adrian Peterson - he of 857 yards already this year -- or, force quarterback Brett Favre -- who threw for 446 yards last week against the Cardinals -- to beat you?
Cornerback Tim Jennings wants to stop both.
"Adrian Peterson's able to break one" Jennings said. "We just have to contain them, minimize the big plays and make it a 60 minute dog fight."
Favre and Peterson are not the only two players to worry about, though.
Vikings wide receiver Percy Harvin, who hasn't practiced all week after suffering from migraines, is second in the NFL with 1,228 combined yards. Wideout Sidney Rice hasn't played yet this season, but could return from injury Sunday against the Bears. Rice was second in the NFC in 2009, fourth in the NFL with 1,312 yards receiving.
Former Bear Bernard Berrian is dangerous, too. He holds two of the three longest pass plays in Vikings history including a 99 yard touchdown against the Bears two years ago.
The Bears could have multiple options for help.
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Cornerback Zackary Bowman expects to play Sunday after missing two weeks with a foot injury. Tim Jennings took over Bowman's starting job, but re-aggravated an old knee injury on the artificial turf in Toronto. Jennings says he's just being cautious and also expects to play Sunday.
Whomever the Bears have in their backfield, it could make for some takeaway opportunities. That is, if the Bears can get off to a fast start and force the vikings to start throwing.
"When you're at home you want to put the opponent on their heels a little bit" Bears coach Lovie Smith said. "That's why it's so important for us to play well right away, get the crowd into it, use that home field advantage and make them play from behind."
Brian Urlacher agreed but warned the Bears defense has struggled to hold onto leads despite protecting the lead in 3 of 4 wins this year.
"We haven't done a good job of that this year" Urlacher pointed out, "if you look last week we had the lead twice and we gave it up both times, we came through in the end but haven't done a good job for the most part this season, playing when we have the lead."
And don't forget Captain Comeback wears number 4 in Purple. Bret Favre threw for a pair of touchdowns just last week in a career high 446 yard passing game that brought the vikings an overtime win against Arizona. And, last December, Favre directed a 30 point second half comeback at Soldier Field before falling to the Bears in overtime.
Pick your poison Bears - stop the run, or stop the pass.
