Bears mimicking Vikes in early fight for 1st place in NFC North

MINNEAPOLIS -- The Minnesota Vikings have not won their division in six years, and to get to the top they'll have to push past the Chicago Bears.\nThe central part of the takeover plan is defense, on which the Vikings are playing the same scheme that Bears coach Lovie Smith once learned in Tampa Bay as an assistant under Tony Dungy. Mike Tomlin, now Minnesota's defensive coordinator, did the same when he coached the secondary for the Buccaneers.\nWhen new Vikings coach Brad Childress hired Tomlin, he pointed to Chicago as one reason for that choice. "What better way to beat that defense than to practice against it?" said Childress, whose Philadelphia teams had plenty of trouble against Tampa Bay when he was the offensive coordinator there.\nLike the West Coast offense, the Tampa Two, as it's often known, has become one of the league's trendiest systems. It's primarily a zone pass coverage that uses very little blitzing, instead relying on heavy pressure from a fast, lean defensive line; speedy, all-over-the-field activity by the linebackers and safeties; and sure tackling from the cornerbacks.\nSo far, the Vikings (2-0) have played it well, giving up only 29 points and two touchdowns. However, the Bears (2-0) are the standard-setters in the NFC North, with every starter back from a unit that yielded a league-low 202 points and finished second in the NFL in yards allowed last year.\nThis weekend, Minnesota has a chance to show Chicago what its defense is all about in this early fight for first place.\n"If we outplay the opposing team's defense, we feel as though we'll win each game," Vikings safety Darren Sharper said. "If you want to say they're the kings of the defense that we're trying to get to, you can say that right now. We're just the understudies. We're trying to learn, and we're trying to get better and better, but who's to say that on Sunday afternoon the pupil can't beat the teacher?"\nThe Bears have become much harder to beat with a suddenly lively offense that has been racking up yards and points. Sure, those 26-0 and 34-7 victories came against Green Bay and Detroit, two depleted teams expected to be at the bottom of the league. For Chicago, though, it's a promising sign for a group that struggled last season to do much more than hand the ball off to Thomas Jones.\nQuarterback Rex Grossman has been the surprise star, throwing for 551 yards, a completion percentage better than 71 percent and five touchdowns with only one interception over those two games.\n"Rex is doing a great job spreading the ball around," receiver Muhsin Muhammad said. "I think he's doing a great job. He's coming along like I expected him to."\nGrossman sat out until Dec. last season because of a broken ankle suffered during training camp. He also tore a ligament in his knee against Minnesota in Sept. 2004 and missed the rest of the year after diving into the end zone for his first career touchdown run. That was at the Metrodome, where Grossman will return for the first time this weekend.\n"I'm not going to think about it too much," Grossman said. He plans to wear a flat-bottom shoe on the artificial grass instead of the full-cleat version he used when he got hurt in his last visit.\nWith 14 games to go, the Vikings aren't anywhere near establishing themselves as one of the league's elite defenses, but Grossman has already detected a difference from watching film.\n"I feel like, with all due respect to the Lions and the Packers, this is probably the most talented defense we've faced so far for sure because in every position there are great players," he said.