In the National Football League, there are always many debates that rise week after week. A majority of the conflicts are based upon what team has the best offense, who is the best player, but most importantly, who is the better team. Two closely related teams are the Minnesota Vikings and the Chicago Bears. Both of these teams have new quarterbacks, a similar climate, and are in the same division. On the contrary, the Bears are 4-3 whereas the Vikings are 7-1. Also, Adrian Peterson leads the league in rushing yards and has three times as many touchdowns as Matt Forte. Plus, the Vikings lead the league in scoring while the Bears are sixteenth in the NFL.

Coming into the 2010 season, the Vikings and the Bears both gave homes to two outstanding quarterbacks. The Vikings have always been said to lack a strong quarterback. The team acknowledged this and according to ESPN, a leader in sports broadcasting, "The 39-year-old quarterback turned his back on retirement for the second time in as many years, agreeing Tuesday to play for the Minnesota Vikings." (Associated Press par. 1) Also the Bears signed Jay Cutler from free agency in order to give their team new direction. Both teams acted on their faults by obtaining strong new quarterbacks and they both hope that they will impact their team enough to reach the playoffs. However, the Bears have started the season a bit slower than anticipated. After alternating between wins and losses week after week, the Bears now are settled with a 4-3 record. The Vikings are now 7-1 and are pulling away from the rest of the league. After winning again on November 1st, "the Vikings," according to the Associated Press, "took a firm hold on the NFC North standings." (Associated Press par. 3) The Vikings appear to be edging out the rest of the division midway through the season with the consistant streak of wins and the Bears have not had a winning streak over 2 games yet this season. Overall, the Vikings and Bears both signed new quarterbacks, in hopes of giving their team a great record, but at the halfway point in the season, the Vikings have a better record of 7-1 compared to the Chicago Bears at 4-3.

These two teams come from Chicago and Minnesota, two of the colder areas in the United States. This concludes that both of these teams have a very similar climate. According to Weather.com, "Chicago/O'Hare International Airport, IL is warmer than Minneapolis, MN by 4°F." (Weather Climate Comparison Chart) This concludes that these two areas generally have the same climate throughout the year. This means that the players will likely endure similar conditions whether they are in Minneapolis or Chicago. On another note, Adrian Peterson and Matt Forte are the two first string runningbacks on their teams and there were league leaders in certain areas among runningbacks in the 2008 season. However, so far this season Adrian Peterson is outperforming Matt Forte in more statistics and according to the chart on NFL.com, "Adrian Peterson ranks number one among runningbacks for rushing yards." (NFL Rushing Yards Chart) Along with being the leader in rushing yards, Adrian Peterson has three times as many touchdowns as Matt Forte. This is a large impact on a team because this translates to sixty-three rushing points for Peterson compared to just twenty-one for Forte. They are both young runningbacks compared to the mean age of NFL players and they are new to the NFL within the last three years. To sum up, the Vikings and the Bears have a very similar climate outdoors and that should not effect how different they should play if they were to play a road game against a team from southern USA or with a hotter temperature. Also, the Vikings have a runningback that leads the league in several categories while fans have been unimpressed with their runningback, Matt Forte, that has only scored one third of Peterson's total points.

For two teams that can be compared and contrasted in many different areas, they both are in the same division, meaning they play all the teams in their division twice, but the Vikings lead the league in points scored so far this season whereas the Bears are in sixteenth among the league. To begin, both of these teams are in the same division. According to the NFL standings at NFL.com, the Vikings and the Bears are both in the NFC North division. This is important between these two teams because not only does your division define who goes to the playoffs based on who has the best record within it, but each team will play against every team in the division two times in the season. This means that the Vikings and Bears will play each other twice in this season, each team playing a game at home. However, the Vikings have not versed the Bears so far this season. Next, the Vikings have scored more points than any other team in the NFL as of November 1st. The Bears are now in 16th place in the league for points scored. According to the Star Tribune, "The Vikings, after scoring 38 points against the Packers, are now leading the league in points scored." (Star Tribune par. 1) The Minnesota Vikings are the league leading team in points scored now and the Bears are over forty points behind them. Since these teams are in the same division, they will each have the opportunity to host each other at home one time during the season. Also, the Vikings have outscored the Bears this season and are now in the lead for points scored.

Overall, the Vikings and the Bears are two rivals and the decision on who is the better team is going to always be debated. There are many similarities and differences that these teams share that make it easier to break down the two teams. The similar aspects between the two teams are that they both have new quarterbacks, a similar climate, and they are in the same division. The main differences between the Bears and the Vikings are that the Vikings are 7-1 whereas the Bears are 4-3, Adrian Peterson is a statistically better runningback than Matt Forte, and the Vikings lead the league in points scored while the Bears are in 16th overall. To conclude, the Chicago Bears and the Minnesota Vikings share many common characteristics, but also are different in multiple ways. Based on sources from the NFL, Associated Press, and ESPN, the Vikings are a statistically better team based on passing yards, TD/INT ratio, rushing yards, points scored, points against, and their season record. However, the comparisons and differences made will always be there to decide on what these teams share or lack.