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2012 NFL schedule: Bears host Vikings, Packers visit Giants

With the Bears hosting the Vikings on Sunday afternoon before the Packers visit the Giants at night, the NFC North standings could look rather different a week from now.

By Satchel Price
Cary Edmondson-US PRESSWIRE

With the Chicago Bears stumbling and the Green Bay Packers surging, the NFC North standings could take a much different shape after this weekend's action. The Bears have been in first place for weeks, but that run could end with a third consecutive loss on Sunday.

Midway though the season, the Bears were sitting pretty with a 7-1 record, but losses to elite teams on national television have dulled the excitement. Now 7-3 entering Sunday's game against the Minnesota Vikings, another loss would ensure, at the very least, that the Bears get stuck in a three-way tie for the top spot in the division.

Also on Sunday, the 7-3 Green Bay Packers are visiting the New York Giants for a big nighttime match-up. Already tied with Chicago atop the standings, a victory over New York on Sunday night could bump Green Bay into sole possession of first place if the Vikings can knock off the Bears.

If both the Bears and Packers lose, then things get especially interesting, as Chicago, Green Bay and Minnesota will all be tied with identical 7-4 records going into Week 13.