NFC NORTH Vikings focus on division

A five-game win streak has Minnesota in the playoff hunt.
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (AP) -- In just over a month, Minnesota Vikings coach Mike Tice has gone from dodging questions about the now infamous boat party to dodging questions about the playoffs.
Not a bad trade.
The Vikings were the laughingstock of the league and 2-5 on Halloween, leading some to wonder whether Tice would make it through the season.
They've won five in a row since then, putting their problems behind them to jump back into the playoff race.
"It's just us being a confident team," linebacker Keith Newman said Monday following a 21-16 victory at Detroit. "We were 2-5, but we really weren't playing well. We had a lot of distractions off the field. There were a lot of different things going on. When you have that kind of lofty expectations put on you, you're never going to be where you thought you'd be, but the landscape of the NFL changes on a weekly basis."
The Vikings (7-5) play three of their final four games at home, including Sunday's game against St. Louis, and are right in the thick of the NFC wild card race. They are one game behind Tampa Bay (8-4), with Dallas and Atlanta also at 7-5.
Bears on the radar
But in what would have seemed improbable if not altogether impossible at the end of October, the Vikings are now eyeing the Chicago Bears (9-3) for the NFC North title.
"Our focus is not on the wild card, our focus is on winning the NFC North," Newman said. "That's our first goal. If we're going to rely on tie-breakers, or this to happen or that to happen, we're going to be on the outside looking in."
Prosecutors are still deciding whether to file misdemeanor charges against members of the Vikings for alleged sex acts and other lewd behavior during an October boat party on Lake Minnetonka.
Since then, the Vikings have taken advantage of an easy schedule to salvage what once appeared to be a lost season. They have beaten the Lions twice, edged the Giants without scoring an offensive touchdown, then beat Green Bay and Cleveland.
Other than NFC-East leading New York, that's not exactly a murderer's row of opponents, but the remainder of their schedule isn't much better. They play host to the injury-plagued Rams (5-7) and the reeling Steelers (7-5) and head to Baltimore (4-8) before the season finale at home against the Bears.
"You sneak a peek at the what-ifs. It's human nature," tight end Jermaine Wiggins said, adding that the Vikings still can get into the playoffs if they keep winning.