If the Vikings go on to make the playoffs, it will be in large part because of a five-play sequence in the third quarter Sunday night against the Chicago Bears .

The Vikings stopped the Bears on four plays after Chicago had first and goal at the 1. After getting the ball back on downs, Gus Frerotte found Bernard Berrian wide open down the left sideline for an easy 99-yard touchdown, if there is such a thing.

"It was definitely important we got this (win) tonight," Berrian said. "It was very huge. It was pretty much a playoff game. We're in control now. All we have to do is close it out with Detroit (next week) and try to win the rest of the games after that."

The 34-14 victory was significant.

The Vikings moved one game ahead of Chicago and are in sole possession of first place in the NFC North. The Green Bay Packers , who lost Sunday to Carolina, fell two games behind Minnesota with four games remaining in the regular season.

The goal-line stand was crucial because the Vikings were trailing 7-3, and the Bears were on the move. An offside penalty by Ray Edwards on third and 9 had wiped out a sack by Kevin Williams early in the drive at the Minnesota 45.

After Chicago running back Matt Forte was stopped up the middle on third and 4, Vikings cornerback Benny Sapp was called for an unnecessary-roughness penalty when he hit Bears receiver Rashied Davis in the face.

That moved the Bears down to the Minnesota 27, and a 26-yard run by Forte put the Bears at the 1 and put the Vikings' defense in a tough position.

On first and goal, Chicago's Kyle Orton threw an incomplete pass to tight end Greg Olsen.

On second down, Forte ran off left tackle and was stopped for no gain by linebackers Vinny Ciurciu and Chad Greenway.

The third-down decision to give the ball to fullback Jason Davis, who had just been promoted from the practice squad, was, uh, interesting and certainly questionable. Davis was filling in for starter Jason McKie, who was inactive after suffering an injury in practice last week.

"In this league, you get thrown into the fire," Vikings defensive end Jared Allen said. "They tried a quick hitter with the fullback. Pat (Williams), Kevin (Williams) and the interior guys did a great job of stopping that up. The linebackers came over the top."

On fourth down, Allen and Pat Williams stopped Forte on the right side. Forte had no chance on the play.

"That really turned the whole game around," Allen said of the goal-line stand.

Said Bears coach Lovie Smith: "We felt like we needed a touchdown in that situation. You've got to get it in. If you can't get it in from there, you probably don't deserve to win."

The Vikings turned the game around after the turnover on downs. From the Minnesota 1-yard line, Frerotte threw a pretty ball to Berrian for the longest touchdown pass in team history. It was just the 11th 99-yard touchdown pass in NFL history.

Bears cornerback Charles "Peanut" Tillman was left covering two players, Berrian and tight end Visanthe Shiancoe, and he had to choose between them.

"It was actually a lucky play," Berrian said. "It was the luckiest touchdown I've ever had. Peanut, he actually went and bit on Shank and tried to make a play on Visanthe. He took off, and Gus said he looked to one side and came back to the other side and was surprised at how open I was."

The Bears were in a Cover 3 defense with a safety in the middle of the field, and Shiancoe ran a seam route up the middle.

"The corner has to play both of us," Shiancoe said. "It's either/or. He came down and bit on me, and Bernard was wide open."

Frerotte said he was saying to himself, "Please be in the right spot. Please don't be out of bounds.

"It ended up being perfect."

The touchdown put the Vikings on top 10-7, and they never looked back, leading the rest of the game.

Immediately after the game, linebacker Ben Leber wasn't sure if those two series could help the Vikings into the playoffs. But he knew how good it felt.

"We'll evaluate that at the end of the season," Leber said. "It was a great stop for us. It helped win the game. And for the offense to get an explosive play on the next play was huge for our defense and huge for the team."