The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Minnesota Vikings had a lot riding on each of their meetings when both teams used to be members of the NFC Central division.

Although the 6-3 Bucs and 5-4 Vikings realigned into the newly formed NFC South and NFC North divisions, respectively, in 2002, both first place teams will have a lot at stake when they clash again on Sunday.

If the Buccaneers, who are one game behind the 7-2 Carolina Panthers in the NFC South division race, took the practice field at One Buccaneer Place on Wednesday to prepare for the Vikings, who are tied with the Bears for first place in the NFC North.

Tampa Bay has plenty to prepare for since Minnesota is capable of beating teams in several different ways. It all starts with the Vikings running game, which is led by second-year running back Adrian Peterson.

Peterson has rushed for 1,015 yards on 206 attempts (4.9 avg.) and seven touchdowns through nine games. If those impressive stats didn't get Tampa Bay's attention, his game film certainly has.

"He's big, strong and fast," said Bucs under tackle Jovan Haye. "He hits the hole, and if there's not a hole there he'll make one. He's just explosive. You have to be gap sound and attack him with 11 guys to the ball."

The Vikings use RB Chester Taylor as a change-of-pace back and receiver. He's excelled in both areas. Tampa Bay's run defense is allowing just 99 yards per game and has contained the likes of Dallas RB Marion Barber and Atlanta RB Michael Turner, but Minnesota's duo of Peterson and Taylor might be the best the Bucs have seen yet.

"You're going to see a guy that's an incredible finisher," Bucs head coach Jon Gruden said of Peterson. "He's an incredible competitor and he's going to physically fight you for every yard. It's not just on seven of the 27 carries. It's on every carry. He's as physical a man as I've ever seen. I give him a lot of credit. He's got tremendous speed. I really like their other back, too. I think Chester Taylor is a problem back coming out of the backfield when he plays, and he looks like he has something to prove. They have a real good problem to have on their hands."

The Bucs' seventh-ranked defense had dominated against the run up until their last game vs. Kansas City, where Tampa Bay allowed the Chiefs to rush for nearly 200 yards, most of which came in the first half. The Bucs know they cannot afford to have breakdowns like they did against the Chiefs if they're going to stop Minnesota's third-ranked rushing offense.

"We struggled in the first half two weeks ago in Kansas City, but we made halftime adjustments and played well," said Haye. "We can't have one of those performances again this week. We have to start fast."

Not only will they attempt to gang tackle Peterson on Sunday, the Bucs will also try to force him to fumble. The former first-round draft pick has four fumbles this season, and turnovers could go a long way in Tampa Bay's attempt to contain Peterson and keep Minnesota's offense off the field.

"I played him once in college, and he was a freshman [at Oklahoma] and really banged up at the time," said Bucs middle linebacker Barrett Ruud, who played collegiately at Nebraska. "But he was pretty much the same guy he is today - really, really good. He's the premier back in the league right now. We're excited about the challenge.

"If there is a weakness for him it's probably that he's turned the ball over a few times. That goes into every week in terms of trying to create turnovers. We have to swarm tackle him first and hopefully some turnover opportunities will have out of it as well."

The Vikings are also capable of moving the ball through the air. Their ground game helps set up their play-action pass attack, which is led by quarterback Gus Frerotte and wide receiver Bernard Berrian.

Frerotte has completed 57.1 percent of his passes and has tossed 10 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Berrian is averaging 20.7 per reception and has four touchdowns.

"I see a 15-year veteran [quarterback] who has played a lot of football and seen a lot of defenses," Bucs safety Tanard Jackson said of Frerotte. "He's just trying to make plays. He's had success. They've been winning since he's been in the lineup. He's thrown some picks, but he's just trying to make plays. I see that on film. He's trying fit the ball into tight areas, but I've also seen some big plays he's thrown to Bernard Berrian."

Minnesota's defense also poses a legitimate threat to Tampa Bay's eighth-ranked offense. The Vikings currently have the sixth-ranked defense and third-ranked run defense.

The Buccaneers are hoping to get their ground attack back on track now that Earnest Graham and Warrick Dunn are on the mend and Cadillac Williams has returned from a serious knee injury. Tampa Bay's ground game currently ranks 11th in the league and will have to come up with one of its better efforts vs. Minnesota in order to send the Vikings home with a loss on Sunday.

"I think it all starts with the middle of the their defense," said Gruden. "[Defensive tackles] Kevin Williams and Pat Williams, I don't know if they're related, but they could be related. They're very big and very good. They mark it hard on you. They do a very good job with their scheme. You'll see. Their linebackers will be near or at the line of scrimmage snap after snap. They're just a hard group to block. They're very big and very athletic. I think they've got three or four Pro Bowlers in the mix and they rotate them."

In addition to allowing just 70 yards rushing per game, the Vikings have registered 25 sacks through nine contests, and Kevin Williams and defensive end Jared Allen have accounted for 15 of those quarterback takedowns.

The Bucs have only allowed 10 sacks this season, but quarterback Jeff Garcia knows he could find himself under heavy duress vs. the Vikings.

"Finding time is not a luxury," Garcia said. "It doesn't come easy against these guys - against the front four and against their blitz package. It's going to be a challenge. It's going to be a challenge for [center] Jeff Faine up front to make the calls and to direct the line the right way and to get a helmet on a helmet and sometimes to get two helmets on a helmet.

"They are all very good players. They have three Pro Bowlers on the front four. They are just a very good, strong group. We're going to have to find a way to block those guys. It's not going to be an easy task for our offensive line by any means. It never is. Each week brings new challenges, but this is the best defensive line we've seen to date. It's going to be a very tough, physical football game for our offense. We're just going to have to find ways to create some positive plays. It's not going to be easy."

One weakness Minnesota appears to have is on special teams. The Vikings have allowed six special teams touchdowns this season, which is tied for an NFL single-season record. However, Gruden said Minnesota's special teams coverage units are better than those touchdowns suggest. Bucs rookie return specialist Clifton Smith concurred.

 "I don't look at stuff like that," said Smith. "I look at the 11 guys they have out on the field and ways for us to exploit them. It's a miscue here or sometimes being overaggressive. They're an aggressive team. They run fast and play hard. I can't take anything away from them."

With just seven regular season games to play and the Buccaneers and Vikings in tight division races, there is plenty at stake in this contest between former division rivals.

"This is what you prepared for in preseason, training camp and the first nine games," said Bucs center Jeff Faine. "This is what it's all about. We're scratching and clawing to try to get back into first place in the division and make it to the playoffs. You've got to play your best football down the stretch to give yourself a chance to be successful. It starts on Sunday."