Is it Tarvaris Time in Minnesota?

Backup Brooks Bollinger led the team to its lone touchdown of the game, but sprained his left (non-throwing) shoulder when he was sacked by Adewale Ogunleye and is questionable for this week against Detroit.

Rookie Tarvaris Jackson, an untested second-round pick out of Division I-AA Alabama State, was 3-for-4 for 35 yards, but lost a fumble and was wide-eyed when talking about his first regular season action.

"It's totally different from looking in your book," Jackson said Monday. "Yes, I know what to do, but it's totally different when you have a defense out there moving around and doing stuff, especially the No. 1 defense in the league. So it was a lot different than it was when I went out there in the preseason against the twos and the threes and guys that weren't the starters."

Childress said he has not made a decision on who will start against the Lions.

"I think you consider everybody and just need to see where you are at and what you think you can accomplish here," he said.

Were it not for Bollinger's injury, Johnson would likely be headed to the bench. He still may be on his way there, but with the Vikings still mathematically in the playoff hunt in a mediocre NFC, Jackson knows what he would do.

"I think we're staying with Brad," Jackson said. "We still have a chance to make the playoffs, so we're still trying to do that. So it's obvious that Brad is still our quarterback so we can stay on that."

Well, not that obvious, Tarvaris.

Long revered as a heady player who rarely makes mistakes, Johnson has struggled for most of this season. After throwing 12 touchdowns and four interceptions to help the Vikings finish 7-2 last season, the 15-year veteran has thrown one TD and 10 picks in their last five losses.

And Childress' patience is wearing thin.

"We've got lots of things that we have to clean up on offense, primarily, No. 1, taking care of the football," Childress said. "I feel like that was a good defense yesterday. I feel like we moved it at times, but you've got to have regard for the football and you can't create short fields."

The Bears' only offensive touchdown of the game came after Johnson's third interception gave Chicago the ball deep in Minnesota territory.

The offensive ineptitude is threatening to fracture the locker room.

The defense put together another dominating performance against the Bears, and once again, it went for naught. After the game, free safety Darren Sharper voiced his frustration and typically vocal cornerback Antoine Winfield refused comment on Monday.

"It's not a news flash that the offense needs to play better," center Matt Birk said. "But at the same time, this is a team game and it's all about winning, whether you win 2-0 or 51-50. That's how it is.

"I and a lot of guys on offense know how those guys on defense probably feel right now. For a long time, at least on this team, offense carried the day. It's not about offense, it's about winning games. It's about finding ways to win games no matter how you do it. And we haven't done it."