[TomWilkinson]

The Minnesota Vikings (8-5) have won six games in a row to climb back into the NFC North race, and now face the Pittsburgh Steelers (8-5).

It will definitely be loud inside the Metrodome, and noise is something that definitely concerns Pittsburgh head coach Bill Cowher. "The noise is a factor, you can't dismiss that as not being a factor — that is an issue," Cowher said Tuesday.

"We'll try to simulate the noise in practice Thursday and Friday," Cowher said. "Hopefully, we'll prepare well. It will be a big challenge for us, but there's a lot at stake this time of the year and I think we're looking forward to it."

Cowher knows the game will not be easy. "We don't want to have fumbles, we don't want to have turnovers," he said. "The minus side of those has a lot to do with the outcome of games. We've been fortunate to get some of these back, and we'll continue to talk about it and recognize that good fortune isn't going to continue if we continue to put the ball on the ground."