Dvoracek was engaged with Vikings center Matt Birk on the second play of the game and walked off the field after the play with no overt sign of the injury that will send him to injured reserve for the third time in three seasons.

The former third-round draft pick had been leading Bears linemen in tackles and had started all 12 games after playing just three quarters in his first two seasons because of a foot injury and a torn ACL.

''That's very hard for a guy like Dusty to go out like that,'' coach Lovie Smith said Monday. ''He has had a lot of injuries. No one works harder than him. He's a tough guy, just unfortunate. Don't know the reason why.''

Dvoracek's loss will put rookie third-round pick Marcus Harrison in a more prominent position and give veteran Anthony Adams more opportunities. Harrison had a solid game Sunday with seven tackles, and Adams had six with a tackle for loss and a quarterback hit. Adams tends to play with more range than most believe he has.

Dvoracek will be in the final year of his contract next season, and the Bears won't be in position to count on him given his injury history. The good news is Harrison will be in his second season, and Adams is under contract through 2010.

''When you've missed the amount of time that Dusty has, that [injury-prone] label will stay with you until you make it through an entire season,'' Smith said. ''As I talked with Dusty today, I talked about last year, he barely dressed and he was injured. This year he almost made it through the season, so he's making progress. Hopefully next year he'll be able to make it all the way through.''

Goal line revisited

Fullback Jason Davis said he wasn't surprised to get the ball on third-and-goal from the Vikings'

1-yard line during the failed effort at the goal line that proved to be the turning point in the 34-14 loss.

Count Davis among the minority. The Bears knew their biggest obstacle was the Williams Wall -- defensive tackles Kevin Williams and Pat Williams -- and they ran right at it with a player who was on the practice squad until Saturday. Some veterans privately expressed surprise at the call by offensive coordinator Ron Turner, one of four failed plays from the 1.

''We didn't get the ball in, so sure you would want to do some things differently,'' Smith said. ''We had a sweep to the left, an off-tackle play to the right, we went up the middle [and] we tried a pass. In that situation, it comes down to you against them. You have to be able to get it in, no matter what the play is. You have to be able to block them up front. You need to make a play. We weren't able to do that.''

The only plausible strategy for using Davis is that maybe Turner thought he would surprise the Vikings. If running back Matt Forte is the Bears' best skill player, maybe he needs to get the ball four times instead of twice.

''How am I supposed to know that?'' quarterback Kyle Orton said when asked if four Forte runs would have punched it in. ''We ran the four best plays that we thought we had down there, and it didn't work out.''

There will be debate for some time if a play-action pass to tight end Greg Olsen, a toss to Forte, the dive by Davis and the off-tackle run by Forte were the four best in the playbook.

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