MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota coach Mike Tice tries to answer all his fan mail. The correspondence coming in this week has supported his — and everyone else's — suggestion that this is the most important week in the Vikings' crazy season.

"Everybody is so excited for this game," Tice said. "I am just happy that they have a chance to root for something that is real."

Tice already has encouraged the Metrodome crowd to crank up the level of loudness Sunday afternoon, when the Pittsburgh Steelers show up for an interesting interconference matchup. Pittsburgh and Minnesota are both 8-5, each with a legitimate but challenging chase for the playoffs that would be bolstered by a victory.

For the Vikings, who have won six straight, the opponent marks a clear upgrade from the foes they've built their streak on. Five of the wins came against losing teams, with a 24-21 road victory over the New York Giants the noted exception.

"If you want to earn some respect and be mentioned as a playoff team — this is the game to do it, quite frankly," Tice said. "The other games are nice. It got us back in it. But a game like this is where all of a sudden they start talking."

Such flattery for the Steelers, who don't appear as imposing now as they might have a month ago — before a knee injury to quarterback Ben Roethlisberger overlapped a three-game losing streak by one week and sent the AFC North slipping out of their control.

They got back on track with a decisive victory over the Bears last Sunday, and gave a big assist to Minnesota in its quest to catch Chicago (9-4) in the NFC North.

"It gave us a little, just a little, bit of a push, of energy, of excitement," Roethlisberger said. "Not too much, because we've got a long way to go."

With Jerome Bettis coming off a two-touchdown, 101-yard performance, Pittsburgh brings a better vibe than it had before.

"We've got to get another one," linebacker Joey Porter said. "Last week is over with. It was a great start, to see us get better after the three losses we had, but we haven't done nothing yet."

The Vikings were a mess at the end of October, when quarterback Daunte Culpepper's knee was wrecked, the record was 2-5 and scandalous details from their bye-week boat party were still fresh. But with Brad Johnson efficiently replacing Culpepper and the defense suddenly forcing turnovers at a frenetic pace, the sun was starting to shine on Minnesota again.

Just when the Vikings had fully diverted outside attention toward their success, though, authorities announced misdemeanor charges on Thursday for Culpepper, left tackle Bryant McKinnie, cornerback Fred Smoot and injured running back Moe Williams stemming from their, um, active participation in the party.

Another distraction?

"It's definitely frustrating," tight end Jermaine Wiggins said, "because in my opinion a lot of stuff was blown way out of proportion. But I guess that's what happens when you're an athlete or somebody that's in the spotlight. Everyone wants a shot at you. All we can hope is things happen positively. We can't worry about it."

They certainly can't expect the Steelers to lend any sympathy.

"We've created a situation for ourselves that we have no margin of error," coach Bill Cowher said. "We're really in a week-to-week dogfight right now, just to try to stay alive in the playoff hunt."

Bettis, known of course as "The Bus," backs up Willie Parker, who has 856 yards rushing in his first year as a starter. That's where Minnesota's focus is.

Though Pittsburgh has played the Vikings only once since 1995, and hasn't traveled to Minnesota since 1986, nose tackle Pat Williams faced the Steelers on several occasions when he was with the Buffalo Bills.

"I ran through the Bus plenty of times," Williams said. "He ain't really no problem."

On the other side of the ball, Pittsburgh brings a 3-4 defense that Minnesota isn't used to seeing. Cleveland, which lost to the Vikings last month, uses that scheme, but the Steelers use it differently than the Browns.

Minnesota seemed taken aback that Pittsburgh is slightly favored.

"The black and gold — everyone thinks that Mean Joe Greene is playing," Johnson said, "but they have lost five games also."

The Steelers probably wouldn't argue.

"We've put ourselves in this situation," Porter said, "and it's up to us to get out of the situation."