CHICAGO – In a vast departure from their old black-and-blue division slugfests, the Bears and Vikings turned the Soldier Field scoreboard into a pinball machine Sunday, combining for 89 points, 11 TDs and 766 total yards.

When the dust settled, the Bears had escaped with a 48-41 victory that enabled them to remain tied for first place in the NFC North heading into their bye week. Chicago (4-3) shares the division lead with the Green Bay Packers (4-3), who defeated the Indianapolis Colts Sunday at Lambeau Field.

Kyle Orton passed for 283 yards and 2 touchdowns in Sunday's 48-41 win over the Minnesota Vikings.

“It was a track meet, and luckily we had a little bit more speed at the end,” said coach Lovie Smith.

Kyle Orton delivered another stellar performance, completing 21 of 32 passes for 283 yards with 2 touchdowns, no interceptions and a 114.5 passer rating.

Orton could have had five scoring passes. Marty Booker dropped a sure TD and let another deflect off his fingertips before turning a short reception into a 51-yard TD that gave the Bears a 41-31 lead late in the third quarter.

Early in the second half, Desmond Clark fumbled at the 1 on what would have been a 36-yard TD pass. But Rashied Davis alertly recovered the loose ball in the end zone for a TD that gave the Bears a 34-24 advantage.

With the win, Orton improved his career record at Soldier Field to 11-2 dating back to his rookie season in 2005.

“When you name a guy your starting quarterback, you’re expecting big things from him,” Smith said. “We were and we always will expect big things from him, and he’s producing. It seems like each week he takes another step, and that’s what you’d like to see.”

The Bears defense had a hot-and-cold day, allowing touchdown drives of 67, 70, 68, 64 and 75  yards but also intercepting four Gus Frerotte passes. The final takeaway—an interception by rookie cornerback Zack Bowman at the Minnesota 41 with :40 remaining—clinched the win.

“They pretty much did whatever they wanted to on offense,” said safety Mike Brown. “They moved the ball up and down the field, scored on it seemed like every possession except the ones we got turnovers on. But the bottom line was we had more points at the end and we found a way  to make a play this time on the last drive.”

Adrian Peterson rushed for 121 yards on 22 carries, including a 54-yard TD that drew the Vikings to within 34-31 early in the third quarter. Former Bear Bernard Berrian caught six passes for a game-high 81 yards, including a 5-yard TD that closed the gap to 48-41 with 3:00 left.

It didn’t appear that the Bears would need a late stop to preserve the victory, not after Matt Forte’s 1-yard TD run had widened their lead to 48-31 early in the fourth quarter. Forte was limited to 56 yards on 20 carries with a long of eight yards against a Minnesota defense that entered the game ranked fourth in the NFL against the run.

But the Vikings stormed back against a Chicago defense that was missing starting cornerbacks Charles Tillman (shoulder) and Nate Vasher (wrist) and nickel back Danieal Manning (hamstring).

In their absence, young cornerbacks Bowman, Corey Graham and Trumaine McBride all registered their first NFL interceptions. Second-year safety Kevin Payne also picked off Frerotte, who completed 25 of 40 passes for 298 yards and a 62.3 passer rating.

"Start fast and finish strong; that's what you have to do," Smith said.

“It’s kind of becoming difficult getting these games at the last minute, but we finished,” said defensive tackle Tommie Harris, who registered his first sack of the season on the play that preceded Bowman’s interception.

“We played with what we had and the new guys stepped up and made big plays for us. If this team can win like that, I just can’t wait to see how we look when everybody comes back.”

Rookie Matt Forte's 1-yard touchdown run gave the Bears a 48-31 lead early in the fourth quarter.

Bowman, who was promoted from the practice squad to the active roster Tuesday, also scored a touchdown in his first NFL game. He alertly covered a punt in the end zone that had caromed off Minnesota’s Charles Gordon, giving the Bears a 24-17 lead with 4:58 left in the first half.

After struggling a week earlier in Atlanta, Chicago’s special teams unit actually produced two touchdowns Sunday. The first came when Garrett Wolfe returned a blocked punt by Craig Steltz 17 yards to give the Bears a 14-7 lead midway through the first quarter.

Vikings punter Chris Kluwe dropped a perfect snap, and then punted the ball right into Steltz. Kluwe kicked the ball a second time, this time illegally off the ground, and Wolfe scooped it up like a shortstop.

On the game’s opening possession, Peterson’s 1-yard TD run on fourth-and-goal capped a 10-play, 67-yard drive and gave the Vikings a 7-0 lead.

But the Bears answered immediately on their first possession as Orton completed 4 of 4 passes for 48 yards, including an 18-yard TD strike to tight end Greg Olsen, tying the score 7-7.

The game was later deadlocked at 14, 17 and 24 before the Bears took a 27-24 lead they would not relinquish on Robbie Gould’s 48-yard field goal on the final play of the first half.

The kick came after Chicago had taken over at its own 41 with just :22 to play in the second quarter. Orton completed passes of 19 yards to Olsen and 4 yards to Davis. The Bears picked up five more yards when Fred Evans was penalized for encroachment as Gould lined up for the field goal.

After allowing the Vikings to score four TDs and one field goal on their first seven possessions of the game, the Bears pulled away in the third quarter when their defense finally made a stand. On three drives, Chicago intercepted two passes and stopped Minnesota on downs after three plays.

“I felt like if we could continue to get the football, we could get points on the board, and that’s what we were able to do most of the [game],” Smith said. “When you’re moving the ball like that offensively, you want to get it to them as much as possible, and the takeaways were big.”