Cris Carter has produced four straight 100-yard receiving games.

King, Tampa Bay's second-round pick from Tulane, is a talented player who entered last week's game against Seattle and threw a touchdown pass. What will surprise people is that he is not a runner. He is a good athlete, but he isn't a Steve McNair or Donovan McNabb type of quarterback. He is much more of a prototypical pocket passer. He has a strong, accurate arm and throws a good deep ball. He will operate from the pocket, which is how the position should be played, and run only when the opportunity presents itself.

With King at quarterback, the Bucs will run the ball and win with their great defense, ranked second in the league behind Jacksonville. Contrary to what people believe, Tampa Bay is a very vanilla defensive team. Last week against Seattle, they only blitzed six times -- four zone blitzes and two safety blitzes, one with Damien Robinson and the other with John Lynch. They were able to get effective pressure on Seattle quarterback Jon Kitna with their front four, using mostly slants and stunts.

The Bucs defense will be matched against probably the hottest offensive team in football. Since replacing Randall Cunningham, Vikings quarterback Jeff George has done a terrific job. On tape, he doesn't look great, but his numbers have been phenomenal. His receivers are among the best in the game, and the return of Robert Smith to the backfield gives the Vikings better balance.

George, however, tends to drift in the pocket. His drops have not been in harmony with the routes and the depth of his receivers. Those discrepancies are bound to appear since George has only played five games in the Vikings' offense. Nevertheless, no receiver is playing better than Cris Carter, who is probably the best slot receiver in the game. Buffalo's Eric Moulds is having a good year out of the slot, but Carter is impossible to cover. Adding the big-play threat of Randy Moss, the Vikings receivers pose tremendous problems for the Bucs' secondary.

	NUMBERS TO KNOW
	10: TD passes thrown by Jeff George in his last three games. 24: Consecutive games (college, bowl, preseason, and regular season) that Shaun King has thrown a touchdown pass in -- when he plays. 1: The Bucs defense has been the ranked first in the NFC every week of this season -- for 12 consecutive weeks.

Meanwhile, the Vikings defense currently ranks among the worst in football. Linebackers Ed McDaniel and Dwayne Rudd, strong safety Robert Griffith and defensive end John Randle are all having solid years, but then there is a big falloff. The Vikings re-acquired nose tackle Jerry Ball from the Cleveland Browns, lured defensive end Chris Doleman out of retirement and are now playing rookie Kenny Wright at one cornerback. The defense has not played well as a unit, worse against the pass than against the run.

Here are the keys to Monday night's game for both teams:

Minnesota Vikings
1. Strong game from Steussie: Todd Steussie has struggled at left tackle, not having his typical Pro Bowl season. He has an interesting matchup with Bucs defensive end Steve Wright. Steussie needs to have a solid game to protect George's blindside. The Bucs have several outstanding players on the defensive line, with Warren Sapp, Chidi Ahanotu, Brad Culpepper and Wright.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Vikings WR Cris Carter: With four consecutive 100-yard games and touchdowns in each of his last six games, Carter is the hottest receiver in the NFL. Vikings RB Robert Smith: Though he ran for 104 yards last week against San Diego, Smith has not scored a TD in more than a year (Nov. 8, 1998, against New Orleans). He is due to reach the end zone. Vikings DEs Chris Doleman and John Randle: These two have combined for 245½ career sacks. They will look to add to that number tonight against a rookie quarterback. Bucs QB Shaun King: Last week in his regular-season debut, the rookie led the Bucs to their first offensive TD in eight quarters. Bucs FB Mike Alstott: When the Bucs get near the end zone, Alstott gets the call. He has scored all three of Tampa Bay's rushing touchdowns this season. Bucs DT Warren Sapp: The dominant defensive force did not play the first time these teams met this year. His absence might have been the difference, as the Bucs failed to record a sack for the only time this season.

2. Spread 'em: The Vikings will spread out the Bucs defense to create favorable matchups. They want to take Tampa Bay out of what it does best, which is rush four, drop five underneath and play two deep. The five defenders in the intermediate lanes drop to their zone, read the quarterback and get a jump on the football. The Vikings want to get them out of playing a pure zone using multiple sets to force single coverage.

3. Stuff the run: The Vikings must stop the run. Their defense plays more with quickness than strength, so it will be an interesting matchup if they have to play eight men in the box and be more aggressive with their linebacker blitzes and line slants or stunts. The Vikings don't prefer that approach, but it may be necessary to blow plays up in the Bucs' backfield. The Bucs will come out with a power running game, using an "elephant" backfield with Mike Alstott and reserve tight end Patrick Hape. That's what they did last year, rushing for more than 200 yards against the Vikings in Tampa. The key will be the play of the Vikings linebackers, who must penetrate and take on Alstott and lead-blocker Hape, who has a size advantage at 262 pounds.

2. Rein in King: While the Bucs must run the ball to be successful, they also can't hide their quarterback. The Vikings will score points, so the Bucs will have to keep up. The game will not end with a score of 10-7. When given the opportunity, King will throw high-percentage passes and play-action. He will either throw it to a receiver or into the stands. He can't take a sack or throw an interception. Offensive coordinator Mike Shula will call a conservative game for King to operate.

3. Blitz cautiously: I don't expect the Bucs defense to blitz much. Why? In the first game in Minnesota, the Bucs blitzed twice in the first quarter and got beat for two touchdowns. They must be cautious with their blitzes. The Bucs like to sprinkle in some blitzes and play double-zone coverage -- rolling the corners up and playing the safeties deep. Against most teams, that is effective. But that presents a problem against the Vikings because of their three-receiver sets and Carter in the slot. When you play double zone, that singles up Carter against a linebacker. That isn't a favorable matchup for Tampa Bay.

Former NFL quarterback Ron Jaworski appears each week on ESPN's Monday Night Countdown and Edge NFL Matchup. He breaks down the Monday Night Football matchup each week on ESPN.com.