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CHICAGO -- The Bucs rarely put the win into the windy city, but it is somewhat fitting they play their final NFC Central game in Chicago.

Tampa Bay clinched a division championship here two years ago, but it served as the Bucs' second win at Soldier Field in two decades.

Another title is a distant possibility, but there is plenty of motivation for the Bucs to beat Chicago.

Not only do they need to keep pace for the NFC's sixth and final playoff spot, but the Bucs could pull within a game of the Bears by winning what would be a team-record fifth road game.

"That will definitely help us get where we need to go," coach Tony Dungy said. "We've played pretty well on the road, even the three losses we had, we're in the ballgame on the last drive with a chance to win them. We've done a good job on the road and we really need to finish off with a win.

"I just talked to the team about being cognizant of the fact that there's six spots there. For the last 11 weeks, we've been outside those six. Now we're in there and we don't want to fall back out of it."

After serving as the Vikings defensive coordinator for four seasons before coming to Tampa Bay, Dungy has deep roots in the NFC Central. The Bucs move to the NFC South next season with New Orleans, Atlanta and Carolina.

"It's been a good division and in the 10 years that I've been in it, there's been a lot of champions and a lot of times where three or four teams made the playoffs," Dungy said. "You'll miss the rivalries, but we'll make new rivalries.

"It's tough to go 6-2 or 7-1 in this division. It hasn't been done very much by anybody. I think that's what makes it good."

The Bucs need help to win the division, trailing Green Bay by two games. But if they win their last four -- the final three at home -- they are guaranteed a wild card.

"It's definitely a good position to be in where you don't have to say we've got to win and hope something else happens," Dungy said. "We know if we keep winning, we'll be in and it's a good feeling.

"This is a big game, our last division game, we get a chance to finish 5-3 (on the road), it'll help us in any division tiebreakers, we can't allow Chicago to sweep us, obviously. We're going to have to go up there late in the year and play a good game to beat them. We've done it before, which I think helps.

"But you wouldn't want it any other way than to have big games in December."

FORTYSOMETHING: One record that probably won't fall is the Bucs' 0-20 record in games played in temperatures lower than 40 degrees. Temperatures will be in low to mid 40s at kickoff. But the wind could become a problem for the pass-happy Bucs.

"The wind is a factor up there and you've got to be able to control the ball when you don't have the wind, to give them nine or 10 minutes in that quarter when they've got the wind, the field position ends up catching up with you," Dungy said. "All the games that we've been up there it's been a factor, it definitely affects your play-calling and affects what you want to do.

"The wind would have to be pretty strong to elect to take the wind two times and kick off two times, but it's something we've considered in the past up there."

BETTER LUCK: Rod Marinelli didn't get the coaching job at California, but he still will be in demand. He is in the final year of his contract, and Jets coach and former Bucs assistant Herman Edwards was denied permission to talk to him last season for the defensive coordinator's position.

"We're disappointed for him because we know he's disappointed," Dungy said. "It's been my experience that when you don't get jobs, usually the Lord has something better in store for you. I kind of related that to him.

"I had a couple that I was close on and it didn't happen and I ended up getting a better job."

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