Video (04:30) : Trading Jared Allen to the Bears and replacing him with Everson Griffen has worked out well so far for the Vikings.
Eight months and nine games ago, Jared Allen stood at a lectern inside Halas Hall in Chicago. Smiling and richer by $32 million over four years, the former Vikings All-Pro defensive end praised a Bears defense he had grown to admire and was thrilled to be joining.
"Six years [as a Viking], I've never won at Soldier Field," Allen said that March 26 afternoon. "So I'm finally excited to win one in Soldier Field."
Meanwhile, back in the Twin Cities, Vikings defensive end Brian Robison heard the remark and couldn't wait to jab his old friend and now friendly rival with one of the many text messages they volley back and forth.
"I did send him a text a little bit after he made that comment," Robison said Wednesday. "I said, 'I wish you the best of luck and everything goes well for you.' But then I put in, 'But I still hope you don't get that win at Soldier Field.' "
So far, so good for B-Rob.
"I guess we'll see how it goes on Sunday," said Robison, whose Vikings play at Chicago that day. "We'll see which one wins there first."
Yes, Allen is now 0-8 in games played at Soldier Field. But he's not a jinx. The Bears also lost there to the Packers on Sept. 28 when Allen was sidelined because of a bout with pneumonia that knocked his already-lean frame from 256 pounds to 239.
So that puts the Bears' home record at 0-3. They're also 3-6 and coming off humiliating road losses to New England (51-23) and Green Bay (55-14). In between those losses was a bye, which has added to the angst toward coach Marc Trestman.
Allen seemed to shudder at the thought when asked what would happen if the Bears started slow Sunday and laid a third straight stinker.
"Ooh, I don't know," he said. "Complete anarchy, maybe."
Meanwhile, the Vikings are 4-5 and coming out of their bye week with a winning streak for the first time since 2012. That, coupled with the Bears' woes, has made this a strange Bears Week at Winter Park. So strange, in fact, that Vikings coach Mike Zimmer actually was asked Wednesday if he is having to guard against his team being "overconfident."
"Our team? Overconfident?" Zimmer said with a chuckle. "No, I don't think so. We really haven't done enough to get overconfident."
He makes a good point. The Vikings have beaten three teams that are 3-6 and one that's 1-8.
But the question probably was rooted more in that the Bears are in the midst of a historically inept stretch of points allowed. Not since the 1923 Rochester Jeffersons had an NFL team allowed 50 or more points in consecutive games.
"Really?" said Vikings receiver Jarius Wright. "That's crazy."
Yep. But there's more.
In 759 games from 1965 until Week 15 of last season, the Bears gave up 50 points three times. In the 11 games since then, they've given up 50 or more points three more times.
The Vikings aren't biting on the stats that have been waved in front of them this week.
"We can't be blinded by the stats," quarterback Teddy Bridgewater said. "Chicago is a hungry defense."
Allen, meanwhile, said he's unaware of all the stats flying about.
"Stats are stats," he said. "I really don't feel they have any bearing on the game at hand. Nobody ever wants to be part of a bad stat, but it's all correctable. I don't pay attention to it. I guess ignorance is bliss in my case."
There are some stats that had a particular bearing on the Bears going into their bye with a 51-23 loss and coming out of their bye trailing the Packers 42-0 at halftime. Here goes:
In 16 offensive possessions over six quarters against the Bears, the Patriots and Packers scored 14 times. Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers had 11 touchdown passes and 11 incompletions.
Wow.
Allen, who ranks 12th on the NFL's career sacks list with 130, was brought to Chicago to keep quarterbacks from doing things like that. So far, he has shown his age (32) while struggling to come back from pneumonia.
"Even after I was cleared to play, I remember that Carolina game being barely 242 [pounds]," Allen said. "I hadn't been that light since high school."
Allen has just 1 ½ sacks, which he thinks he can improve dramatically like he did down the stretch in 2010. But there's an even bigger to-do list item that has gone unchecked since 2008.
"I need to get my first win at Soldier Field," Allen said. "That's all I'm focusing on."
