Lovie Smith doesn’t feel picked on.
The Bears coach has watched Adrian Peterson run for 423 yards and seven touchdowns in three meetings between the Bears and the Vikings.
“But we’re not by ourselves — Adrian Peterson has had success against just about everybody he plays,” Smith said. “Best player in the league, you know.”
The teams will play Sunday night with first place in the NFC North at stake, and limiting Peterson is high on the Bears’ priority list.
“The guy poses a problem for every team he plays, especially for us,” said Lance Briggs, who had two interceptions in the Bears’ 27-3 victory at St. Louis on Sunday. “You could definitely say he has our number.
“His speed is what sets him apart. It can kind of throw off your tackling angles. You can’t make a regular form tackle. By the time you get up to his body, he’s 3 yards away from you.
“You put that along with his strength and his running ability, he’s definitely a step above.”
Peterson had a 224-yard, three-touchdown game at Soldier Field last season before rushing for 78 yards and two TDs at the Metrodome in December. He had 121 yards and two scores in a 48-41 loss at Soldier Field on Oct. 19.
The Bears have the NFL’s fifth-best run defense, but gave up 200 rushing yards in a 37-3 loss in Green Bay two weeks ago.
“I figured we’d get to the Packers some kind of way,” Smith said. “Our defense has played great run defense all year. We had a game where we didn’t. We expect to play good run defense the rest of the way.”
In the first meeting this season, the Vikings had 439 net yards, with touchdown drives of 67, 70, 68, 64 and 75 yards. But the Bears intercepted Gus Frerotte four times and scored after two special teams miscues in the highest-scoring game of the team’s 95 meetings.
Frerotte threw for 296 yards against a team missing starting defensive backs Charles Tillman, Nathan Vasher and Danieal Manning. Vasher (broken hand) was reinjured against the Rams and will miss Sunday’s game, and overall the Bears pass defense (30th in the league) has not improved much.
Offensively, the Bears counted on Devin Hester to make a transition to No. 1 receiver after Bernard Berrian left to sign as a free agent with the Vikings. Hester battled a rib injury early and has 31 catches for 375 yards.
The bigger issue, though, is that after returning 12 kicks (seven punts, four kickoffs and a missed field goal) for touchdowns during his first two seasons, Hester has no return touchdowns and wasn’t back for kickoffs against the Rams. Smith, who didn’t want Hester overused on returns, unveiled the Wildcat formation twice against the Rams, and Hester ran for 12 yards on one of the direct-snap plays.
“You’re trying to get the ball into your playmaker’s hands,” Smith said. “He’s at full strength. Devin took a step.”
