LeGere: Allen, Bears just looking for a win
If nothing else, Bears veteran defensive end Jared Allen talked a good game as he and his new teammates prepared to face Allen's former team Sunday, hoping to avoid another embarrassing beatdown.
"I'm excited," said Allen, who played the previous six seasons with the Minnesota Vikings and racked up 85½ sacks. "It's always more fun to beat your friends, then you get bragging rights. I'm looking forward to it."
Better that than looking back at the rubble of a 3-6 start in which quarterbacks from E.J. Manuel and Ryan Tannehill to Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers picked apart the Bears' defense.
The Bears have lost five of six, including three straight during which they were outscored 94-7 in the first half. And it has been getting progressively worse.
In Week 7, the Bears trailed the Miami Dolphins 14-0 at intermission of a 27-13 loss. The next week the Bears trailed the New England Patriots 38-7 at halftime of a 51-23 defeat. With two weeks to prepare for Green Bay, the Bears fell behind 42-0 at the half and lost 55-14.
"Just put the past nine games behind us and move forward and get started on something new and fresh and get ready to come home and play," said Allen, who has just 1½ sacks but leads the Bears with 18 quarterback pressures. "It's just going to be fun to play against guys that I spent so many years with."
Starting with the Vikings, the Bears play five of six games at home, which would be encouraging if they weren't 0-3 at Soldier Field this season.
The last three quarterbacks to face the Bears - Tannehill, Brady and Rodgers - produced a 148.3 passer rating (158.3 is the highest possible) while throwing 13 touchdown passes and no interceptions.
In Sunday's game the Bears will face rookie Teddy Bridgewater, the Vikings' first-round pick who often has played like a veteran since taking over the starting job in Week 4.
Bridgewater is 3-2 as a starter, and in each of the 3 victories he led a fourth-quarter comeback and did not throw an interception. In the 2 losses, he was picked off five times.
"Teddy's a winner, and he competes at a high level," said Bears defensive coordinator Mel Tucker. "He does seem to have an element of clutch to him. Obviously, he's mobile, he has a strong arm, and he can make a lot of throws.
"He's highly competitive. He's a good, young player, and I can see why they like him."
Bridgewater doesn't run often, but he is mobile and athletic and has picked up 95 yards on 19 attempts for a 5.0-yard average. But his passer rating is only 74.9, he has thrown just 3 TD passes, and his victories have come against Atlanta (3-6), Tampa Bay (1-8) and Washington (3-6).
So Bridgewater has shown he can beat a bad team, which is what he will see against the Bears. Tucker's defense is dead last: 32nd in points per game, 31st in yards per play, 30th in average gain per pass, 28th in passing yards and 26th in yards per game allowed.
But after getting torched for 106 points in back-to-back losses to the high-powered Patriots and Packers, the Bears have a better chance to compete against a 4-5 Vikings team that has played better than expected without perennial Pro Bowl running back Adrian Peterson but is still just 27th in total yards and 26th in points.
If nothing else, pride is at stake this week for a Bears unit that has been humiliated in consecutive games.
"What's been said will stay between us - all the players," Allen said. "But nothing's going to be said (that will) make somebody play (better). You're either self-motivated to be the best; you're either embarrassed when you get your butt kicked and you want to go back out and prove yourself, or you're not.
"I think we have character on this team. This game exposes people, and it humbles you. Obviously I came here for a reason, and I still believe in this team. I still believe in what we can accomplish. It comes down to putting the work in and just keep sawing wood.
"I'm going to keep sawing wood, and I'm going to do what I've got to do to help our team win."
If that happens, it will be Allen's first career victory at Soldier Field. He was 0-6 as a Viking, although he had 6 sacks in those losses, and is 0-2 this year, having missed the home game against the Packers with pneumonia.
• Follow Bob's Bears and NFL reports on Twitter@BobLeGere.