The Bears defense must be sick of hearing about him. Adrian Peterson, who Lovie Smith called the best in the league. Adrian Peterson, the second-leading rusher in the league, only trailing Clinton Portis by 26 yards. Adrian Peterson, Purple Jesus. Adrian Peterson, the man who had his coming out party against the Bears last year, dropping 224 yards on the them.
This Sunday, they will do more than hear about him, as they will face Peterson in the Bears pivotal game at Minnesota. (If you believe the Minnesota press, this is the most important game in the history of the world.) There is one way that the Bears could shut up the world about Adrian Peterson. They could stop him.
It's not as crazy as it sounds. Sure, Peterson has broken the 100-yard mark six times this season, three of those games coming against NFC North opponents. Still, the Bears have a better run defense than the New Orleans Saints, who held Peterson to 32 yards.
The entire Bears' defense needs to stay keyed on Peterson for the entire game. They need to use a similar strategy as they did against the Rams, stopping the ball behind the line of scrimmage. That won't be an easy task with the Vikings' offensive line but it can be done. Tommie Harris and Adewale Ogunleye need to create the havoc that they are capable of doing and plant Peterson in the Astroturf of the Metrodome early and often.
The Bears' defense will have to pull out all the stops to keep Peterson from running all over them, but won't it be worth it to not have to hear about him all the time?
