Bears contained Adrian Peterson; what about Todd Gurley?

Two weeks ago, the Bears’ defense, in its first year under coordinator Vic Fangio, fared well against Vikings star running back Adrian Peterson.

In a game the Bears should have won, Peterson finished with 103 yards on 20 carries, but only totaled 28 yards in the second half.

Now, they have to slow his clone in St. Louis.

Rams rookie running back Todd Gurley, the 10th overall pick in this year’s draft, has been compared to Peterson for his size and running style.

Similar to the Vikings, the Rams rely heavily on the run, averaging 135.5 yards per game, the fourth-most in the NFL.

“I’ve heard some people compare him to Adrian Peterson when he first came into the league, so just to even consider that tells you where this guy is at from a talent standpoint,” Fangio said. “He’s got good size, good speed, he’s tough to tackle. They do a good job in their running game. They have a good scheme. It’s well-coached. He’s picked it up well. He’s lit it up up here. I think what, the first four weeks, he’s the only guy in history to have 100 yards his first four games. So that kind of tells it all.”

That would be in Gurley’s four starts, when he ran for a league-record 566 yards. In six games this season, Gurley has 664 rushing yards and four touchdowns on 118 carries.

The Bears have allowed only two 100-yard rushers in eight games this season. Besides Peterson, Seahawks running back Thomas Rawls had 16 carries for 104 yards, filling in for Marshawn Lynch in Week 3.

“Yeah, [Gurley is] very impressive,” outside linebacker Sam Acho said. “A lot of people compare him to Adrian Peterson, who we played a couple weeks ago. You can’t really argue with that comparison just looking at their numbers and at the way they play the game.

“You look at Gurley and their offense. They are fourth in the NFL with their rushing attack. They’re the only team that runs the ball and that’s up there in the top-five without a quarterback running. They are committed to the run, and they’re going to go after it.”

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