Zeroing in on Orlando Pace vs. Jared Allen

MINNEAPOLIS–As bad as the Bears’ running game has been this season–the joke going around this week was they no longer get off the bus running, they get off a minivan running–they’re going to have to be able to throw the ball this afternoon against the Vikings to have success.

That means they’re going to have to keep the pocket clean for quarterback Jay Cutler, and that’s something the offense has struggled to do this season against pass rushers far less accomplished than the Minnesota front four. Jared Allen leads the NFL in sacks since being drafted in 2004 with 68. He’s got 10 1/2 this season and terrorized the Bears for 4 1/2 last season. The thinking in getting Orlando Pace–and it’s not like general manager Jerry Angelo had a bounty of options when John Tait surprised the team by surprising–was that he’d definitely improve pass protection.

Pace played a solid game last week vs. Philadelphia’s Trent Cole, a compact, high-energy guy that some figured would give the lumbering Pace fits. Now, the bar is raised with Allen, the Vikings’ right end. Pace has some familiarity with him. The Rams and Chiefs, where Allen came from, play every year in preseason. Pace has faced him once in the regular season in 2006 in a game in which Allen had two sacks of St. Louis quarterback Marc Bulger.

“Jared is having a good year,” Pace said. “I’ve played him a few times. You know he’s a guy who is going to give a lot of effort on every play. He’s going to keep coming. So you have to really block him to the whistle. But he’s having a really good year. He’s a younger guy [when I played him before], so he probably gotten a lot better.”

The Bears can’t focus their help solely on Allen. Ray Edwards, the left end, has 5 1/2 sacks and the Bears have a less experienced tackle on that side in Chris Williams. Plus, they have to keep an eye on tackle Kevin Williams, who is just as talented as Allen. The Vikings have 115 quarterback hurries through 10 games. It’s a subjective statistic, but that is an eye-opening number.

“I never ask for help, but it can be tough,” Pace said. “Sometimes there’s crowd noise. There’s a lot of different elements that kind of go unnoticed. You have to really be focused in and be on your game there.”