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Ex-Chief Jared Allen is doing well with the Vikings. He has 10 1/2 sacks this season.
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Now Minnesota defensive end Jared Allen has to show he can get sacks against somebody other than the Green Bay Packers.
Allen, the former Chiefs star, leads the NFL with 10 1/2 sacks, although 7 1/2 of them have come in two games against the Packers. At the halfway point of the season, it’s not unrealistic to start projecting Allen with not only his first 20-sack season, but he’s got a chance to break Michael Strahan’s NFL-record 22 1/2 sacks set in 2001.
“As an individual stat, that’s amazing,” Allen said after the Vikings’ 38-26 win at Green Bay last Sunday. “Would I take a Super Bowl over that? Any day of the week. Twenty sacks would be great, but it’s way too early to be thinking about that.
“I hope to get one more against the team we play next after the bye week.”
When the Vikings return from their open date, Allen will have a chance to pile up some sacks as Minnesota’s next three games are at home in the noisy Metrodome against Detroit, Seattle and Chicago.
“If the sacks keep coming, they keep coming,” said Allen, who led the NFL in sacks with 15 1/2 in 14 games for the Chiefs in 2007. “But these victories are where it’s at. It’s more fun to win. The older you get in the league … not that I’m old in this league by any means, but honestly, that’s all I’m doing — having fun out there.”
Allen didn’t have much fun even when he led the league in 2007.
He feuded with then-Chiefs general manager Carl Peterson before Allen was traded in April 2008 to Minnesota, which made him the highest-paid defensive player in the NFL with more than $31 million in guaranteed money.
While the Vikings won the NFC North last season and are 7-1 at the halfway mark this year, the Chiefs have gone 3-20, including 1-6 this season, since Allen’s departure. He does not take pleasure in the Chiefs’ woes.
“I’ve still got buddies on the Chiefs,” said Allen, the Chiefs’ MVP in 2007, “and I feel for them. Losing football games is tough. New coaches can be tough, especially when you’re losing with a new coach.
“I honestly thank God I’m in Minnesota every day, so I’m not going through that right now.”
When it was suggested the Chiefs might not be 1-6 this season had he remained, Allen laughed.
“I don’t know, they’re running the 3-4 defense,” Allen said. “I don’t see myself playing in the 3-4.”
In the Vikings’ 4-3 scheme, Allen, the right end, takes advantage of Pro Bowl tackles Pat and Kevin Williams, who collapse the pocket, sending quarterbacks into his quick and powerful hands.
Since Allen was drafted by the Chiefs in 2004, his 68 sacks are the most in the NFL, including 25 sacks in 24 games with Minnesota.
“I don’t want to compare him to anyone,” Minnesota defensive end Leslie Frazier said of Allen earlier this season, “But he’s elite, and it’s hard to win in the league today if you don’t have that.”
Allen, a two-time Pro Bowler, got off to a slow start this season when, admittedly, he was putting too much pressure on himself and went sackless in the season opener against Cleveland and had one sack each in games against Detroit and San Francisco.
“I was trying too hard,” Allen said. “You always want to get off to a good start, but I needed to relax because I’m such a perfectionist, and I get overly critical.”
To reach Randy Covitz, call 816-234-4796 or send e-mail to rcovitz@kcstar.com
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