EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. — Those who have watched the Vikings go 0-6 at Soldier Field since a rookie named Adrian Peterson ran for 224 yards in a 34-31 win in 2007 might consider the past week a bit of an oddity.

With the Vikings coming out of a bye with a rare two-game winning streak. The Bears sandwiched their bye with consecutive losses in which they gave up 50 or more points.

That has some actually asking the 4-5 Vikings about having to guard against being overconfident when they play the 3-6 Bears in Chicago on Sunday.

“Our team? Overconfident?” coach Mike Zimmer said. “No, I don’t think so. We really haven’t done enough to get overconfident.

“I just continue to talk to them about the same things I talked to them when we lost, I guess it was three in a row — hard work, paying attention to detail, doing the things we need to do, trying not to change the message. I know I’m an emotional person, but I try not to get too high or too low.”

The Vikings head into the game ranked 26th in scoring, but the Bears are the first team since the 1923 Rochester Jeffersons to allow 50 or more points in back-to-back games.

“Really?” said receiver Jarius Wright. “That’s crazy. I think that’s a good thing because we’ve struggled scoring points, especially earlier this season.”

Defensively, the Vikings lead the NFL in sacks per pass play. Right defensive end Everson Griffen has nine of the team’s 30 sacks and has proven the Vikings wise for choosing to re-sign him rather than an aging Jared Allen, who now has 1.5 sacks as a member of the Bears.

Nine games into his Bears career, Allen still hasn’t won a game at Soldier Field. He was 0-6 there as a Viking and has played in two of the Bears’ three home losses this season.

“Good,” said Vikings defensive end Brian Robison, a close friend of Allen’s. “Let’s keep it that way.”

Sunday’s game is the first of four NFC North games the Vikings will play over the final seven games. They’re 0-2 in the division and weren’t competitive in either loss to the Packers and Lions.

Strangely, a trip to Chicago appears to be the recipe to get the team back on track within the division. And that just doesn’t quite compute for those who have watched this team closely since 2008.

Zimmer looks forward to keeping the focus on the field.

All coaches proclaim not to deal in hypotheticals. Zimmer seems to genuinely go beyond just saying that during press conferences.

Right now, he has the mother of all hypotheticals — the possible reinstatement of his best player, Peterson — tugging at his attention.

The NFL Players Association’s grievance to get Peterson taken off the commissioner’s exempt list and immediately reinstated to the Vikings’ roster has led to the league scheduling a hearing for Monday, according to media reports. That means Peterson could be on the field as early as the Vikings’ rematch with the Packers a week from Sunday at TCF Bank Stadium.

Peterson pleaded no contest to a reduced misdemeanor charge, which voided the felony child abuse charge he had been facing in Texas. He has missed the past eight games while dealing with the situation that stemmed from injuries he caused to his 4-year-old son while whipping him with a switch.

Meanwhile, Zimmer has held things together fairly well, going 3-5 without Peterson.

“When those decisions are made (by the NFL), we can make decisions,” Zimmer said. “Until then, really our hands are tied. There’s nothing we can do about it other than what I’ve said all along. We love the kid. He’s done everything I’ve asked him to do. And we support him. We want him to get through this for him, for him. Then we’ll worry about all the other things we have to deal with at the time.”

SERIES HISTORY: 106th regular-season meeting. Vikings lead series, 54-49-2. Vikings are 21-29-2 at Chicago and are 0-6 at Soldier Field since winning 34-31 there in 2007.