Allen makes ‘dirtiest players’ list

Jared Allen resents being called a dirty player, but a Sports Illustrated poll of 296 players had Allen ranking 10th on the list.

You want to make Jared Allen mad? Call him a dirty player or a cheap-shot artist.

That’s what happened last year when Allen was fined for questionable hits, including two on Houston quarterback Matt Schaub that left Schaub with an injured knee that forced him to miss a couple of games.

You may want to add Sports Illustrated to the list of things that peeve Allen. He finished in 10th place in the magazine’s list of the dirtiest players in the NFL. In a poll of 296 players, they were asked to name the players they believed to be the dirtiest players in the league. Allen got nine votes (3.2 percent) to finish in 10th place.

While it would seem natural to have big-hitting defenders on the list, Pittsburgh wide receiver Hines Ward took first place with 11.6 percent of the votes – almost double the total of the next highest player. Ward, who has a reputation as a vicious blocker, especially on crack back blocks in which he levels an unexpecting defender, ran away with the competition.

Ward wasn’t alone in being an offensive player on the dirty player list. Three offensive linemen made the top 10 list, as well as two members of the Tennessee Titans and Pittsburgh Steelers. Allen was one of two defensive linemen to make the top 10 list and the only defensive end.

Allen was the only Viking to make the list in the SI piece. The others in the top 10 behind Ward and ahead of Allen included Washington defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth (6.0 percent), Miami LB Joey Porter (6.0), Cincinnati safety Roy Williams (5.1), Tennessee center Kevin Mawae (4.6), Tennessee CB Cortland Finnegan (4.2), St. Louis guard Richie Incognito (3.7), Atlanta guard Harvey Dahl (3.7) and Steelers safety Troy Polamalu (3.7).

THURSDAY NOTES

With his three sacks Sunday against the Packers, Jared Allen took over the NFL lead in sacks with 10.5 on the year.

Adrian Peterson’s defense of his rushing title is going to take a significant hit this week. Peterson is currently tied for second place with 784 yards with Steven Jackson of the Rams and is 40 yards behind league leader Chris Johnson of Tennessee. Johnson has already had his bye week and, while Peterson, Jackson and fifth-place RB Thomas Jones (704 yards) all rest on their bye week this week, Johnson, No. 4 RB Cedric Benson of the Bengals (720 yards) and sixth-place RB Maurice Jones-Drew (640) will all be able to add to their totals, putting some distance between themselves and Peterson.

For his career, Peterson is still averaging more than 100 yards a game. In eight games this season, he is averaging 98 yards a game.