LAKE FOREST, Ill. – In his last six games against the Bears as a member of the Packers, Brett Favre threw two touchdown passes and 13 interceptions, three of which were returned for scores.

But if you’re expecting the future Hall of Famer to play like a reckless gunslinger Sunday in Minnesota, you haven’t been paying attention to the transformation that Favre has made this year with the Vikings.

Despite several near misses, Adewale Ogunleye has never sacked Brett Favre.

After tossing a NFL-high 22 interceptions last season while playing for the Jets, Favre has enjoyed a rebirth in Minnesota. Surrounded by superior talent on a potent offense, he has completed 69.7 percent of his passes with 21 touchdowns, three interceptions and a league-leading 112.1 passer rating.

“If you have a balanced offense, if you have a good running game, you don’t have to do that many things,” said linebacker Lance Briggs. “You’re not required to chuck balls all day long, which is good for him."

“It’s making him that much better of a player and that much more effective when he can hand  the ball off or he can play-fake and everybody’s going to bite on it,” said defensive tackle Anthony Adams. “That’s why his numbers are down as far as interceptions. 

"He doesn’t have to play a perfect game. He doesn’t have to throw for 300 or even 200 yards to have an effective game, so I think that’s helping him a lot. Adrian Peterson has [999] yards rushing, so that relieves some of the pressure off him.”

Although Favre has benefited from a powerful ground game, the three-time NFL MVP has still performed like he did during his heyday with the Packers. He has posted passer ratings of at least 100 in seven of 10 games, rifled a 32-yard touchdown pass to Greg Lewis with :02 remaining to stun the 49ers Sept. 27 and threw scoring passes to four different receivers in last Sunday’s rout of the Seahawks.

“He’s been good a long time,” said coach Lovie Smith. “It’s not like Brett Favre all of a sudden figured out how to play football. The guy’s been one of the all-time greats for his play on the football field.

“As far as him coming back and doing what he’s done right now, it’s hard to count out a great player on anything that he does. We just hope that he doesn’t have one of those type games this week.”

Before Smith arrived, Favre dominated the Bears for a decade, leading the Packers to 18 wins in 20 meetings from 1994-2003. The tide turned, however, with the Bears winning six of the next eight games.

Favre threw at least one TD pass in his first 26 games against the Bears before being kept out of the end zone in three straight contests beginning in 2005, when Chicago swept the season series from Green Bay for the first time since 1991, the year before Favre joined the Packers.

Favre’s three interceptions this season equal the total that Bears quarterback Jay Cutler threw in the first half of the first game during a Sunday night loss in Green Bay.

“He’s one of the best that’s ever played,” Cutler said of the 40-year-old. “It’s a testament to how hard he’s worked throughout his career to be able to still be  playing at that age, and not only still be playing but still be playing at the level he’s playing at. It’s fun to watch. It’s good for the game.”

The Bears hope to fare better against Favre than they have over the past five weeks versus the Bengals’ Carson Palmer, the Cardinals’ Kurt Warner and the Eagles’ Donovan McNabb. Chicago allowed that trio to complete 74.7 percent of their passes for a combined 738 yards with 12 TDs, 1 interception and a 134.4 passer rating.

“[Favre] has been doing it for a very long time,” said defensive end Adewale Ogunleye. “I have a lot of respect for him, a lot of respect for the way he’s been playing this year. He’s having one his MVP-caliber years.

“When it’s all said and done and I’m sitting in front of my TV a couple years from now and watching Thanksgiving [games], I’ll tell my kids I played against a guy like Brett Favre.”