Adrian Peterson

he Steelers have been set at this position for years.  It will be a great game with a focus on Adrian Peterson against the Steelers D. I'll give 6/10 to the Steelers

Week 8 -BYE-

Week 9 Steelers at Broncos

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e Tice regime) was just as productive as Tarvaris Jackson throwing to Bernard Berrian and giving to Adrian Peterson.  Essentially, what I'm trying to say is that Childress has come nowhere near delivering the "kick-ass" offense he promised a few seasons ago.  Sure, the defense has been incredible, but Chilly lucked out in that regard (and was likely helped by the presence of Mike Tomlin, now Head Coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers), as the Wilfs had just doled out the money to Pat Williams, Antoine Winfield, and Darren Sharper, while Kevin Williams was becoming a major inside force.

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nse, the Vikings looked more than decent against a difficult-to-decipher Philly defense and got two Adrian Peterson runs for scores.

At the half, then, with the Vikings trailing 16-14, I really thought that our Purple crew could pull it out.  The Eagles were doing absolutely nothing on offense, while

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eason no matter who is on the D-line) to keep the defense from tiring out, I think that Jackson and Adrian Peterson will thwart Philly's defense and score more than is expected of them.

Go Pu

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game than the score indicated.

Tarvaris Jackson was 16/26 with 239 yards, 1 TD, and 1 INT.  Adrian Peterson rushed for 103 yards on 21 carries.  Both Bobby Wade (98 yds) and Bernard Berrian (81 yards) turned in impressive performances.  Jackson's INT was also the only Vikings turnover lost in the contest.

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into a blowout, as every aspect of the game was clicking:

The running game was working well until Adrian Peterson kept fumbling away possessions (he finished with 76 yards), but Tarvaris Jackson also added 76 yards on the ground by himself and looked as exciting as the prime years of Daunte Culpepper.  What impressed me the most about Jackson's scrambling, though, is that he wasn't just running around like a chicken with his head cut off...instead, he ran when he saw big yardage and scrambled to avoid pressure and deliver an on-target pass when needed.

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star talent (Michael Turner, Matt Ryan, Roddy White) than the Vikings, so, again, a big effort from Adrian Peterson will likely be the key to victory.

However, I think the key matchup in the contest will be the Vikings' ability to put pressure on young Atlanta QB Matt Ryan (pictured above).  If the D-Line can hurry Ryan, their offense will get out of sync and become one-dimensional.  If he is allowed to stand in the pocket and deliver clean passes, though, there is a good chance that White or Michael Jenkins will haul them in against a Purple secondary that needs help up front to succeed.

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e had never seen from him until this point) to give the Vikings a lead, after which point they rode Adrian Peterson (165 yards) for the rest of the game.  Throw in the tremendous pressure that the defense put on Kurt Warner and the Arizona receivers, and a blowout was almost inevitable.

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ever, before we anoint Jackson as the newest old savior, consider the fact that he pretty much rode Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor for the entire second half.  Against the Lions that was acceptable, as the Vikes were not afraid in the least of Detroit's offense (in fact, Detroit having the ball played right into MN's hands).  So, even hanging on to a slim lead, the Vikes were content to pound the line and not try anything too crazy.

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Coming into Sunday night's nationally televised contest against the Bears, the Vikes were a team (and a fan base) that expected a victory.  Remarkably (if you know anything about the Vikes in pressure situations!), that is exactly what transpired, with an exclamation mark!  Why did the Vikings have no excuse not to win this game?  A quick recent-history lesson:

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a tight, defensive-type struggle.  The Bucs can stop the run, which doesn't bode well for the Adrian Peterson-led Vikings, while the Vikes can do the same, neutralizing the Bucs' main threats as well.

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of the season:

-First, let's give credit where credit is due...this was one of those games where Adrian Peterson took the team completely on his shoulders.  Much like LaDainian Tomlinson did for the Chargers in recent years, Peterson absolutely dominated this game when it really counted...in the second half.  However, I would caution Vikings fans not to get too over-hyped about their 5-4 and tie-for-first-place team.  Peterson will NOT be able to shoulder that much of a workload every game (whether he wants to or not, the holes will not always be there, especially when defenders start keying on him again), and thus other teammates will have to step up and make big plays (something that is usually severely lacking in MN).  I am confident in saying this because the exact same scenario happened last year.  After A.D. single-handedly beat the Chargers (when he set the single-game rushing record) and Bears (220 some yards and 3 scores), he was by and large shut down for the rest of the season (I remember the game in San Francisco where he was held to something like 9 total yards on 15 or so carries...ouch).  So, as good as it is to be tied for first in the NFC North, the Vikes have an awful lot of proving themselves to do in the remaining regular-season weeks.

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Not only does he lead the league in rushing yards, but the next closest rusher (Adrian Peterson) is almost 300 yards behind! If the season were to end today, he’d be the MVP hands down.

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ichael Bennett, Marcus Robinson, Kelly Campbell, and Nate Burleson.  In 2008, the Vikings have Adrian Peterson and a similar cast of average players that just need the right coach and the

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S): 944 YDS 7 TD 5.0 YPC, 11 CTH 77 YDS
          Adrian Peterson (MIN): 684 YDS 5 TD 4.5 YPC, 12 CTH 65 YDS

WR = Andre Johnson (HOU): 56 CTH 772 YDS 2 TD

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pired at Soldier Field:

The game actually started out on a very positive note for the Vikings, as Adrian Peterson capped off their first drive of the game with a touchdown lunge at the goal line.  Of course, the Bears (helped by the inability of the Vikings' kickoff team to execute a successful squib kick to keep the ball away from Devin Hester, thus gaining them tremendous field position) also scored on their first possession to knot the score at 7-7.

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zone:

From what I have seen, the Vikings (like most teams in the NFL) rely heavily on runs (from Adrian Peterson and sometimes Chester Taylor) and short passes to set up the occasional deep strike.  Essentially, it is a West Coast offense.  When run to perfection, this type of offenses does two things: 1. It softens up the defense line by pounding the ball at them time and time again; and 2. Because of that pounding, the line is not strong enough to put pressure on the QB, who is then free to complete short passes (under ten yards) and look for the occasional man coverage on the outside to take a deep shot.  However, the Vikings lack one key component of that system: the ability to complete short passes.  Leaving Bernard Berrian out of the equation for the moment, the Vikings' other receivers (Bobby Wade, Aundrae Allison, and Robert Ferguson) are just not good enough to consistently get open and make the play required of them.  Allison is too inexperienced and penalty-prone, while Fergie and Wade are too old).  So, what ends up happening is that opposing defenses even leave the short-yardage receivers in loose coverage, instead choosing to stop-up Peterson, a strategy that has been quite successful in rendering the Purple impotent with the ball.  The end result is Peterson getting stuffed, and the receivers dropping enough passes (or just plain not getting open) to set up third and long situations, which a West Coast offense is not equipped to convert, as the defense can finally play a little looser knowing that a pass is almost surely coming.

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know how false that assumption is.  After the Berrian long score, the Vikings punted, fumbled (Adrian Peterson) in Lions territory, and had a Ryan Longwell field goal blocked after an offensive penalty made the kick more difficult than it needed to be.  So, after one more drive ending with Chris Kluwe, the Vikings got the ball with 4:41 remaining in the game, down by a 10-9 score.  The Vikings moved to nearly midfield with ease, but then a screen pass to Peterson (5-yard loss) and a false start penalty set up a 2nd-and-20 down and distance situation.  On the next play, Frerotte uncorked a deep bomb (in the direction of Berrian, if I'm not mistaken), and while the catch wasn't made, pass-interference was called on the Lions' defender, putting the ball at the Lions' 26 yard line.  After reviewing the replay, it was clear that there was minimal (if any) actual interference on the play, so the Vikings essentially caught a game-winning break, as a few plays later Longwell knocked the game-winning kick through the uprights.

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