Peterson Sensational in 34-31 Vikings win

By: Larry Fitzgerald
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
Originally posted 10/16/2007

   PHOENIX, AZ — Adrian Peterson is having a Randy Moss-like rookie year. Who will ever forget 1998, when the Vikings went 15-1 in the regular season and Moss scored 17 touchdowns en route to earning rookie-of-the-year honors?

 Peterson, the talented young star from Oklahoma, earned a guest appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show after exploding for the third-best day in NFL history. Peterson scored three touchdowns on runs of 67, 73 and 35 yards in leading the Vikings (2-3) to a 34-31 win over the Chicago Bears at historic Soldier Field before 62,174 shocked fans.

 “I just got comfortable with the speed of the game,” Peterson said.

 The Vikings win was their first in Chicago since 2000 and pushed the NFC defending champion Bears into last place in the NFC North at 2-4. Peterson, running behind the Vikings’ massive offensive line, rushed for a franchise-record 224 yards on 20 carries, smashing Chuck Foreman’s 1976 record of 200 yards against Philadelphia.

 Sunday’s game quickly turned into the Peterson-Devin Hester show. Hester gave the Bears a 7-0 first-quarter lead when he returned a punt 89 yards for a touchdown.

 Quarterback Tavaris Jackson started for the first time in three weeks after a groin injury and threw a 60-yard touchdown pass to speedster Troy Williamson to tie the game. Peterson then scored the next three Vikings touchdowns all on running plays, showcasing his talented blend of speed, vision, power and explosiveness.

 Peterson’s last touchdown gave the Vikings a 31-17 fourth-quarter lead. Game over? Not so fast — the Bears came roaring back to tie the game on two Brian Griese touchdown passes of 33 yards to Muhsin Muhammad and 81 yards to the equally spectacular Hester.

 With the game tied 31-31 and just 1:32 left, Vikings Head Coach Brad Childress inserted Peterson on the kickoff return team. He responded with a huge 53-yard return to set up kicker Ryan Longwell’s career-best 55-yard game-winning field goal. Now the Vikings take the Peterson show to Dallas next Sunday to play the Cowboys, who lost their showdown of unbeaten teams with New England 48-27.

 The Vikings ran for 311 yards; that’s the third-most yards the Bears’ once-proud defense has ever allowed. Chester Taylor also had a good day with 83 tough yards inside. Peterson, combining rushing, receiving and returning kicks, had an incredible 361 yards and three touchdowns.

 Hester’s great day totaled 275 yards on eight kick and punt returns and one pass reception for two touchdowns.

 Peterson leads the NFL in rushing with 607 yards on 96 carries; he’s averaging a remarkable 6.3 yards per carry. Combining rushing and receiving, Peterson has 782 yards and five touchdowns. When you combine his total all-purpose yards, he has 1,030 in five games, on pace to become the first rookie to lead the NFC in rushing since Hall-of-Famer Detroit’s Barry Sanders in 1989.

 Peterson has rushed for 100 yards or more in four of his first five games. He also broke Foreman’s Vikings rookie record for most 100-yard rushing games in one season. The new record is four.

 After losing 11 of 14 games and three in row, hopefully Coach Childress can keep the Vikings in this race. It’s Childress’ first win against either Chicago or Green Bay, the team’s longtime rivals, in six games.

 Fitz’s Note’s & Quotes

The Minnesota Wild have started the 2007 season in spectacular fashion. Winning their first five games, it’s the best start in franchise history.

 Goalie Niklas Backstrom has been sensational. His GAA (Goal Against Average) is .67; he’s 5-0 with three shutouts. I have seen the Wild play in three of their five games, all wins at home: 1-0 over Chicago, 3-0 over Edmonton at the Xcel Center in St. Paul, and Saturday rallying for two goals in the third period to beat Wayne Gretzky’s Phoenix Coyotes 3-2.

 Head Coach Jacques Lamaire’s system is really working. This team has bought into it and right now is playing great team hockey.

 Fitzgerald leads NFC

Larry Fitzgerald of the Arizona Cardinals is on fire. He leads the NFC in receptions with 40 and yards with 545. In the last three games for the NFC West first-place Cardinals, Larry has 25 receptions for 353 yards and one touchdown.