MinnesotaSportsScene.com

I’m itching for the start of the Vikings-Packers game tonight and one of the biggest questions on my mind is whether Adrian Peterson can be great again this year. Certainly, despite missing four games last season, he has already established himself as possibly one of the best runners ever to wear the purple and gold.

The question is, can he avoid the sophomore slump? Can he improve on what he did last season? With the healing that’s gone on in his knee in the off-season, I’d venture to say it’s possible, even plausible. Only time will tell and kickoff’s in about 12 hours. No time left for those Caribbean cruises. It’s football time, baby!

Whether it’s the Wilfs’ private jet or something as simple as a foam mattress, the Vikings ownership claims they want to build the club into a first-class organization, and they at least have several Vikings players believing it’s possible.

This off-season, the club will be looking to fill gaping holes as defensive end, wide receiver, and safety, as well as shoring up one side of its offensive line and upgrading depth at quarterback. While Minnesota’s cold-weather city locale may be a negative, most Vikings players apparently believe the team’s 8-8 finish places the team as a club on the cusp of playoff contention, which should make the Vikings organization a hot spot in the free agent market.

“I think we’re going to be one of the most dangerous teams out there, and that’s no exaggeration,” Vikings linebacker Ben Leber told the St. Paul Pioneer Press recently. “You look at the way we climbed the charts at the end of the season, and what we have playmaker wise, on offense and defense, and I really think this team is a shoo-in for the playoffs.”

Provided the team can shore up its weaknesses in the off-season through free agency and the NFL draft. With offensive rookie of the year Adrian Peterson bolstering the team’s running game, the Vikings are not far from the promised land.

Even though the Vikings missed the playoffs on Sunday, dropping to 8-8 after an overtime fumble gave Denver the ball deep in their own territory following an amazing Vikings comeback i the last seven minutes of the fourth quarter to tie the game up, rookie running back Adrian Peterson will probably still be named NFL rookie of the year.

He finished the season with 12 rushing touchdowns, one receiving touchdown, 1,342 rushing yards, and 268 receiving yards for a grand total of 13 touchdowns and 1,610 yards combined. Of course, that’s not counting his special teams yardage. Not bad for a player who missed two games, because that’s a 14-game total.

So why was his team only 8-8 and missing the playoffs? In my opinion, it call comes down to using Adrian Peterson correctly. In some games, Coach Childress utilized Peterson a lot and in others games, the number of carries Peterson saw was slimmed down by hoodia diet pills to next-to-nothing.

Here’s the hard facts: In games where Peterson was allowed at least 15 carries or more, Minnesota went 5-3. In games where he carried the ball fewer than 15 times, Minnesota only went 1-5. So it’s clear that while running Peterson 15 times or more doesn’t guarantee victory, running him fewer times almost certainly guarantees a loss.

Here’s a question to ponder: which is riskier, banking on a Vikings win or online banking?

Personally, even though the Vikes won ugly, 29-22 over the Oakland Raiders on Sunday, I think opening a checking account with an online bank like WaMu is a whole lot safer than relying on this year’s Vikings team for guaranteed results.

Looking over the Vikings game, the team improved a bit by passing for a season-high 171 yards, but still found most of their offense on the ground, with Chester Taylor gaining over 160 yards and three touchdowns in place of the injured Adrian Peterson. The win moves the Vikes to a 4-6 record with six games left, and if the Vikings do everything right, they might just manage to pull an 8-8 finish out of this train wreck. But that’s a big if.

By contrast, WaMu has very nice online security, you can apply online, and the whole experience is really no different than you might find at a local corner bank. Except maybe WaMu is better at email communication, online account access and being a bit human about the whole experience. (I have seen some traditional banks really mess over some friends of mine.)

So yeah, I’d say online banking’s a safer bet than the Vikings right now, much as I am a Purple Pride fan through and through.

Alarmists are already looking to take out a burial policy on the Minnesota Vikings after last weekend’s shocking injury to rookie RB sensation Adrian Peterson, who, now that the dust has settled, appears to be headed toward missing anywhere from one week to the rest of the season after tearing his lateral collateral ligament in a severe knee sprain caused by a helmet-leading hit on Peterson by Packers cornerback Al Harris.

The hit came early in the second half of the game - the half in which Peterson is known for becoming his most explosive - and although Peterson has gone the classy, Kirby Puckett-style route, saying the hit was clean, game footage clearly shows Harris aiming at the knee and leading on the tackle with his helmet. It’s clearer than the Zapruder film.

For this reason, MinnesotaSportsScene.com has decided from this point forward, as long as Al Harris is on the Packers defense, that rather than “America’s Team” or “God’s Team,” the Cheeseheads’ defense will now be referred to as Murderer’s Row. If they want to play like thugs, they’ll get called on it here.

As for Peterson, no one wants to say it out loud, but this type of injury is typically a six-week recovery period, though Peterson wants to attempt a return much sooner, if possible. The great debate is whether the Vikings should allow Peterson to attempt a return and risk a longer-term, more career-threatening injury, or play it safe, bench him the rest of the way, and allow him time to heal completely, and perhaps even get surgery, if that’s needed.

Only time will tell.

Prior to Sunday’s game, Minnesota rookie running back Adrian Peterson was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Month for the month of October. The young-legged runner must want to make it two in a row, as he responded to the honor today by breaking the all-time NFL single-game rushing record against the San Diego Chargers.

In Sunday’s 35-17 Vikings win over San Diego, Peterson rushed 30 times for 296 yards, one yard better than Baltimore’s Jamal Lewis back in 2003. It obviously also breaks Peterson’s own Vikings team record of 210 or so, set back about three weeks ago, the last time the Vikings won and, not coincidentally, also the last time coach Brad Childress actually allowed Peterson to touch the ball 20 or more times.

It’s a simple formula for winning, Chilly: Give Peterson the ball. A lot.

In addition to the 296 yards rushing, Peterson had three touchdowns as well as one reception for 19 yards.

And here’s the scary part: Peterson’s a rookie. He’s not yet the player he can become. The LaDanien Tomlinson era is over; the Adrian Peterson era has begun!

It’s nothing to get too excited about yet. After all, the Falcons are without their dog-fighting QB and are starting a never-was like Joey Harrington at the position because they made a major error in trading away former backup Matt Schaub, not with Houston and leading them to victory on Sunday over Kansas City.

But even without the PETA Public Enemy Number One at the helm, the Falcons have a decent defense and still were overpowered by the Vikings, 24-3, on Sunday in Coach Brad Childress’ second-season debut.

First-round draft pick got the bulk of the workload when Chester Taylor went down with a hip pointer in the first quarter, but Adrian Peterson shined, racking up 101 yards on the ground and making the most acrobatic catch of the day when he turned a simple screen to the flat into a 60-yard gain.

The Vikings secondary looked improved, the pass rush was impressive, and the QB and receivers… didn’t lose the game for us. That counts for something, although they still have plenty to prove.

The question is, can they do it consistently? Folks will remember Childress won several of his first five or six games last season and struggled to add to that total after that.

Here’s hoping this year’s Vikes have more staying power. With Peterson on the field, it’s entirely possible. Buy your birthday invitations for him now… he’s looking like the team savior at this point!

Running back Adrian Peterson should end up being like a shot of jura capresso to the Vikings offense this year. Last season, the Vikes suffered from predictability for sure, and this year’s troublesome QB situation and absolute panic-attack at WR could foul things up a bit, but with the Vikes adopting the two-back system employed successfully by a handful of other NFL clubs, the question of predictability is going to decrease this season due to the big increase in talent level at RB that Peterson brings with him.

Hall of Fame Coach Vince Lombardi put it this way: “It doesn’t matter if they know what plays we’re going to run on Sunday. What matters is whether they can stop us.”

Easier to say when the answer is a solid, “No, they can’t stop us.”

The Taylor-Peterson backfield should be sufficient to put the Vikes offense a bit higher on the league-wide ranking than they were last season.

If by some miracle T-Mac finds some confidence… and a couple guys who can catch the darn ball when it’s tossed their way… the Vikes might even climb to .500 or just a bit higher this season. That’d be nice. And overdue.

RB Adrian Peterson fell the the Minnesota Vikings at the seventh overall pick and in drafting him, the Vikings may have picked up the best franchise RB ever to wear the purple and gold. While time and injuries will tell the tale for sure, Peterson is almost certainly the most talented rookie the team has ever drafted. Even classic Vikes RB Bill Brown may need to worry about Peterson overshadowing him

If Peterson stays healthy.

Peterson’s collarbone injury remains the biggest - and just about only - question about the powerful, breakaway Oklahoma running back. Peterson is the biggest home run threat the Vikes have had since Robert Smith retired; if Peterson can avoid Smith’s injury history, he could be a great one.

Last season made a lot of Vikings fans more interested in Red Sox tickets than Vikings tickets. Peterson should eventually cure that ill.

If the Vikings miss out on RB Adrian Peterson or trading down to take a decent WR like Dwanye Bowe, a lot of Vikings fans will have to start looking into hair replacement solutions once they’re done pulling out all their own in frustration.

While many people are idolizing current RB Chester Taylor, his reputation is overblown; Taylor is a solid, but not a superstar, back, whereas Peterson has the potential to be a monster on the gridiron. It’s like saying, “We don’t need to draft Emmitt Smith because we already have Darrin Nelson.”

While there’s a lot of momentum behind pressuring the Vikings into moving up in the draft to attempt to get WR Calvin Johnson, but the cost would be prohibitive. It would be much better to move down a few spots, draft Bowe, and gain extra picks in the bargain.

Of course, only time will tell what strategy the Vikings will take this year, but considering how few free agents the team has signed, more than ever this draft will determine just how much of a turnaround the Vikings will be capable of this fall.