Palestine's Peterson Just Needs A Little Help
(Staff Photo By Jaime R. Carrero)
PALESTINE NATIVE: Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson looks on from the sidelines during Sunday’s game at Texas Stadium in Irving.
IRVING - Adrian Peterson broke to the outside, got a block and the rest was history.The Palestine graduate performed his standard salute and ran to the sideline after his 20-yard touchdown tied the game 7-7 against his favorite childhood team.
Mr. All Day was back, so it seemed.
Nope.
That was the last "Yo, Adrian!" moment of the Cowboys' 24-14 win over the Vikings Sunday at Texas Stadium. That left an uncharacteristic amount of fans wearing Vikings jerseys wondering where the most popular Texan in the stadium was the rest of the game.
Eight carries later, Peterson left the field with a loss.
"It felt good to come back home with my family and everything," Peterson said, "but it would have felt much better if we had won."
Unfortunately for Peterson, results like this might become the norm.
Mr. All Day was back, so it seemed.
Nope.
That was the last "Yo, Adrian!" moment of the Cowboys' 24-14 win over the Vikings Sunday at Texas Stadium. That left an uncharacteristic amount of fans wearing Vikings jerseys wondering where the most popular Texan in the stadium was the rest of the game.
Eight carries later, Peterson left the field with a loss.
"It felt good to come back home with my family and everything," Peterson said, "but it would have felt much better if we had won."
Unfortunately for Peterson, results like this might become the norm.
Chase Colston
I found Peterson on the sidelines during a Cowboys-Giants game his senior year of high school. It was two days after he ran for 317 yards and six touchdowns against Athens - in the first half.
Peterson's greatness in the NFL is already assumed. Some called him the league's best pure runner after his 224-yard, three-touchdown performance against the Bears last week.
He runs like Tony Dorsett. He hits defenders like Earl Campbell. He plays like a running back from Texas.
His greatness, however, could be limited because of his teammates.
With no passing game to speak of, that meant no balance on offense against the NFC's best team. The Cowboys stacked eight in the box all game. The lack of a passing attack came on its own - Vikings quarterback Tarvaris Jackson was 6-of-19 for 72 yards - so the Cowboys defense was left to worry about Peterson and backfield mate Chester Taylor.
"You're not going to win many games in this league when you throw for 70 yards," said Vikings coach Brad Childress. "Obviously Adrian is a known commodity."
Peterson has the vision, the speed and the size to succeed in the NFL. Being the NFL's leading rusher (while sharing carries) going into Sunday's game showed that. Where he goes from here is up to his coach and his quarterback.
No adjustments to speak of in the second half. Peterson's only mistake, a lost fumble early in the fourth quarter that led to a Dallas field goal, did not have to be the back breaker. Instead it was Jackson's lack of accuracy, control and leadership of his team.
"They were expecting the run after what we did last week," Jackson said. "We stalled a little bit (in the second half) and never caught our rhythm again. It messed us up."
Jackson even admitted teams have and will continue to expect the run.
"That's what we're going to see week in and week out," he said.
Thanks for the heads up, Mr. Jackson.
You could make a list a mile long of great running backs who played alongside mediocre (or worse) quarterbacks - Campbell, Walter Payton, Barry Sanders ... this list goes on. But it makes life a lot easier when the defense doesn't already know what's coming.
That's what made guys like Emmitt Smith, Tony Dorsett and LaDainian Tomlinson great.
Despite his quarterback's 32-percent completion percentage and lack of halftime adjustments, Peterson didn't need to be disappointed in his game. Sixty-two yards and a touchdown on 12 carries (5.2 yards per attempt) against "a great defense," as he called it, is acceptable.
Eight carries after a touchdown, though, is not.
"They were definitely stacking the box," Peterson said. "We left some opportunities out there on the field."
Peterson's greatness in the NFL is already assumed. Some called him the league's best pure runner after his 224-yard, three-touchdown performance against the Bears last week.
He runs like Tony Dorsett. He hits defenders like Earl Campbell. He plays like a running back from Texas.
His greatness, however, could be limited because of his teammates.
With no passing game to speak of, that meant no balance on offense against the NFC's best team. The Cowboys stacked eight in the box all game. The lack of a passing attack came on its own - Vikings quarterback Tarvaris Jackson was 6-of-19 for 72 yards - so the Cowboys defense was left to worry about Peterson and backfield mate Chester Taylor.
"You're not going to win many games in this league when you throw for 70 yards," said Vikings coach Brad Childress. "Obviously Adrian is a known commodity."
Peterson has the vision, the speed and the size to succeed in the NFL. Being the NFL's leading rusher (while sharing carries) going into Sunday's game showed that. Where he goes from here is up to his coach and his quarterback.
No adjustments to speak of in the second half. Peterson's only mistake, a lost fumble early in the fourth quarter that led to a Dallas field goal, did not have to be the back breaker. Instead it was Jackson's lack of accuracy, control and leadership of his team.
"They were expecting the run after what we did last week," Jackson said. "We stalled a little bit (in the second half) and never caught our rhythm again. It messed us up."
Jackson even admitted teams have and will continue to expect the run.
"That's what we're going to see week in and week out," he said.
Thanks for the heads up, Mr. Jackson.
You could make a list a mile long of great running backs who played alongside mediocre (or worse) quarterbacks - Campbell, Walter Payton, Barry Sanders ... this list goes on. But it makes life a lot easier when the defense doesn't already know what's coming.
That's what made guys like Emmitt Smith, Tony Dorsett and LaDainian Tomlinson great.
Despite his quarterback's 32-percent completion percentage and lack of halftime adjustments, Peterson didn't need to be disappointed in his game. Sixty-two yards and a touchdown on 12 carries (5.2 yards per attempt) against "a great defense," as he called it, is acceptable.
Eight carries after a touchdown, though, is not.
"They were definitely stacking the box," Peterson said. "We left some opportunities out there on the field."
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