MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson ran right past everyone this season.
Everyone except Eric Dickerson, that is.
Peterson became the seventh player to rush for 2,000 yards in a season, plowing through the Green Bay Packers for a 20-yard gain that put him over the top in the third quarter Sunday. He finished with 199 yards and a touchdown in the 37-34 victory, leaving him 9 yards shy of breaking Dickerson’s 1984 single-season record.
Peterson’s 26-yard run late in the fourth quarter set up Blair Walsh’s winning field goal, a kick that clinched a playoff berth for the Vikings.
But Peterson finishes the regular season with the second-best single-season total - 2,097 yards - and a trip to Lambeau Field for a playoff rematch next Saturday night.
“It’s a bittersweet feeling,” Peterson said. “The first thing that came to my mind when I heard that I was 9 yards short was, ‘It is what it is. It wasn’t meant to happen.’ Not to say it doesn’t hurt, because it does. Ultimately, we came in here and accomplished the ultimate goal of getting a win and taking our team into the playoffs.”
Peterson came in 102 yards shy of joining O.J. Simpson, Dickerson, Barry Sanders, Terrell Davis, Jamal Lewis and Chris Johnson in the 2,000-yard club. Peterson is the only one to do it after reconstructive knee surgery, and he did it on the one-year anniversary of his knee surgery.
“He is without question the best running back in our game and truly, in my mind, the MVP of our league,” Vikings Coach Leslie Frazier said. “We don’t win this game without Adrian Peterson.”
The Vikings punted a few plays after Peterson’s big run, and the crowd gave him a standing ovation when the achievement was announced.Peterson took it all in stride, waving politely, but otherwise not making anything special out of it in a game the Vikings needed to win to make the playoffs. He simply didn’t have time to reflect on the long, arduous path it took for him to get there after tearing anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in his left knee.
It was only last December when Peterson crumpled to the turf in Washington, two ligaments torn, leaving many to wonder if his career would ever be the same.
But Peterson vowed from the very beginning to return better than ever from an injury that has ended the careers of so many before him, and he has delivered on that promise.
Peterson scored two touchdowns in the opener, but didn’t top 100 yards in a game until Week 4 when he went for 102 against the Lions. But as the season progressed, the scar tissue in his knee started to break up and Peterson really took off.
He amassed 1,313 yards in an eight-game stretch, topping 200 yards twice in four games to vault into the MVP discussion and make 2,000 yards a possibility.
When asked this week to describe his running style in one word, Peterson replied: “Vicious.”
He got off to a fast start Sunday with 61 yards and a touchdown on the first two drives, hearing chants of “MVP! MVP!” just before he surged into the end zone for a 7-yard score and a 10-0 Vikings lead. He also had runs of 12 and 21 yards early to get the Vikings going in this win and-they’re-in game.
“I don’t let awards identify me,” Peterson said. “I don’t do it. I go out and define myself by what I do on the field. Whether I win it or not, and I’m not saying I don’t want to, just like I wanted to break the record, either way, in my heart I’m the MVP. That’s all that matters.”
Peterson has carried the offense, turning the Vikings into a throwback attack that relies almost exclusively on the run for its big plays and helping Minnesota improve from 3-13 to 10-6.
Peterson has kept the Vikings’ offense afloat even with second-year quarterback Christian Ponder struggling and top receiver Percy Harvin missing the second half of the season with an ankle injury.
Peterson is averaging more yards per rush than Ponder does per pass and his seven rushes of 50 yards or longer tied him with Sanders in 1997 for the NFL record.
All the while, Peterson has said he’d take the first postseason berth in three years over 2,000 yards any day. But it was no secret that the individual achievement was important to him.
Peterson entered the game with 1,898 yards, more than 400 better than Seattle’s Marshawn Lynch, who was in second place.
“Adrian so many times made plays on his own,” Frazier said. “He’s special in every way.”
2,000-yard rushers
YEAR PLAYER, TEAM YARDS
1973 O.J. Simpson, Bills 2,003
1984 Eric Dickerson, Rams 2,105
1997 Barry Sanders, Lions 2,053
1998 Terrell Davis, Broncos 2,008
2003 Jamal Lewis, Ravens 2,066
2009 Chris Johnson, Titans 2,006
2012 A. Peterson, Vikings 2,097
Playoff schedule All times Central
WILD-CARD PLAYOFFS SATURDAY, JAN. 5
Cincinnati at Houston, 3:30 p.m. (NBC) Minnesota at Green Bay, 7 p.m. (NBC)
SUNDAY, JAN. 6
Indianapolis at Baltimore, noon (CBS) Seattle at Washington, 3:30 p.m. (FOX)
DIVISIONAL PLAYOFFS
SATURDAY, JAN. 12
Baltimore, Indianapolis or Cincinnati at Denver, 3:30 p.m. (CBS) Washington, Seattle or Green Bay at San Francisco, 7 p.m. (FOX)
SUNDAY, JAN. 13
Washington, Seattle or Minnesota at Atlanta, noon (FOX) Baltimore, Indianapolis or Houston at New England, 3:30 p.m. (CBS)
CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS
SUNDAY, JAN. 20
AFC, TBA (CBS) NFC, TBA (FOX)
PRO BOWL SUNDAY, JAN. 27 At Honolulu
AFC vs. NFC, 6 p.m. (NBC)
SUPER BOWL
Sunday, Feb. 3 At New Orleans AFC champion vs. NFC champion, 5 p.m. (CBS)
Sunday’s games
Tennessee 38, Jacksonville 20 Carolina 44, New Orleans 38 Buffalo 28, NY Jets 9 Cincinnati 23, Baltimore 17 Pittsburgh 24, Cleveland 10 Indianapolis 28, Houston 16 NY Giants 42, Philadelphia 7 Chicago 26, Detroit 24 Tampa Bay 22, Atlanta 17 San Diego 24, Oakland 21 San Francisco 27, Arizona 13 Seattle 20, St. Louis 13 Denver 38, Kansas City 3 Minnesota 37, Green Bay 34 New England 28, Miami 0 Washington 28, Dallas 18
Sports, Pages 13 on 12/31/2012